Author, journalist details how T. Roosevelt saved football
Feb 20, 2012
It’s one of the United States’ favorite pastimes today, but 100 years ago football as we know it was under attack from all directions. It was saved only by the conviction of an American president.
Football’s troubled history and Theodore Roosevelt’s love of the game will be the subject of “The Big Scrum — How Teddy Roosevelt Saved Football,” an event hosted by Grand Valley State University’s Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies.
John J. Miller, an author, journalist and professor, will share an intriguing, never-before-fully-told story of violence, controversy, and compromise.
'The Big Scrum — How Teddy Roosevelt Saved Football' will take place Tuesday, February 21, from 7:30-9 p.m. at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids.
An RSVP for the event is requested.
Miller’s presentation is based on extensive research and his book, “The Big Scrum,” which is about college football in its infancy and the culture clash it inspired. It’s about a vibrant cast of characters, Roosevelt above all, and the presidential foresight that set the game on a path to persist and thrive for nearly 150 years.
Miller is the director of the Dow journalism program at Hillsdale College. He’s the author of novels and works of nonfiction, and writes for the Wall Street Journal, National Review and other national publications.
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