Oldest football footage ever (American football/Gridiron)

OLDEST genuine archive footage of football known to exist! This amazing film shows a game between Princeton and Yale, way back in 1903, plus footage of another university game in the same year. American football in it's infancy.
Additionally, the video features a short clip of President Roosevelt and his entourage crossing the field in 1901. There doesn' appear to be any other footage of the game from that year.
The first game of football was played on November 6, 1869, between Rutgers and Princeton, two college teams. The game was played with rules resembling a mix of rugby and soccer.
Walter Camp later refined the rules to include eleven players and the idea of 'downs'.
It is now the most popular sport in the United States.
www.yestervid.com
/ yestervid
/ yestervid
/ yestervid

[@hotdogwater7037]

Nice music choice. The only song that would fit the video better is every other song ever

[@johnwillis7063]

hot dog water didn’t see that one coming. 😂

[@carsonmorris127]

Oof

[@braydenchristianson1351]

111 likes my record is low it’s 10

[@actsismmljcorrectlyobeyed6190]

Dynasty Warriors

[@actsismmljcorrectlyobeyed6190]

@jeffg24LT21 Lol it beats cRap.

[@ThunderPants13]

Tom Brady's rookie season.

[@nickcyeah]

Thunder'sDad Phil Dawson's rookie season

[@giancarlosantapaola663]

Thunder'sDad Adam vinetari rookie season

[@juandavila4534]

Lmao

[@Andy-ux9mx]

Lol

[@rundamic3373]

W

[@mikedemike5393]

music should have been something close to the periods....some crazy jazz....charlseston

[@benskelly1217]

Agreeable!

[@juandavila4534]

@@gooser__43 Scott Joplin!

[@sirstephen9825]

JP Sousa

[@rlevitta]

Except that "the charleston" came from a Broadway show in 1923. In the period from 1900-1910 "ragtime" was the thing - like Scott Joplin kind of stuff. Metal didn't come around till much later.

[@cottagechskitty]

Pre 1906, football essentially consisted of everyone running after the ball carrier. It made it incredibly violent and deadly in many cases.

[@rickyray2794]

actually even in this time period football was causing a lot of deaths, teddy roosevelt was going to put a ban on it unless they made changes to prevent so many deaths.

[@robertkeefer1552]

Cover 11.

[@Javiertorres-k10]

@@rickyray2794 source?

[@cottagechskitty]

@@rickyray2794 I mean you can see why. it's just 22 guys collapsing on each other.

[@rickyray2794]

@@Javiertorres-k10 OSINT is a thing that can be done by everybody, even you

[@justincopus3983]

The stadium was packed full of people that had no idea what was going on.

[@ZackClift]

😂

[@toddstarks226]

I don’t think most of the players knew what was going on.

[@Voltzinator]

It's sad because everyone in that stadium is dead

[@Thenob]

Voltzinator not true

[@patriceikome1507]

Vortex Shadow they are still dead

[@MarcusCollins69]

Patrice Ikome this was like 100+ years ago So if its like 105 years ago Then maybe a few are alive

[@DannyBkyn]

Then all of history is sad to you? Odd.

[@MarcusCollins69]

Arabian Prince oldest person alive was 122, died in 94'

[@AngelA-sj8kr]

Cool, I didn't know there was someone whaling away on the guitar while they were playing.

[@Mr.56Goldtop]

The halftime highlights.

[@flowstanzabeats6990]

Damn can't believe Frank Gore has been playing this long

[@showtimeethan3610]

Lmaoo

[@justproductions9516]

0:29 that guy just karate kicked that other guy

[@semperxian]

cool but music doesnt fit

[@Yestervid]

+Xian Thanks, I laughed because the song is called 'Sports Bar'.

[@semperxian]

+Yestervid haha.. what i meant was that rock and roll not only didn't exist when this video was made but it was several decades away. it's like how in the great gatsby movie when they had all that hiphop, it just feels weird. your vids are great so much respect.

[@drServitis]

Yep, music is completely wrong for this video. Ruined it actually. Not sure what the moron who made the video was thinking.

[@racheldamonkii]

drServitis “moron” was unnecessary

[@t4texastomjohnnycat978]

@@drServitis Get back to your msnbc, dickhead.

[@lynnturman8157]

Strange coincedence but also earliest recording of heavy metal apparently...

[@lucasrichards7247]

It’s crazy that all this was before WW1

[@paulluchter137]

That 1903 was before the Great War is hardly crazy. Football began in 1865, huge crowds used to fill the Polo Grounds in the early 1890s for the Thanksgiving Day, Princeton-Yale games. 40,000 plus Even more at huge stadiums in places like Springfield, Mass. for Harvard-Yale. A horrid injury in one of those games circa 1895 began the dissing of football, well before Teddy Roosevelt. After that the Ivy schools (not called that then) stopped playing in large stadiums....

[@bongoloboy3800]

0:30 casually kicks the shit out of another man

[@peytonvaneik737]

A Really long Peen back when football was a sport

[@staticunion4448]

Peyton Van Eik this football players now A days would kill these people

[@bigboytwos]

@@peytonvaneik737 still is

[@rerumusic9621]

damn, Antonio Brown played in 1903?

[@gwhitenburg]

@@rerumusic9621 no, however now the athletes are much bigger, stronger, faster, and more skilled.

[@Buttermilkjug]

The guy that jumps up and kicks the guy in the face @ 00:30 is hilarious!~ Best football play ever~

[@allenidus3404]

mikedabucify dude this was the early 1900s there where no rules or safety put in place they would put players back in the game even if they where knocked out cold!

[@philiptucker6119]

That was Johnny Cage

[@mr.objectshowl3247]

Fatality

[@tomgibbs3183]

m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/o6iZm3qua86fj6c

[@TheReviewSpace]

I wonder if they will ever make a video game version of this? The history of sports is greatly underappreciated, imo.

[@blackmigo372]

TheReviewSpace on the old NCAA games you could play as teams from this time period

[@djtodd972]

@@blackmigo372 yes siR I, remember that..

[@blakfloyd]

For years I've said they should make a Madden DLC for like $10-15 to include the early era. Shit like leather helmets, almost complete reliance on running cuz the ball was like an anvil back then, and maybe even make it black and white or sepia-toned.

[@ROMBomb001]

@@blakfloyd I haven't purchased Madden since 2013 but I would buy it again just for that DLC

[@amarevanhook7453]

All the old NCAA games had this

[@brstilson]

This was before the forward pass was legalized. Amazing how similar to Rugby it looks.

[@MoniqueFromPlymouth]

Thats because it IS an offshoot of Rugby. Walter Camp, the creator of (American Gridiron) football was a rugby player.

[@usarugbyleagueunionfan]

MoniqueFromPlymouth I really wish we could go back to Rugby. Preferably, more people got introduced to Rugby League.

[@timmycrw91]

@@usarugbyleagueunionfan Nah. No rucks/no mauls? Just not the same Rugby, IMHO. I'd be in favor of adding rucks and mauls to the game of American football on running plays where a first down is not achieved. Make the field bigger like a rugby field or Canadian football field, 13 vs. 13.......stuff like that which enters my head when I daydream how to make football a little more like Rugby. ;-)

[@shapeshifter8778]

Interesting! The forward pass should be kept, because that's the thing that makes gridiron, gridiron. Rucks when the first down is not achieved seems like a good idea. It'll make the game faster by allowing turnover of the ball. I also want to add scrum to the game, but with little tweaks. Like: 1) the ref is the one who is responsible to feed the scrum. 2) scrum takes place in the spot of minor foul play, with the means to compete for possesion of the ball. Any side that wins the scrum gets the possesion of the ball and play the first down. 3) Should the offence team won the scrum in the opposition side of the field, the first down will be played 10 yards back. 4) If minor foul commited in the end zone, scrum still takes place in the spot of the foul commited. Any team that won the scrum should play the first down on the 10-yard line. 5) The scrum is performed with all the 11 players each side (12 in case of canadian gridion). The formation of the scrum is free for variation but must consist of 4 front-row. . Phew... That's all I got heheh...

[@paulluchter137]

There was allowed a kick pass

[@bobrobinson8310]

Glad that football has better pads, helmets, and uniforms because football in that era was dangerous and I've heard players died in the 1900s.

[@IanWithAPC]

There is only 1 person still alive in the world today that was alive at the time of this football game. Her name is Kane Tanaka, she's 115 and the oldest living human.

[@RayNumber2]

She died. RIP.

[@paulluchter137]

@@RayNumber2 And preferredcurling.

[@enayy619]

Oh I thought you said she was at this game

[@sdgakatbk]

@@paulluchter137 😂 Maybe that's the key to long life.

[@MilsurpMikeChannel]

Not a very good angle for the replay challange.

[@alexispennsylvania]

Milsurp Mike it's fucking the 1910s what do you expect?

[@theswanster1]

a better photographer smh

[@scottdixon5485]

Milsurp Mike lol

[@Whiteiron883]

@@alexispennsylvania it's called sarcasm

[@Superdelphinus]

Looks like rugby on fast forward at this stage

[@pauldunner7781]

I always get a kick of people who need to specify that it's American football/Gridiron. It's just called football here.

[@cerberus2654]

@Aunchient Pistol tell that to soccer fans.

[@BrotherApexx]

Kicking, running, moshing...thank God for the forward pass!

[@bobwolenski5720]

I was at this game. After the game I took my date to see a concert by the band playing in this video. The next day we flew to Disney World. Good times!

[@paulluchter137]

Did you know that when immigrants arrived by ship in New York, the bright lights and tall structures they first saw were the amusement parks at Coney Island?

[@sleserjr]

This looks more like rugby than it’s does modern football.

[@paulluchter137]

Canadian football retains some of the old rules. The field length for one, though the one point rouge was their own invention as was 12 men a side.

[@eb1247]

Grid Iron

[@markjd4]

Imagine pulling out the shotgun spread formation and blowing everybody's minds.

[@johnp.johnson1541]

Rugby football was played in 1869. Walter Camp football came much later.

[@tylerbrandon460]

Awesome video. That was way in the early days of Football when it still was evolving from rugby. They were scrumming and rucking.

[@paulluchter137]

Not really , Very early on there was football as played by McGill and football played by Harvard. The Harvard game was closer to soccer and rugby. Most of the McGill football rules were eventually adopted such as downs (originally just three) and yardage for a first down. ANd esecially scrimmage lines. It may not seem in this video to be true, but was, there were no scrums (until the ball was snapped) Unlike some histoies, eary football used a T fomation, the wing formations came later, especially after the forward pass was modernized circa 1911.

[@scorpio0251]

it's like a game of "kill em'"

[@jph595]

We called it smear the queer. But that's offensive.

[@tashawn2222]

Super tasteful guitar.

[@TheLando71]

All of these men would cry laughing if you told them about today’s NFL rules 😂

[@Mr.Byrnes]

rad tut Today’s NFL players are overprotected pussies

[@theterrar3566]

@rad tut Back then everyone was 5 '5 ‐ 5'6. I'm pretty sure if anyone of us were to live back then we would be just as tiny

[@Azamat421]

@@theterrar3566 yea no steroids

[@TheLando71]

@Dege JB solid point. Back then you just played ball and got good through repetition. Everything we know about the importance of nutrition and mass-building workouts didn't quite exist yet.

[@sebastianbelcher5354]

One hit from a modern NFL player would have put any of these guys out of commission.

[@burnfire8145]

Damn it was much more dangerous back then

[@DrTiaJolie]

Cool video, but gosh did they ever have some great ROCK back then!!

[@liloof9599]

Tia Jolie Phillips it’s his music he added in

[@andrewp5732]

Lol nice, beat me to the joke

[@mr.objectshowl3247]

They had the Beatles

[@rcouret]

@@liloof9599 Seriously?

[@TK-fy4nu]

@@liloof9599 pin head is a fitting name for you

[@pbrickley6247]

Long live football. Great video.

[@dakotafilmsnashville9045]

REALLYnice footage. Would have been grateful for different music. Thanks for posting this.

[@valkorion8958]

Damn, Stadiums used to get sold out for every form of live event! Guess it used to be the only way of getting cheap quality fun.

[@Big.Deez1999]

Holy shit, my great grandparents weren't even alive during this game.

[@ljpx6090]

Old football kinda scares me

[@philiptucker6119]

LJP X it was quite physical back then with very little protection. Reminds me of rugby

[@theterrar3566]

@@philiptucker6119 Rugby(union) was never close to the physicality of football. You could argue about league. No shoulder charge allowed throughout its history and was considered and upper class sport back then.

[@Azamat421]

@@theterrar3566 ok they aint that tough

[@theterrar3566]

@@Azamat421 Dummy

[@Azamat421]

@@theterrar3566 ur the dumbby inbred and football is full of roided up idiots and fat players

[@xuccy]

All I see Is people huddling together

[@lawrencebittke8478]

Some fascinating film footage. Should have been accompanied by RAGTIME music that was the music mod that era.

[@mickeyduke1910]

What a wonderful video.. truly BUT YOU ABSOLUTELY HAMMERED THIS BEAUTY TO DEATH WITH THE WORST MUSIC CHOICE POSSIBLE!

[@chantheman3910]

I love that they were so tough back then but now they get touched and fall to the ground

[@one4allall4one91]

The played rock n roll hard in those days.

[@bjdon99]

Old tyme football must have been pretty boring to watch. Lots of hikes and runs into the mass of people for 3 yd gains.

[@patrickfossenier3379]

Like the Big 10 in the 70s.

[@dannyarena5357]

They only needed 5 yards for a first down back then. The forward pass was illegal also.

[@philiptucker6119]

Old School football was basically Rugby. These days it's like two hand touch and rugby had a baby. Too many Quarterbacks crying they got hit too hard and got some BooBoos

[@AndrewGiles688]

@@philiptucker6119 you'd being crying too if your 200 pound body was body slammed by a 300 bound monster going 12 mph.

[@mustang8206]

It's still that way though

[@Reece_Hart]

So old American football was almost a mix of Rugby League and Rugby Union

[@burymedeep-be7dm]

It has evolved for sure but they played rough back then

[@davidfreeman7455]

I wonder what would the men playing in this game think of today's football

[@usarugbyleagueunionfan]

David Freeman I wonder what those men would think of the dumb ass celebrations after a score. The NFL eroded from 80’s and 90’s.

[@t4texastomjohnnycat978]

@@usarugbyleagueunionfan TOTALLY, totally..... agree, USA.

[@SRone45]

They would be amazed at the forward pass and how big and fast the players are.

[@amarevanhook7453]

They’d prolly be intimidated 💀NFL players superhuman compared to these plumbers

[@briane173]

Three yards and a cloud of broken bones....

[@johnwillis7063]

Uhhh definitely a false start at 1:04 How did the ref miss that? Followed up by 183 roughing the passers.

[@jaxyouwill]

John Willis this is a joke right

[@johnwillis7063]

lolimjax only if you get it

[@theterrar3566]

Automatic disqualification and some jail time as well if this took place today

[@carrite]

The first game of "American football" was not played in 1869. Whatever they played then, it was essentially rugby.

[@paulluchter137]

In 1869 game, carrying the ball was not allowed, only kicking, so closer o tackle soccer than rugby.

[@steelers6titles]

Note that the line of scrimmage wasn't taken very seriously. The number of offensive linemen became fixed at seven, a rule which exists to this day.

[@paulluchter137]

No hash marks, so ball was placed whereever the tavkle took place. In NFL only in 1955 or 1956 was rule changed wherea runner was not down by just hitting ground, he had to be physically tackled, pinned to the ground, or he could get up and keep going

[@JackSmith-ru8fs]

Elway was in great shape back then.

[@PTSayoriD]

People outside the U.S. always complain about how Americans call this sport football despite earlier variants of this sport being a weird mix of soccer and rugby. In football's early days a field goal was actually worth more than a touchdown.

[@allensaunders449]

I agree the music was a terrible choice completely wrong mood and atmosphere

[@nicholasbarber3644]

if flightreaccts played then how good would he be

[@bighands69]

That was back when people used to look normal before all of the special vitamins were being used.

[@jmpeh702]

I do a 1901 football league where players wear paper bags on their head,arms, and feet if not they can’t play

[@rigel5]

Music so annoying that I hit the mute button

[@ChildOfThe1970s]

great video, but could have used vintage music for it...there is music you can find on KZbin from that era

[@TheConorsmithusa]

Hmm I wonder if all these people from the 1903 game are still alive? maybe still playing football?? everyone in the stadium still alive to

[@allenidus3404]

TheConorsmithusa how ignorant can you be to think something like that? of course they're not playing football anymore they be lucky to be alive!

[@blacbraun]

Sure they are. Don't you see 140 year old people all around you playing football all the time?

[@theIncredibleMRQUICK]

Wanted to watch then the music started and I stopped.

[@paulluchter137]

Mass plays created a violent game. Less skilled teams had injuries, Deaths in football were listed annually at end of year.

[@paulluchter137]

On kickoff returns, the team would link arms and charge forward.

[@steelers6titles]

Much more similar to rugby than modern football. The once-ubiquitous "drop kick" has completely disappeared. Today, the only kicking occurs in kickoffs, punting, field goals, and PAT attempts.

[@pattyfromtoledo]

I love this footage ~ reminds me of Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society whispering "Carpe Diem"!!

[@BigSnipp]

The music ruined the video.

[@steelers6titles]

Football was originally a running game. Not sure about the college game, but in the NFL, until the 1930s, a passer had to be at least ten yards behind the line of scrimmage before he could even throw the ball. If I'm correct.

[@genepsullivan]

Awesome, where did you get this? LOOKING FOR OLD FOOTAGE OF ERNIE NEVERS, thanks

[@bigralph7111]

Rugby Scrum at 0:33 According to "American Football, by Walter Camp" published in 1891. At that time the scrum was still being performed. Remembering that many Rugby rules were still in force in the early 1900s.

[@timmycrw91]

I played rugby for a bunch of years, and boy was I surprised what u picked up on! I learn something new every day!

[@toastnjam7384]

Woody Hays would have been proud.

[@chrisperrien7055]

The sound track fits and the game is far older than R&R. Notice the pads used back then , just some leather, almost "no-pads". A far different sport back then. .

[@chrisslater4053]

This is why Pop Warner as college football coach developed the sweep run left or right, then the reverse & the double reverse, then later came the forward pass.

[@paulluchter137]

A lot of innovations, like the onside kick were actually begun at Penn.

[@damoneubanks9075]

Refs clearly missed a targeting penalty at 1:13.

[@WillyM79]

Tom Brady was only 24 that year

[@tambear4556]

Nice video thank you

[@leopoldvincentmedley5870]

How much would it cost to secure the rights to use some of your footage in a non-profit student film? Thanks

[@Toketree]

This footage will be 120 years old in a month

[@qwertyzxcvbn3174]

Football > soccer (which is NOT football)

[@giancarlosantapaola663]

Xemnity hypocrite

[@theterrar3566]

It really isn't. Any game played on foot with a ball as opposed to those on horsebacks played by rich people was called football.

[@t4texastomjohnnycat978]

Wow. Some with no helmets.🏈

[@chrisbraywer3107]

The quality of the cameras in there tho.

[@chrisbraywer3107]

Ik

[@liloof9599]

U should expect that it’s the 1910s

[@rylanpats4524]

There's like no rules back then lol

[@NesquickBunny]

I honestly don't even know where the ball is

[@gunnar2605]

It is like a completely different sport.

[@LinkRocks]

The music doesn't go with the video.

[@TheSwanlake2009]

I think I know where football came from rugby.

[@BenWilsoncommunitycouriersjax]

I now understand that football was invented in a Baywatch montage

[@johnmcjunkin4613]

Yeah, I doubt any one of those guys would have ever taken a knee during the playing of the national anthem, or have sat down during the Pledge of Allegiance. In fact most football players , went on to enlist and serve in the U.S. Armed Forces, during wars.

[@dzimo6017]

Cool! Thanks

[@j.r.stewart353]

I'm not sure where they were getting their date for the first American football game ever played. I'm pretty sure it's inaccurate, however, the Canadian game was first played in the 1860's, and our form of football came about a decade later, so we basically adopted our game from theirs by shortening our field, adding an extra down, and putting the goal posts in the back of our end zones. I know my stuff.

[@koolkitties8552]

J.R. Stewart Really? If you knew football you would the goal posts used to be at the front of the endzone until the early 70's.

[@jahjoeka]

J.R. Stewart ooohhhh he shitted on u son!

[@jhondgolder1415]

First football game was a soccer/rugby dual game encounter on May 14 & 15, 1874 between Harvard & McGill in Cambridge Mass. Google it!

[@steelers6titles]

Unfortunately, despite large refinements in materials and the like, the basic design of the protective equipment remains the same--hip pads, etc. In the modern professional game, it's not getting the job done. The protective equipment for the modern game needs completely redesigned, and custom-fitted for every individual player.

[@Noisy_Cricket]

Football was hell back then lol.

[@steelers6titles]

The early game was very rough. Harvard President Charles Eliot wanted it banned, and Theodore Roosevelt, who played at Harvard, was a critic.

[@lifevest1]

thus the forward pass was created. Which is ironic because today that's where a majority of brutal, career ending, CTE inducing hits take place!

[@steelers6titles]

@@lifevest1 That is right; wide receiver is considered the most dangerous position in the game.

[@rentslave]

The Wright Brothers had yet to take off.

[@Krmalic]

All of the dudes in there died

[@boobzac]

The claim that the first game of American football was played in 1869 is wrong. The game of Rugby football was transformed into American football by 2 significant rule changes. The 1st came about in 1880 & the 2nd in 1882. The game you are referring to in 1869 was a game of Association football, commonly known in America as Soccer.

[@ernesttubb]

You're right, the 1869 game was not the first football game, but it is widely recognized by American football historians as the first college football game. Some historians also recognize it as the first college soccer game, as well. From the descriptions I've read, it was pretty far removed from what either sport looks like today. 25 men on each side!

[@finalbossoftheinternet6002]

Penalties were BUSSIN back in the day 😂

[@unknown-qx8yq]

the crowd in the stadium: that's a weird rugby

[@Saturdayz_In_The_Fall]

No helmets. These were strong MEN.

[@christopherrobbins9985]

Cool music and great old video footage of America's greatest game.

[@prospectdam1086]

They would cook anybody in the nfl today

[@baldelonmusk8068]

Nope

[@res3382]

Football was more like Rugby then.

[@gabrielschaub3931]

i honestly wonder if theres an afterlife, and if there is... I wonder if they are playing that type of football right now.