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Without Walter Camp, American football fans wouldn't have the game that they love today.
Known as the "Father of American Football," Walter Camp was a football player, coach and sportswriter who was responsible for changing the sport from its original rugby roots.
Camp was given the moniker by sports writer Caspar Whitney for his role in helping create some of the most integral football concepts.
Camp was the founder of many American football rules
Walter Camp played football at Yale and then became the head coach of the Ivy League school from 1888-1892. Camp coached his teams to a 67-2 record.
He later coached at Yale, on and off from 1892-1895. During his time as a coach and afterward, Camp was on various collegiate football rules committees that were responsible for making the rules that are used in NCAA football and NFL today.
During the U.S. College Football 1880 Rules Convention, Camp was in the group that invented the "line of scrimmage." He created the rules so teams could have the ball in an uncontested possession.
He believed that this would be the first step in changing the game of American football from its rugby roots.
Camp's contribution to football didn't stop there. He came up with the offensive formation, which included the O-line, running backs, receivers, and the position of the quarterback.
He created the "downs" system which was another way to separate football from rugby. To make the "downs" system easier, Camp suggested marking the field, which we now know as hash lines.
As a sports writer, Camp wrote thirty books and 250 magazine articles about football and other sports as well. Each year, Camp would rank the best college football players in the country on his "All-America" team.
At first, there was some pushback to Camp's list because he favored players from the eastern United States and overlooked the western part of the country. The list has evolved throughout the years and is still a major NCAA accolade today. In 1951, Camp was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach.
Since his passing in 1925, there have been several awards named after Walter Camp. The most notable being the "Walter Camp Player of the Year Award". The award, which is voted on by NCAA Division I head coaches, is given to the best college football player that season.
