The brutal nature of intercollegiate football in the 1890s led to an important conference in Chicago exactly 130 years ago on Saturday.
On January 11, 1895, Purdue University President James Smart invited the administrators of five other Midwestern universities, including Andrew Draper of the University of Illinois, to discuss thorny football issues and establish an inter-university relationship. developed policies aimed at regulating athletic competitions.
The Chicago Tribune reported in its January 12, 1895 issue, “Last night, six wise men entered a small room on the second floor of the Auditorium Hotel, carefully closed the bars and closed the door behind them. We bolted the door and sat down and talked about what’s next for “Football.” “
This group included Smart, Draper, Dr. W. R. Harper of the University of Chicago, Dr. Henry Rogers of Northwestern University, Charles Adams of the University of Wisconsin, and Cyrus Northrup of the University of Minnesota. University of Michigan President James Angell was also scheduled to attend, but did not show up. They all spoke out against football atrocities that left hundreds dead and injured.
A Tribune reporter wrote: “They don’t know the rules. None of them have ever been in the lineup in the modern game, and I doubt if any of them could score a touchdown from left halfback. They don’t stop the football, They didn’t want to cripple it. Most of them were passionate supporters of it, and they wanted to regulate it. We’re doing everything we can to get the most out of the game. It’s up to the experts to fix the rules to prevent extra hits and accidents. That’s professionalism, and the presidents are like that. and to do so they will adopt a set of Ten Commandments and recommend their adoption to the institutions they represent.”
“The first action of the meeting was the adoption of the following resolution submitted by Dr. Smart.
“We have decided to call on professional football managers to revise the rules of the game to minimize liability for injuries.”
“We urge all universities and university authorities to prevent all forms of professionalism in intercollegiate athletics and to ensure that all competitions are protected by excluding from participation all those who do not regularly register. Resolved to request that all practicable efforts be made to make the competition a prestigious athletic skills competition.” ”
Among the 10 rules adopted by the president are the appointment of a University Athletic Committee with general oversight of all athletic members, and the requirement that all games be played on fields under the control of one or both of the participating universities. and that it should be carried out under the supervision of the student. It is not under the control of companies or individuals. Additionally, they recommended that college teams not play against professional teams.
On the recommendation of their presidents, representatives from the athletic committees of the University of Illinois, the University of Chicago, the University of Michigan, the University of Minnesota, the University of Wisconsin, Northwestern University, and Purdue University met at Palmer House in Chicago on February 8, 1896. . There, an interuniversity meeting of faculty representatives was held. Known as the Western Conference, the Big Ten Conference was later formed.
Thirteen years later, Indiana and Iowa joined the league in 1909, followed by Ohio State in 1912. Michigan State University joined in 1949, Pennsylvania State University in 1990, Nebraska in 2010, and Maryland and Rutgers in 2012. Oregon State, Southern California, UCLA and Washington began conference competition this season.
Currently, the University of Nebraska is the only conference member not currently affiliated with the prestigious Association of American Universities.
Irini’s birthday
Saturday: Vitas Barincius, baseball (22) Sunday: Sean Turner, football (59) Monday: Bret Bielema, football coach (56) Tuesday: Alexander Kapka-Jones, football (22) Wednesday: Brian McClure, baseball (51) Thursday: Frank Lenti Jr., football (40) Friday: Ayo Dosunmu, basketball (25)
The author is Mike Pearson, author of Illinois Legends, Lists & Lore (3rd edition available online). Get daily Illini birthdays, trivia and historical trivia on IlliniLegends on X and SportsLegendsListsLore on Facebook. His websites are www.SportsLLL.com and www.IlliniPosters.com.