How Wilson Manufactures 700,000 Footballs a Year | Popular Mechanics

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In a century and a half since the first game of American football, the sport has evolved from a grind-it-out ground war to the passing-dominated aerial assault that is NFL football in 2023.
But the evolution of playcalling tactics isn't the only factor that brought us here. You can credit technological innovation, too. The long bombs you might see in the Super Bowl as Tom Brady chucks the official Wilson game ball downfield wouldn't even have been possible during the early days of the game, when the odd size and shape of early footballs made passing impossible.
The football has evolved steadily since the first game was played at Rutgers University in New Jersey on Nov. 6, 1869. But even though the forward pass was legalized in 1906, until the ball took on its present size and shape in 1935, the pass was a nonplay. The ball used in the very first game was round, like a soccer ball. It was tough to carry, and awkward to throw. Then, in 1874, a rugby-type ball was used in a contest between McGill University Foot-Ball-Club and Harvard University Football Club. This new ball looked like a watermelon and wasn't much easier to throw. But laterals and short flips were becoming common.
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How Footballs Are Made | Made Here | Popular Mechanics

[@bradspain5255]

Cool -- never seen the process before.

[@atlasfenix6995]

That's not a foot ball that's an egg lol

[@LeNutDemolisher]

That's a football dingus

[@mason87104]

Good to Jon MacLennan there at the end of the video ... complete with his signature ending!

[@hilldwler420]

700,000 🏈 @$125-$175 each … not a bad profit

[@kingkwam3816]

itd be nice if the $150 someone spends on these really went to all the people handmaking them

[@TheBigman603]

I love mine 💪🏼

[@decoy1115]

Laces out...

[@beausgaming7046]

Where's the magnets oh lol that's in the nfl

[@thephantomeagle2]

they also make NFL footballs. I grew up a few blocks from there.

[@lemmykilmister873]

🙂👍🏻 🏈