Guides
The History of Football
Watch How Football began on Sports in 60
A short timeline for the four leagues on this desk. The dates come from NFL.com, the 2026 CFL Guide, NCAA.org, and the UFL. How the leagues work has the playing rules, the trophies, and the clubs.
A paid player, and a Canadian title
NFL.com, citing the Pro Football Hall of Fame, points to a November 1892 game between athletic clubs in Pittsburgh as the first documented case of a player being paid to play. William “Pudge” Heffelfinger was paid $500.
The 2026 CFL Guide traces its own title game to 1892 as well, as the Dominion Senior Championship, when the Canadian game was still amateur.
The NCAA
NCAA.org says the association was founded in 1906 to protect college athletes. It now works across three divisions. The college desk on this site is FBS.
The start of the CFL East
The 2026 CFL Guide says today’s East Division began in 1907 as the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union, with Toronto, Hamilton, Montreal, and Ottawa as founding cities.
The Grey Cup
The same guide says Governor-General Lord Albert Grey donated the trophy in 1909. The championship game from that year on gradually became known as the Grey Cup.
The American Professional Football Association
NFL.com’s account of the league’s 100th birthday quotes the minutes of September 17, 1920, in Canton, Ohio: a motion to form the American Professional Football Association. Ten franchises were at that meeting. Four more signed on soon after. Jim Thorpe was elected president.
That account says the first game featuring an APFA team was September 26. A week later, Dayton defeated Columbus in the first game between two APFA teams. The NFL 100 page dates the Dayton game October 3, 1920, and says the Triangles won 14–0 at Triangle Park.
The NFL 100 page says that after the 1920 season the Akron Pros were awarded the APFA championship and the Brunswick-Balke Collendar Cup.
Fritz Pollard, and the Staleys move
NFL.com says that in 1921 the Akron Pros named Fritz Pollard their head coach, the first Black head coach in league history. The same year A.E. Staley turned the Decatur team over to George Halas, who moved it to Chicago.
The National Football League
NFL.com says that on June 24, 1922, George Halas moved to change the association’s name to the National Football League.
The NFL 100 page says the Canton Bulldogs won the championship in 1922 and again in 1923. Of the clubs at the 1920 meeting, it says the Cardinals and the Bears are the two still in operation.
The start of the CFL West
The 2026 CFL Guide says the West Division began in 1936 as the Western Interprovincial Football Union, with Winnipeg, Regina, and Calgary as founding members.
The Canadian Football League
The guide says the league was established at meetings from January 17 to January 19, 1958, in Winnipeg. The Canadian Football Council was renamed the Canadian Football League, and G. Sydney Halter was named the first commissioner. The East and West unions merged under that name.
The first Super Bowl
NFL.com says the game now called Super Bowl I was played in January 1967 under the name First AFL-NFL World Championship Game.
The Vince Lombardi Trophy
NFL.com says the Super Bowl trophy was renamed the Vince Lombardi Trophy in 1970. Lombardi had won the first two Super Bowls with the Green Bay Packers.
A Grey Cup in Winnipeg, and a UFL office in Arlington
The 2026 CFL Guide lists the 112th Grey Cup at Winnipeg in 2025. Its cover shows Trevor Harris raising the Grey Cup for the Saskatchewan Roughriders, that club’s first since 2013.
On January 29, 2025, the UFL said Arlington, Texas would be the year-round football operations home for its eight teams, with offices at 1401 Nolan Ryan Expressway.
The United Bowl, and the next Grey Cup
The UFL’s 2026 schedule announcement set a 10-week regular season that opened Friday, March 27, and a championship on Saturday, June 13, at Audi Field in Washington, D.C. The league later said the Louisville Kings captured that United Bowl.
The CFL Guide lists the 113th Grey Cup for Sunday, November 15, 2026, at 4 p.m. MT at McMahon Stadium in Calgary.
Sources
NFL.com: the league’s 100th birthday
Super Bowl trophy renamed the Vince Lombardi Trophy
2026 CFL Guide and Record Book