| American Football orginated in Canton, Ohio in 1920, | | | | men spent an afternoon battleing over a few feet of |
| but was largely a regional amateur sport that took a | | | | turf with little movement in any direction. This was |
| back seat in importance to America's favorite | | | | abruptly changed by happenings in California. In the |
| pastime, baseball. However, after World War II | | | | new American Football League, Daryl Lamonica of the |
| ended and television was born, a few games were | | | | Oakland Raiders, was changing the style of football |
| televised. In a sense, football and television grew up | | | | by taking the passing game to new heights. In 1969 |
| together and have enjoyed a symbiotic relationship | | | | he threw for an unheard of 34 touchdowns and |
| since then. Today, football makes the TV networks | | | | more than 3,300 yards. This not only earned him the |
| billions of dollars and football keeps nearly half of the | | | | nickname "The Mad Bomber" but also changed the |
| American public riveted to their sets. Hundreds of | | | | way football was played. |
| games are broadcast each week. In the 1960's, | | | | Traditional ball control strategy was swept aside by a |
| professional football over took baseball as the | | | | quarterback who could lead his offense to score in a |
| favorite spectator sport in America and the | | | | matter of seconds. The long pass was born and was |
| Superbowl became the single most watched event in | | | | popular with spectators. The course and momentum |
| history. | | | | of the game could now be changed in a heartbeat. |
| It is hard to say what accounts for the ever | | | | Teams had to adapt by changing their strategy and |
| increasing popularity of this game. It is an intensly | | | | recruiting strong armed quarterbacks of their own. |
| physical game, an aspect that often obscures what a | | | | Passing plays, devised for different situations began |
| game of strategy football is. It is possible that | | | | to dominate team's play books. |
| changes in this strategy account for its continued fan | | | | This phenomenon reached its height with the clever |
| appeal. | | | | and tricky passing plays designed by Bill Walsh of the |
| In the 1950's, in the childhood of football, the game | | | | San Francisco 49ers and his Quarterback, Joe |
| was played around the basic strategy of ball control | | | | Montana. During their reign during the late 1970's and |
| and time of possession. The simple philosophy was | | | | 1980's, the term "finesse" was added to the football |
| that the longer a team was in control of the ball and | | | | vocabulary and used as often as "hard hit". The |
| its offensive team was on the field, the less likely its | | | | 49ers added another innovation in football strategy, |
| opponent could score. Two teams in the American | | | | the mobile quarterback. Steve Young, next in |
| midwest, the Chicago Bears, coached by George | | | | succession as quarterback, was a strong athlete who |
| Hallas and the Green Bay Packers, with Vince | | | | could gain yardage like a running back. This made the |
| Lombardi at the helm, were the cornerstone of | | | | quarterback a even more dangerous opponent, and |
| traditional, defensive football. | | | | the defense had to work hard to guess whether |
| During the 1950 both gloried in having strong | | | | Young and other new styled quarterbacks were |
| defenses. Other teams copied their styles and | | | | going to pass or just run for the needed first down. |
| football, as played traditionally, was a game where | | | | |