"Football": What a strange name

This is a question that has always bugged me. Why do Americans call a sport ?football? when you rarely use your feet to play it? What Americans call "football" is more or less what we call "rugby". So, what possessed some bright spark to name a game where you primarily use your hands "football"? Being the logical folk we are we call the sport where you almost always use your feet ?football? (what Americans call ?soccer?).

 

Apparently, it's called 'football' because it and soccer have similar origins, and different evolution.

From Wiki:

"Main article: History of American football

Primitive forms of rugby, then all covered by the name "football", were being played in the USA as far back as the 1840s, at Harvard, Yale and Princeton, stemming partly from Americans who had been educated in English schools.[8] The history of American football can be traced to early versions of rugby football and association football. Both games have their origins in varieties of football played in the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century, in which a ball is kicked at a goal and/or run over a line.
Walter Camp

American football resulted from several major divergences from rugby football, most notably the rule changes instituted by Walter Camp, considered the "Father of American Football". Among these important changes were the introduction of the line of scrimmage and of down-and-distance rules. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, game play developments by college coaches such as Eddie Cochems, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Knute Rockne, and Glenn "Pop" Warner helped take advantage of the newly introduced forward pass.

The popularity of collegiate football grew as it became the dominant version of the sport for the first half of the twentieth century. Bowl games, a college football tradition, attracted a national audience for collegiate teams. Bolstered by fierce rivalries, college football still holds widespread appeal in the US.[9][10][11]

The origin of professional football can be traced back to 1892, with William "Pudge" Heffelfinger's $500 contract to play in a game for the Allegheny Athletic Association against the Pittsburgh Athletic Club. The first Professional "league" was the Ohio League, formed in 1903, and the first Professional Football championship game was between the Buffalo Prospects and the Canton Bulldogs in 1919. In 1920, the American Professional Football Association was formed. The first game was played in Dayton, Ohio on October 3, 1920 with the host Triangles defeating the Columbus Panhandles 14?0. The league changed its name to the National Football League (NFL) two years later, and eventually became the major league of American football. Initially a sport of Midwestern industrial towns in the United States, professional football eventually became a national phenomenon. Football's increasing popularity is usually traced to the 1958 NFL Championship Game, a contest that has been dubbed the "Greatest Game Ever Played". A rival league to the NFL, the American Football League (AFL), began play in 1960; the pressure it put on the senior league led to a merger between the two leagues and the creation of the Super Bowl, which has become the most watched television event in the United States on an annual basis.[12]"

 

It's political. You see there is this country called England that had a King/Queen who taxed the people here in North America. We revolted from thier dark ruling and just to spite them called football soccer in the United States. Any questions?

 

Ahh so, that?s the reason why North America name and do most things differently to the rest of the world? I just thought Americans liked to be different. Oh, and the king you talk about was mad George III. But I totally appreciate the tax thing though. Nothing?s changed, believe me. If you hadn?t revolted when you had then you would?ve sooner or later.

But I digress. If you simply wanted to call it something other than rugby then why not call it something like ?handball? or ?tackleball?? You must admit they?re far more suiting a sport where you rarely use your feet on the ball and do a lot of body tackling.

 

It's called football because the first players called it football and it's stuck as a name.

 

Talk to me when you drive on the right (correct) side of the road.

 

Rugby is the shortened name of 'Rugby football', being a type of football invented at the Rugby school.

 

Then what have the NFL/AFL/college football players been running/walking on all these years? Duck feet? Segway machines?

2008-2009 L.A. Lakers: World Champions!

 

The Chargers forgot there was a 'foot' in football yesterday. Sloppy special teams play can KILL you.

 

If so then they should put the word "foot" at the beginning of any sport in which you somehow use your feet. "Footswimming", "FootIndy500", "Footbaseball", "Foottennis", "Footboxing" etc. etc.

 

Footmurderball! Oh wait...

 

I was going to ask someone to then explain cricket, but then it dawned on me...the game moves so slowly that everyone in the stands falls asleep so you can actually hear crickets chirping.

 

Don't worry about it, 'cause I don't like "Footcricket" either. About the only sports I like are "Footsuperbikes" and "Footformula 1".