| New
Sport |
At the turn of the Twentieth Century football
was fast becoming the most popular new sport in the United States.
When President Teddy Roosevelt learned of the numerous injuries,
some resulting in the death of the players, he proposed a bill
to ban the sport. The attempt failed, but it did spark rule changes
in 1905 which addressed the violent physical contact between
participants. Players were required to wear pads and helmiets. |
| Gerald
Ford |
Gerald Ford was the most notable president
on the gridiron. He was a center for the University of Michigan,
and named to the annual East-West game, as well as the College
all-star game in 1935. He also won the team award for most valuable
player in 1934. His expertise in the sport gained him professional
contract offers from the Greenbay Packers and Detroit Lions,
but he chose politics as a career. |
| Players |
Other football Chief Executives included John
Kennedy who played for both Choate and Harvard, but never lettered
in the sport. Richard Nixon was positioned as a running back
for Whittier College, and Dwight Eisenhower was forced to drop
from the football roster at West Point after numerous knee injuries. |
| Coaching |
Woodrow Wilson was head coach of the Wesleyan
College football team in Connecticut from 1888-1890, and never
experienced a losing season. From 1935 until 1941, Gerald Ford
was assistant football line coach at Yale Law School. |
| The
Stadium |
While a student at Stanford University, Herbert
Hoover was employed to oversee the collection of stadium receipts
for the football games. On one occasion, the half-time guest
speaker was President Benjamin Harrison. He entered the event
without paying, whereupon Hoover confronted him and demanded
the twenty-five cent admission. The stunned, but amused, Harrison
complied. |
| Tradition |
Andrew Jackson was born in Waxaw County located
on the border of North and South Carolina. The exact location
of his birth remains a mystery, however. Over the years both
states claimed birthrights to the president, and after numerous
unsettled disputes, the residents of the respective states resorted
to a friendly football competition to decide the matter. An annual
football game is held, and the winning trophy, a bust of Jackson,
is displayed at the courthouse of the victor until the next game. |
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