Test your knowledge of football! Check your answers to the football trivia questions in the September issue of New Values Magazine. For those of you who missed it in the printed magazine, here are the questions again, with the answers below.
1. True or false: The origin of American football can be traced back to early forms of rugby.
2. The first intercollegiate football game was played between which two teams?
a.] Rutgers & Princeton
b.] Harvard & Yale
c.] Buffalo Prospects & Canton Bulldogs
3. Who was the first professional football player?
a.] Jay Berwanger
b.] William “Pudge” Heffelfinger
c.] Charles Follis
4. The first television broadcast of an NFL game aired in 1939 on what station?
a.] ABC
b.] CBS
c.] NBC
d.] ESPN
5. True or False: The first Super Bowl champions were the Dallas Cowboys.
6. True or False: John F. Kennedy was the first President to attend an NFL game while in office.
7. Who is the oldest player in NFL history, who was 48 at the end of his last season with the Oakland Raiders?
a.] Ray Brown
b.] John Nesser
c.] George Blanda
Think you know the answers? Here they are:
1. TRUE. American football resulted from several major divergences from rugby, most notably the rule changes instituted by Walter Camp, considered the “Father of American Football.” Among these important changes were the introductions of the line of scrimmage and of down-and-distance rules.
2. a.] Rutgers & Princeton. On November 6, 1869, Rutgers University faced Princeton University in a game that was played with a round ball under “Football Association” rules (i.e. soccer) but is often regarded as the first game of intercollegiate football.
3. b.] William “Pudge” Heffelfinger. Heffelfinger was paid $500 to play for the Allegheny Athletic Association on November 12, 1892.
4. c.] NBC. The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Eagles 23-14.
5. FALSE. The National Football League (NFL) champion Green Bay Packers (14–2) scored 3 second-half touchdowns en route to a 35–10 win over the American Football League (AFL) champion Kansas City Chiefs (12–3–1).
6. FALSE. Lyndon Johnson attended a pre-season game at D.C. Stadium on August 3, 1966.
7. c.] George Blanda. Blanda’s final year was 1975 for the Oakland Raiders.
