ABSTRACT
From football’s debut as a fringe sport for elite northeastern collegians to its current place as one of the most globally visible representations of US culture, the game has grown far beyond the grandest dreams of Walter Camp, known as the “Father of American Football.” Professional football’s rise from obscurity to global recognition started later; but in the twentieth century the National Football League (NFL) attained even more cultural power than the intercollegiate version. In the early twentieth century, most Americans outside of collegiate fans or local followers of the few professional teams knew little about football. This reality changed, as France once again would shape the trajectory of the game. As football’s popularity increased, stadiums proliferated, growing to accommodate the heightened importance of the college game. By the 1950s, the NFL had put the pieces in place to challenge Major League Baseball for the most popular sport in the US.
