A Timeless History
It began as a round ball. On 6 November 1869, Rutgers beat Princeton 6–4 with 25 men a side and rules borrowed from the London Football Association: the ball was kicked, never carried. As the game drifted towards rugby, so did its ball. An 1896 rule required 'the shape of a prolate spheroid'; in 1912 the rules fixed its size — 28½ inches around the length — slimmer than a rugby ball, made for the forward pass.
SourceRutgers University Athletics, The First Game: Nov. 6, 1869 · Rutgers Today, The Birthplace of College Football · Spalding's Official Foot Ball Guide, 1912 · Image: Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-70843 (PD)
Science In Action
Prolate spheroid — an ellipse spun around its long axis: pointed ends, one axis of symmetry • Spin — thrown with a spiral, the ball is a gyroscope; its axis resists being tipped by the air • Air torque — the air pushes on the nose, and the spinning ball answers by turning to follow its path • Laces — one raised seam gives the fingers something to grip, so the hand can put on that spin
SourcePrice, Moss & Gay, 'The paradox of the tight spiral pass in American football', Am. J. Phys. 88, 704 (2020) · Wolfram MathWorld, Prolate Spheroid · Image: Department of Defense photo by Marv Lynchard, DVIDS (PD)
Arts
Football was news before it was art. The illustrated weeklies sent artists to the college matches: in Harper's Weekly of 7 December 1878, Julian O. Davidson drew 'A Game of Foot-Ball' — a heap of striped jerseys fighting for a fat, almost round ball under flags on striped poles. Eleven years later the same paper printed a two-page Princeton–Yale match by Thure de Thulstrup. The pointed ball had not yet arrived.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints & Photographs, LC-DIG-ds-03672 and LC-DIG-ds-03674/03675 · Image: J. O. Davidson, A Game of Foot-Ball, Harper's Weekly, 1878 (PD)
Applications Today
The rulebook — an NFL ball is a prolate spheroid, 11 to 11¼ inches long, 14 to 15 ounces, tan leather • One maker — every NFL game ball since 1941 has been a Wilson; the leather ones are hand-built in Ada, Ohio • Pressure — the rules set 12½ to 13½ pounds per square inch, and the referee checks the balls before kick-off
SourceNFL Official Playing Rules, Rule 2, The Ball · Wilson Sporting Goods / NFL partnership announcement, 27 June 2024 · Image: Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress (PD)
The 'pigskin' is cowhide: the NFL rulebook asks for a pebble-grained leather case in natural tan.
[Yale Univ. football game: punter just having kicked ball before on-rushing opponents] — Unidentified photographer — 1889 — Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Washington — 1 photographic print — LC-USZ62-70843 (b&w film copy neg.); master file 3b18236u.tif, 1233 × 1536
