A group of students from Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Columbia met at the Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York City on April 28, 1882 and made an unambiguous decision: The United States was declaring its independence from British football. "A proposition to adopt the English rugby rules was unanimously rejected," the New York Daily Tribune reported on May 1, 1882. The basic concept at the foundation of American football originated in ancient Greece but came to the United States through Britain. As early as the 12th century, the English were playing "football" games -- particularly on Shrove Tuesday. William Fitz-Stephen...