By Matt Chaney, ChaneysBlog.com<\/p>\n
Posted Tuesday, January 31, 2017<\/p>\n
The year 1905 would become storied for \u201creform\u201d of American football, even if the large majority of critics only wanted \u201copen\u201d play and elimination of \u201cfoul\u201d tactics like punching. College football was a national tradition and big business, with famed teams like Yale and Harvard constituting major entertainment enterprises. Universities, newspapers and magazines capitalized in their symbiotic commerce of promoting the blood sport. Very few individuals spoke up for college football\u2019s abolition in 1905, despite legend to endure. But\u00a0<\/span><\/em>juvenile football\u00a0at schools and preps was different, facing distinct threat in a controversy overlooked by future historians. Abolitionists confronted schoolboy football nationwide at outset of the 1900s, and supporters of the youth game rallied for the fight.\u00a0<\/span>President Theodore Roosevelt enmeshed himself in football debate<\/a>\u00a0and impacted public opinion; the immensely popular \u201cT.R.\u201d heartily endorsed school football, often mentioning his sons\u2019 game exploits in speech, conversation and letter. But prickly questions loomed. Ostensibly this was time of \u201cprogressive reform\u201d and citizen welfare, child protection\u2014<\/span><\/em>led by President Roosevelt\u2014and the issue of juvenile football confronted\u00a0institutions of medicine, government, education and athletics, over ethics and law.\u00a0<\/span>Voices of college football and higher education increasingly denounced the game for minors<\/a>. The boys game had grown\u00a0since the 1880s<\/a>\u00a0within football\u2019s trace blazed by colleges, and the latter weren\u2019t always appreciative of junior imitation. Many football insiders believed young adult players of prep academies, high schools and athletic clubs were sufficient to stock college teams. Moral arguments aside, such critics believed football players had but a shelf life for administering and withstanding game violence and stress, and that wasn\u2019t served by premature starts. A majority of doctors ripped boys football in public, meanwhile, and girls tackle sport was unfathomable. When the widely promised \u201csafer football\u201d failed to materialize by end of 1907, especially for schoolboys, officials of the American Medical Association declared a clear stance in their prestigious journal.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n The historical texts and notes on football issues previously posted here in timeline were publicly available only for a term. The collections are now in reserve by the researcher for future use. The following remain posted:<\/strong><\/p>\n Chaney, M. (2016, Dec. 21).\u00a0<\/span>\u2018Safe Football Failed in 1880s, Talking Points Lived On<\/a>. ChaneysBlog.com<\/p>\n Chaney, M. (2015, July 28).\u00a0<\/span>The 1890s: Brain risks confirmed in American football<\/a>. ChaneysBlog.com.<\/p>\n Chaney, M. (2016, Jan. 30).\u00a0<\/span>1900-1912: \u2018First Concussion Crisis\u2019 for beloved football<\/a>. ChaneysBlog.com.<\/p>\n Chaney, M. (2016, May 11).\u00a0<\/span>\u2018Heads Up\u2019 theory, football helmets and brain disease, 1883-1962<\/a>. ChaneysBlog.com.<\/p>\n Chaney, M. (2016, May 31).\u00a0<\/span>Teddy Roosevelt loved football, except when it brutalized his son<\/a>. Sports.Vice.com.<\/p>\n Chaney, M. (2016, Nov. 29, 2016).\u00a0<\/span>\u201cSlaughter of the innocents\u201d: When D.C. considered banning high school football<\/a>. Sports.Vice.com.<\/p>\n Matt Chaney is a writer, editor, researcher and consultant on public issues in sport, specializing in American football for three decades. Chaney, with an MA in media studies, is a former college football player and coach whose books include\u00a0<\/em>Spiral of Denial: Muscle Doping in American Football<\/a>,\u00a0from his Four Walls Publishing\u00a0in<\/em>\u00a02009<\/a>.\u00a0Chaney\u2019s study for graduate thesis, co-published with the University of Central Missouri in 2001, analyzed print sport-media coverage of anabolic substances\u00a0in football from 1983-1999. Email him at\u00a0<\/em>mattchaney@fourwallspublishing.com<\/a>\u00a0or visit the website for more information.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Matt Chaney, ChaneysBlog.com Posted Tuesday, January 31, 2017 The year 1905 would become storied for \u201creform\u201d of American football, even if the large majority of critics only wanted \u201copen\u201d play and elimination of \u201cfoul\u201d tactics like punching. College football was a national tradition and big business, with famed teams like Yale and Harvard constituting … Continue reading 1907 JAMA: \u2018Football is no game for boys to play\u2019<\/span>