Trimark Rites of Autumn Episodes 7 and 8

These two episodes from the critically-acclaimed series on the history and impact of college football are Seasons Of Change (Ep. 7): College Football Evolves. The roots of college football lie in the sports of soccer and rugby. When Princeton and Rutgers played what is considered the first game of football in 1869, it had little in common with today's game. Harvard actually played a truer form of football in the 1870's, running the ball. Yale's Walter Camp came up with many more important innovations, which were critical to the game's eventual success. As the game spread throughout the country, Yale graduate Amos Alonzo Stagg established a dynasty in Chicago and Stanford became the most powerful team in the West. The game would go on to survive World War I and the Depression to give us great early stars like Red Grange, Knute Rockne and sportswriter Grantland Rice. The evolution of college football is indeed a profile in perseverance. Conflict & Change (Ep. 8): The Integration and Expansion of College Football. In 1970, two years after Dr. Martin Luther King's assassination, USC opened the season in Birmingham against Alabama. The Trojans started many African-American student-athletes, while the Crimson Tide had not a single black player on their roster. The whole Southeastern Conference had less than a handful of college football players of color. USC trounced 'Bama, and as head coaches Paul Bear Bryant of Alabama and John McKay of Southern Cal shook hands, Bryant thanked his close friend McKay. Bryant had used the game to sway public opinion and push open the doors of the university for southern black athletes. The rest of the SEC followed, and the civil rights movement was accelerated throughout the South.