Michigan's First Trip East

An old report

Michigan’s First Trip East

We saw a few days ago that the first eastern trip of the Michigan football team came in October 1881:

There was an interesting article printed in The Inlander in 1900 by Fred Townsend who went on that trip.

You can find the article here. Of course, since internet pages have a habit of going down over time, I’ve also included the full text in the screenshots below.

Now, if you’ve been paying attention to my most recent posts, you’ll understand some of the basic differences between the football of the time and the game we know today. The game back then was much more like rugby, except peppered with stoppages for each new scrimmage.

It’s interesting to know, though, that the captain felt that Michigan was in no position to play 3 games in the space of a week. At least somebody in those days had sense.

And there you have it — a rare first person account of the earliest days of the American brand of football.