May 14, 1874- Harvard versus McGill game #1
The Boston Globe, on May 14, 1874, had this excerpt in their column called the SUBURBS, CAMBRIDGE. Foot Ball - The McGill University students here to play the Harvards at football today and tomorrow were in Cambridge yesterday. They visited Jarvis Field in the afternoon, and after viewing the grounds on which the matches will be played, they indulged in a short “kick” preparatory to their labors this afternoon. They are a fine-looking and strongly built set of men, and their friends are confident that they will get away with the Harvard team without trouble.
This is a report on the first time a football team and its entourage were in the game’s host city 24 hours before kick-off. This is a common occurrence and almost mandatory in our era of Division I football.
Remember, this is the first international football game on US soil!
Prior to this, two schools playing each other was rare. Okay, there was the soccer match in 1869 between Princeton and Rutgers, which often gets credit as the first football game. It was, in fact, much closer to soccer than what we know as American football, as you were not allowed to carry the ball and could barely touch it with your hands. Most games on college campuses were intramural.
The American Heritage website gives us more insight.
In the spring of 1874, a group of athletic Harvardians grew tired of intramural competition and looked for another college to play against. Scorning the soccer-like game played to the south, they found a worthy opponent in McGill, of Montreal, which also played something close to rugby.
When the captains of the two teams met, however, their rules differed in several respects. The Canadian game allowed more carrying and used an oblong ball that was easier to throw and catch.
They played two games—one on May 14 under Harvard’s rules and one on May 15 under McGill’s. Harvard won the first game 3-0, while the second … Just like the fans of that era, we will make you wait until the event's date, and we will tell you more about it tomorrow in our May 15 edition.
I will share with you that that weekend in Massachusetts was extremely pivotal in the creation of the game we love. It was a spark that gave a glimpse to the players and spectators that spring in 1874 of how unique a game American football could be. Yes, it was a spark that would set off the tinderbox six years later when a group of men, including Walter Camp, sat down and made some significant reforms to how colleges would play this new game. Much of it was inspired by how these young men from McGill explained a game they played to the boys from Boston.
Tune in tomorrow for the details…
