Meet the American who gave flight to football, Bradbury Robinson, college star who threw first forward pass

St. Louis University star Bradbury Robinson ushered in a new era for football when he threw the very first forward pass in 1906 as rules changes took place to make the game safer.

It nearly happened as gruesome violence on the gridiron in the early 1900s spurred calls from pigskin prohibitionists to spike football. "I had worked on forward passing, and at the time the pass was introduced I was the only finished passer in the country." "Football might have been abandoned. It might have been outlawed. It might have been erased from our cultural landscape."  "President Theodore Roosevelt … made it clear he wanted reforms amid calls by some to abolish the college game."  "The ball he would have thrown would have been the shape of a watermelon."  The game of football was off and flying. "The forward pass made the game both safer – and more exciting."  Kerry J. Byrne is a lifestyle reporter with Fox News Digital.

St. Louis University star Bradbury Robinson was the first player to take a shot downfield to save football and beat the blitz that threatened to sack the popular but deadly sport.