Primary Source Spotlight: Football
This primary source spotlight shines a light on the sport of American football.
Spinner Play, lithograph by American artist Benton Spruance – guided primary source analysis activities
Football films
- President Roosevelt at the Army-Navy game 1902
- Princeton and Yale football game 1903
- Chicago-Michigan football game 1903
Sports Byline USA radio program football audio recordings
- Jim Brown 08-15-2002
- John Elway 01-24-2003
- Archie Griffin 06-25-1993
- John Mackey 07-05-1991
- Barry Sanders 01-15-2004
- Reggie White 12-26-2005
Topics in Chronicling America – The 1905 Movement to Reform Football
More historic newspaper coverage of football
Books about football 1871-1923
“Football” poem by Louis Jenkins
U.S. legislation related to football
National Football League background information and links Library of Congress Business Reference Services
Library of Congress blog posts
- Are You Ready for some Football? In the Muse, February 4, 2010
- Armchair Quarterback Inside Adams February 5, 2011
- As a Matter of Fact, We ARE Ready for Some Football Now See Hear! September 9, 2015
- College football season is almost over but before we bid it adieu . . . Inside Adams, January 5, 2010
- Football: Bowl Season, the NFL and the Galloping Ghost Library of Congress Blog December 10, 2021
- Football Through Film and Other Primary Sources Teaching with the Library of Congress January 31, 2019
- Primary Sources in Science Classrooms: Concussions, a Century of Controversy, and Football, Teaching with the Library of Congress, November 4, 2015
- Tales of Football and Italian Americans Picture This, December 20, 2013
- Thanksgiving and Football: A Unique American Tradition Teaching with the Library of Congress, November 22, 2012
- Turf Wars on the Football Field Inside Adams blog, February 1, 2013
Today in History primary source collections