Football

The Ivy League Origins of an American Obsession

By: Mark F. Bernstein

Narrated by: Kyle Tait

From the day Princeton played the first intercollegiate game in 1869, these major schools of the northeast - Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Princeton, and Yale - shaped football as we now know it. Almost every facet of the game still bears their imprint: they created the All-America team, produced the first coaches, devised the basic rules, invented many of the strategies, developed much of the equipment, and even named the positions.

In this rich history, Bernstein shows that much of the culture that surrounds American football, both good and bad, has its roots in the Ivy League.

The book is published by University of Pennsylvania Press.

©2001 University of Pennsylvania Press (P)2016 Redwood Audiobooks

An intriguing look back at early college football

There was a time when Ivy League football teams would be nationally ranked, had players regularly drafted by NFL teams, played in the Rose Bowl, and won national championships.  Mark F. Bernstein traces the history of the universities that comprise the Ivy League, their rise to prominence, and the conference's decline in recent years.  Princeton competed in the first intercollegiate football against Rutgers in 1869, before a reported 100 spectators.  Many of the facets of the game were developed under Yale's Walter Camp, including the snap from scrimmage, the offside penalty, tackling below the waist, 11 players on either side of the ball, quarterback signals, and the first All American team.  Princeton, who was the first squad to adopt a team name - Tigers, were instrumental in initiating rules conferences.  

Cornell's Pop Warner devised the huddle, the screen pass, and the rolling black.  The author brilliantly points out the early resistance to the forward pass, as teams were penalized for incomplete passes.  While there may be debate which university had the first marching band, there is no doubt Yale's Cole Porter wrote the team's fight song.  "Football" also discusses the early injuries in the game, and at times, the unfortunate casualties.  Bernstein notes that Princeton was the first team wear numbers on their jerseys.  

Additionally, the book also covers the dominance of the "big three," football during wartime, the official birth of the NCAA, the impact of television on the sport, and fall of the Ivy League from "big time" football, to I-AA status (renamed FCS in 2006).  The history in the book is fascinating and the story telling is imaginative.

This book slaps

I like football it is good and it is the best sport of all time.

Excellent performance, incredibly well-written

Thoroughly researched history of the Ivy League, with an outstanding narrator in Kyle Tait. Will definitely look for more books he's narrated.

Informative & Well-Written

I received a review copy of this audiobook.

To be perfectly honest, I’m not interested in football, but I was willing to give this book a try and I’m glad I did. The facts are clearly presented and the events are well-told.

I expected this book to dwell entirely on the early years, and was surprised to see how far it carried.