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The Foundation of the NCAA

The NCAA of today, with over 360,000 student-athletes competing in three Divisions in 23 sports, and approximately 49,000 student-athletes competing in 88 NCAA championships, was founded on the simple principle of student-athlete safety.

In a time when there were no football helmets, mouthpieces or face guards and little in the way of padding, the most popular football formation was causing deaths in collegiate football. The moving “V” or the “flying wedge” – an actual wedge formation where players protected the ball carrier in the center of the wedge - often propelling him over the opposing team’s line, was the original catalyst for today’s NCAA.

The 1905 college football season alone produced 18 deaths and 149 serious injuries.
In response, several colleges and universities banned the violent game of football while the loosely formed football rules committee made few changes to the game.

On October 9, 1905, United States President Theodore Roosevelt, a former student-athlete and football fan, called representatives from Harvard, Yale and Princeton to the White House and delivered a clear message – reform the game or it will be illegal.

“One human life is too big a price for all the games of the season,” said James Roscoe Day, chancellor of Syracuse University.

The football rules committee made slight changes to the game, but there was no national organization to support football reform.

In December 1905, the chancellor of New York University, Henry M. MacCracken, called a meeting of those institutions that played football. Thirteen charter members attended the meeting, agreeing to reform football and meet again December 28. Sixty-two schools were represented at the second meeting creating the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (IAAUS).

The IAAUS created a separate football rules committee, inviting the original football rules committee to participate. The joint committee made many changes to the game – specifically prohibiting the mass-momentum plays and hurdling, and thus eliminating the flying wedge. On March 31, 1906, the IAAUS created a formal constitution and bylaw. The IAAUS grew to 67 members in 1909 and became knows as the National Collegiate Athletic Association in 1910.

Thirty-three players were killed in 1909, but the Association’s football rules committee took prompt and drastic measures to ensure the continuation of the sport and most importantly, the safety of student-athletes. Additional changes continued to be made over the years. Never again was the sport in danger of being abolished.

Today, a bronze statue of the flying wedge is featured in the NCAA Hall of Champions, located in Indianapolis. James Roscoe Day’s infamous quote is prominently displayed on the wall behind the flying wedge. For a photo of the bronze flying wedge statue, please go to the Photos section of the Centennial celebration Web site Media Kit.

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