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Wednesday, January 29, 2014

The Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos will be meeting in New Jersey this weekend for Super Bowl XLVIII. But football as we know it has a much older tradition than that.

American Football grew out of English sports such as rugby and soccer and became popular on American college campuses in the late 1800s. In 1876, a coach named Walter Camp, who is considered the 'Father of American Football,' helped produce the first rules of American football. Among important changes were the introduction of line scrimmages and down-and-distance rules.



Today's Random Fact:

The most watched television event in the United States is the Super Bowl. Though football games usually last around 3 hours, the ball is typically in play for only 11 minutes. Around 56 percent of the game on TV is devoted to replays.

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Bonus Fact:

The NFL has an annual revenue of $9 billion, with a profit of 1 billion. Compared to the NBA and MLB, NFL players are the lowest-paid players, with salaries that average to less than $1.5 million dollars.

Just two years after finishing their careers, approximately 78 percent of NFL players go bankrupt.