“I worship the lad who first picked up a soccer ball and ran with it, only to be tackled by his mates. There should be shrine to him somewhere.”
That shrine would be the William Webb Ellis Cup, given to the champion of the Rugby Union World Cup, named after William Webb Ellis, who according to the stories first picked up a soccer ball and started running with it. He was attending the Rugby school, so his version of the rules became “Rugby Rules Football,” which became rugby, which Walter Camp, of Yale, altered into the beginning of American Football.
Thank you very, very much.
May God bless William Webb Ellis.
RD