Minnesota Vikings

Where did American football get its name?

I know that soccer (UK football) is a much, much older game then American football. I am wondering why both Americans and Europeans lay claim to the word "football"- and for different games! (Not to mention, American football has a lot less to do with feet than European football). Thanks!

Public Comments

1. The ball is 12 inches, it has nothing to do with feet Soccer is lame
2. there are alot of things we say that dont make sense. listen to the world for a day. kind of histerical when you actually listen to the crap that comes out of our mouths....like that phrase for example.
3. America beat down the rest of the world and adopted any name they damned well pleased. PERIOD!
4. The first guy is right. Originally footballs were a foot(ie. 12 inches) long. And the original football(back when Yale and Harvard were national championship teams) was more like rugby than modern-day football.
5. If Europeans feel that Soccer is Football, then what do they call Football from the U.S.? Football is football, Soccer is soccer
6. american football is the u.s version of soccer. teams that didn't want to play soccer in the u.s created american football and its popularity exploded. american football gets its name from association football, which is the original name for soccer (or football in most countries).
7. It got it's name from Vietnamese immigrants in the 70s. They brought the game from their homeland and renamed it to honor their new country.