To discuss bow to improve the game of football, President Roosevelt called coaches and athletic advisers from Yale University, Princeton University and Harvard University to White House.
The changes caused by the President were the first steps in a long line of reforms to make American football safer.
At that time, football was very dangerous and violent. In 1904 alone, at least 18 people died and more than 150 were injured because of playing football. According to The Washington Post, at least 45 football players died from 1900 to October 1905.
Roosevelt liked football and thought being violent wasn't necessarily a bad thing. But his son was injured while playing as a freshman at Harvard, bleeding badly from a cut over his eye, and the nation was shocked at the number of young men who died or were seriously injured in playing the game. People were especially shaken by the death of Union College player Harold Moore, who died after being kicked on the head.
A movement rose up to ban the sport, which was led by the president of Harvard and a number of other well-known people. They thought football had no place in civilized society and wanted to throw it away. Roosevelt wanted to reform the game and complained in a letter that Eliot wanted to kill it.
Roosevelt again called Harvard, Yale and other football coaches and officials to the White House with a view to a taking away its dangerous features. A committee was formed after the 1905 season to look at changing the rules.
The rules were changed for the 1906 season, but there were still some doubts. The head coach at Swarthmore College wrote a series of articles called How to Play Football. And it took several years for the rules to be accepted.
12. How does the author show the violence of football?
A.By providing some data. | B.By making comparisons. |
C.By telling personal experiences | D.By showing research findings. |
13. What was Roosevelt's attitude towards football?
A.He hoped it would disappear from the world. |
B.He took pleasure in it although it was violent. |
C.He thought football was a bad and violent sport. |
D.He didn't like it at all because of his son's injury. |
14. Why did Roosevelt call the coaches to the White House?
A.Because of the support from athletes. | B.Because of Harold Moore's death. |
C.Because of the public's angry feelings. | D.Because of the anti-football movement. |
15. What do we know about the new rules made in 1905?
A.Players were required to wear helmets. | B.People accepted them slowly. |
C.Elite played an important role in making them. | D.Players found football was much easier to play. |