[1rudeboy]

There is an Italian documentary (YouTube) at the link.

[1rudeboy]

For your NFL list.

[1rudeboy]

For your list also.

[SoCal Pubbie]

It is interesting to note that the myth of rugby springing from soccer is just that. If you look at the actual history of football you will find a wide range of such games, many of which included tackling in the rules, going back a long time. From an ancient Chinese game similar to soccer, to Roman Harpastum (itself derived from an earlier Greek version) to English mob football, use of the hands, forward passing and tackling were often part of the game. It was not until the 1800’s that soccer (association football) and rugby (named for the school at which its rules arose) were codified and developed as distinct sports.

American football, of course, grew from rugby and ironically was introduced to the U.S. by a visiting Canadian team. As in many things, like the English language, we were not content to do things the same way just because of tradition, and we changed the game and made it our own.

[martin_fierro]

Muslim yoots playing giuoco del calcio fiorentino in Paris.

[Rummyfan]

By some accounts, the early form of Italian football began in the 59 BC in the Piazza Santa Croce in Florence. The sport of giuoco del calcio fiorentino - a mix of soccer, rugby, Greco-Roman wrestling and bare-knuckle fighting - was played by the aristocrats on every night between Eipiphany and Lent.

Ummm...how could they they be playing in Holy Cross Square, between Epiphany and Lent, in 59 BC?????

[SunkenCiv]

Romans invented football, hence the crying need for a ping:

By some accounts, the early form of Italian football began in the 59 BC in the Piazza Santa Croce in Florence. The sport of giuoco del calcio fiorentino - a mix of soccer, rugby, Greco-Roman wrestling and bare-knuckle fighting - was played by the aristocrats on every night between Eipiphany and Lent. According to the occasionally reliable Wikipedia: The official rules of calcio were published for the first time in 1580 by a certain Giovanni Bardi. Just like Roman harpastum, it was played in teams of 27, using both feet and hands.

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