Even though the Atlanta Falcons are in the middle of a miserable season, that’s no reason for local football fans not to celebrate the gridiron game on American Football Day, which is Tuesday, Nov. 5.
American Football Day celebrates one of the nation’s most popular sports.
Rugby and soccer paved the way for American football in the late 1800s, according to National Today.
On Nov. 6, 1869, Rutgers and Princeton played what was billed as the first college football game, according to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
In Atlanta, Georgia Tech played its first football game against Mercer on Nov. 5, 1892, losing 12-6 in Macon, Georgia.
Yale grad Walter Camp pushed for rule changes including the line of scrimmage, down-and-distance rules and the legalization of blocking.
College football took off well before the pro version in the early 1900s as bowl games attracted a national audience for college teams. Georgia and Georgia Tech already had a long-storied rivalry before insurance executive Rankin Smith was granted an NFL franchise in 1966, the Atlanta Falcons.
The NCAA version remains immensely popular, with media coverage rivaling the NFL’s.
In 2019, the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys were estimated to be worth $5.5 billion, making it football’s most valuable team.
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