Blood on the Gridiron: The True Story of the 1905 'Death Harvest’ - College Football History

In college football history terms, the year 1905 stands out as being the first year the sport encounters an existential crisis. That crisis has caused because a huge number of people died or were seriously injured playing the game we love.

The typical story that you hear about 1905 goes the United States President Teddy Roosevelt stepped in to save football. He used a soft voice while carrying a big stick and told the powers that be that the game would have to change or he would abolish it forever. FOREVER!

Most stories about the year 1905 are that simple.

Many people died. Teddy Roosevelt changed the game of football, and all of us who love it were happily ever after. The real truth is not that simple.

Were there really that many deaths caused by football or was this a chance for critics to eliminate the game they hated? Was the crisis overblown by muckraking media members wanting to stir the pot so they could sell more newspapers? Did Teddy Roosevelt really save football?

I will examine those questions and get you answers in this video.
00:00 Introduction
01:50 Death Harvest - Players Killed And How
14:22 Teddy Roosevelt and his big stick
22:58 The McCracken Conference - Power Struggle and rules
25:08 Conclusion

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