In the current era of football there have been significant calls for changes to the way the game is played. Medical knowledge of injuries have increased to the point where some Americans feel that football puts too many athletes' safety at risk.
Regardless of your opinion on the matter, the same issue arose over 100 years ago, before the NFL even existed.
CNN.com points out that in 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt came to the rescue when the life of football seemed to be reaching its end. At the time, college was the highest level of the sport and leaders of the universities were calling to ban football altogether.
Unwilling to see his beloved sport become extinct, Roosevelt called the leading figures of the game together to discuss ways to keep the game alive. The forward pass was one of the results of the meeting, and the new rules opened up the game, steering it away from mosh pits and gang-tackling.
Shortly after this hiccup in football's storied history the NFL was born, allowing us the opportunity to cherish Super Bowl Sunday as a quasi-holiday. For this, we can all thank Roosevelt.
