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Did Theodore Roosevelt really save Football

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==The Aftermath==

[[File:1906PassMariettaVsOhio.jpg|thumbnail|250px|52 yard TD pass in 1906 between Marrietta and Ohio]]

Roosevelt pushed for the meeting to go on and 19 new rules were hashed out for the 1906 season. They included the establishment of a neutral zone now called the "line of scrimmage" before each play, body-breaking mass formations were outlawed and the first-down distance was stretched to 10 yards. Most revolutionary, the forward pass was introduced into the game. Football was still dangerous - there would be 11 deaths on the field in 1906 and 11 more in 1907 - but the evolution of football was underway. <ref>Klein, Christopher, ”How Teddy Roosevelt helped save football,” ''History.com'', September 6, 2012</ref>

So did Theodore Roosevelt really save football? 1905 represented a point of no return for football. The arbitrators of the sport had a choice to either "change or die." Roosevelt forced the leaders of college football to address their problems and, as president, Roosevelt had sufficient gravitas to force the college football to change. His action provided an impetus for football to move beyond its brutal 19th century origins and try to reform itself.

==References==

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