Rise Of College Football In The 1920's

College Football in the 1920’s served as a stepping stone to an American tradition and revolutionized sports in this country. Much different than the game as we know it now, football in the 1920’s was a display of strategy and toughness rather than athletic skill. Teams from the Northeast and Midwest dominated as the phenomenon slowly grew to the South and West. Early legends of the game such as The Four Horsemen, Red Grange, and Knute Rockne provided star power that created a rapid growth in popularity at the time. In addition to the rise of college football, the 1920’s hosted the birth of professional football, which raised competition and set the stage for years to come. As a result, college football has been a staple of American sports

Before the 1920’s, football was far from a spectator sport. It was played mainly amongst college club teams and a mere eleven professional teams that made up what we now know as the National Football League. While the professionals played at a higher level, the passion and tradition of collegiate football made it the more popular of the two. This stark gap in popularity was changed at the tail end of the decade when a Notre Dame all-star team faced the professional New York Giants in an exhibition game. The Giants annihilated their collegiate opponents, and afterwards Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne famously stated to his team “That was the greatest football machine I ever saw. I am glad none of you got hurt.” (Source 1). This game showed the nation exactly how elite the National Football League was, and it effectively raised popularity for both factions of the sport. Despite this, college football was still the outright favorite amongst American football fans in the Roaring

From 1869 to 1900, every collegiate football champion came from the Ivy League (Source 5). Teams from the Universities of Michigan, Chicago, and West Point began to challenge the Northeastern schools in the 1910’s, but the Ivy League remained dominant during this time. It was not until the latter half of the 1910’s that the sport’s popularity brought forth expansion into the southern and western states, bringing more competition and fan support across the country. This is proven by Georgia Tech’s perfect season and national championship in 1917, led by soon-famous coach John Heisman. This unlikely triumph paved the way for up-and-coming programs in the following seasons, as teams from Texas A&M, California, Stanford, and Alabama all won at least a share of a championship in the 1920’s. The newfound success of programs outside of the northeast played an integral role in the popularization of College Football during the Roaring