Early versions of rugby and association football were already being played in the United States. Then in the late 19th and early 20th centuries people started making changes to the sports being played to make them faster, more exciting, more organized, more consistent (different schools played using different rules) and safer*. Most notable were the changes made by Walter Camp around 1880 that established many of the recognizable facets of today’s game like of scrimmage, the snap, and down-and- distance rules. His main motivation was to change the game from what he viewed as a mob dominated by strength into a game of speed and finesse.
By the time rugby was also being standardized, American football had established its popularity here and cultural momentum took it the rest of the way. It became very popular in college in the first half of the 20th century and very popular professionally in the second half of the century.
*And if you think the sport is dangerous now, just look at the early 1900s. The federal government had to threaten football leagues to make rule changes for safety or be shut down as athletes were dying from injury frequently.
Early versions of rugby and association football were already being played in the United States. Then in the late 19th and early 20th centuries people started making changes to the sports being played to make them faster, more exciting, more organized, more consistent (different schools played using different rules) and safer*. Most notable were the changes made by Walter Camp around 1880 that established many of the recognizable facets of today’s game like of scrimmage, the snap, and down-and- distance rules. His main motivation was to change the game from what he viewed as a mob dominated by strength into a game of speed and finesse.
By the time rugby was also being standardized, American football had established its popularity here and cultural momentum took it the rest of the way. It became very popular in college in the first half of the 20th century and very popular professionally in the second half of the century.
*And if you think the sport is dangerous now, just look at the early 1900s. The federal government had to threaten football leagues to make rule changes for safety or be shut down as athletes were dying from injury frequently.