Illinois Featured Content

  • Professor chronicles how Big Ten brought order to college football, then lost its way

    Apr 25, 2018 11:00 am by Craig ChamberlainCampus LifeResearch
    University of Chicago football coach Amos A. Stagg talks with three of his players during a game in 1916. Image from the cover of “Creating the Big Ten.” Original photo courtesy of the University of Chicago, Special Collections Research Center

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    • University of Chicago football coach Amos A. Stagg talks with three of his players during a game in 1916. Image from the cover of “Creating the Big Ten.” Original photo courtesy of the University of Chicago, Special Collections Research Center

    College football started small in the late 1800s, but the issues then were remarkably similar to today: amateurism versus professionalism, player eligibility, player safety, commercialization...