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State of Illinois Recognizes
NU's 1876 Football Origin
Earlier
this year, the Illinois General Assembly passed a bill recognizing the
Northwestern University football game played in February 1876 as the
first American football game held in Illinois.
Representative Cyril Nichols (D – Retired, District 32) filed the bill, which the Illinois House adopted on January 4, 2025.
Nichols had apparently been approached about submitting a bill to the
Assembly by a person who had attended the 2024 Day with Northwestern
lecture about Gus Hornsby and the 1876 game between NU and the Chicago
Foot-Ball Club. The anonymous advocate has reportedly also petitioned
the university to erect a plaque commemorating the game on the Evanston
campus.
The bill reads, in part:
WHEREAS. .
. Northwestern University, using the rules created by Harvard and Yale
in 1875, played the Chicago Football Club on February 22, 1876 on the
Evanston campus to commemorate president George Washington’s birthday
in the first verifiable American football game and the first college
football game played in Illinois, the Midwest, or anywhere west of the
eastern states;
…Therefore be it
RESOLVED, by the House of Representatives of the One Hundred Third
General Assembly of the State of Illinois, that we recognize the
Northwestern University vs. Chicago Football Club game played on
February 22, 1876 as the first American football game and first college
football game played in Illinois; and be it further
RESOLVED, that we urge the citizens of Illinois to learn more about
this historic event that took place in Illinois and helped shape
American football. |
This is one more step in recognizing Northwestern’s title as the oldest football team in the Midwest.
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