In 1905 the nature of the sport of football was still being defined and two of the forces attempting to figure out how this game ought to be played were on the one hand the teams from the Carlisle School and on the other hand Ivy League teams such as Harvard and Yale. The Ivy League players were bigger and stronger than the Carlisle players; Carlisle had to innovate and outwit to stay competitive. Carlisle pushed for a measure of finesse in the game whereas the Ivies wanted the sport to be about brute force and grinding it out.

There was a big problem with playing the Ivies' brand of football: It was dangerously unacceptably violent. In 1905 19 people died playing the sport. Colleges became scared. Columbia University canceled its football program and Harvard is said to have considered following suit. President Theodore Roosevelt a football fan met with the colleges and indicated that steps needed to be taken to loosen this game up or it would cease to exist.

The revised rules made it clear to Carlisle's coach Pop Warner that a team like his would have a shot at beating anyone if they could master the forward pass. Warner had a breakthrough: Rather than chucking the ball end-over-end perhaps a ball thrown with a spiral motion would yield superior distance and accuracy and be easier to catch.

A pivotal moment came on November 23 1907. Twenty-seven thousand had gathered to watch the University of Chicago the best team in the country play a home game against the Carlisle Indians. Chicago's defensive strategy was clear and effective: Every time the ball was snapped clobber the Carlisle receivers often knocking them out of bounds. On the game's key play Albert Exendine one of the greatest receivers of the era having been knocked over the sideline continued running and came back in bounds down the field where he caught a beautifully-thrown spiral pass. Exendine scored easily on that play and the Carlisle Indians won the game 18-4.

Sally Jenkins put the moment in perspective: Carlisle's triumph in 1907 "is when American football became the sport that you watch today."

Presented here is a rare and exceptional photo of the groundbreaking 1907 Carlisle Indians football team. The 1907 Indians were coached by Glenn Scobey "Pop" Warner (pictured top row far left) in his 6th year as head coach who guided the team to a record of 10-1 outscoring opponents 267 to 62.

Little did this team realize that the player in the third row from the top second from the right was about to embark on what would be one of the finest athletic careers of the 20th century. Jim Thorpe's Indian name was Wa-Tho-Huk which means "Bright Path". Who could have known how prophetic that would be? After an outstanding collegiate career Thorpe went on to win both the Pentathlon and the Decathlon at the 1912 Olympics as well as excelling in both major league baseball and football.

The black and white photo has undergone some restoration including mounting on conservation paper. There are areas of surface wear and creasing that have been minimized by slight inpainting. None of this significantly detracts from the exceptional clarity and overall presentation of the image. This easily ranks as one of the most significant football photographs we have ever handled.