Theodore Roosevelt's Role in the 1905 Football Controversy

Abstract

At the beginning of this century, intercollegiate football was tremendously popular, but contests were dull and dangerous affairs in which offensive players rushed the ball through massed defenses. Efforts to improve the sport for spectator and participant met with failure because the Intercollegiate Football Rules Committee refused to adopt reform legislation. Although it represented only a few of the large number of colleges participating in the sport, the influence of the Rules Committee was so great that attempts to establish rival legislative bodies were unsuccessful. In 1905, dissident elements again challenged the authority of the Rules Committee but the movement was in jeopardy until President Theodore Roosevelt used his influence to secure for it the necessary recognition.