My interview with Keith Olbermann on 8/5/14 in two parts - Gives a great sense for what The Opening Kickoff is all about

Video

This fascinating video, shows the 1903 match-up in New Haven between Princeton and Yale, won by the Tigers, 11-6.  The game was shot by a fellow named Thomas Edison.  I used this video, as well as the ones below, as primary documents of sorts, giving me a better understanding of what the early game looked like.

This is the 1903 game in Chicago between the University of Chicago and Michigan.  The Wolverines won 28-0 in front of an overflow crowd of 20.000.  The injury around the 1:20 mark is particularly interesting - note the trainer slapping the player across the face.  Part 2 of the video is below and has a great panoramic shot of Marshall Field, giving a sense for just how packed the stands were.

Before there was Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel, there was Wisconsin’s Pat O’Dea. Before Miami and Auburn found themselves embroiled in controversy, so did Yale and Princeton. Before the endless coverage of ESPN, the New York Sun had seventeen reporters at a game. In Dave Revsine’s fascinating read, The Opening Kickoff, we learn that college football’s nascent seasons were as wild, unpredictable, and controversial as the ones that unfold in front of us now. Revsine’s meticulous research and crisp storytelling bring us back to a long-ago era, where the themes and storylines are familiar.”

—Pete Thamel, senior writer for Sports Illustrated