The game has ancient origins, but in the late 19th century, Walter Camp helped shape football—the American kind—into the sport we know today.

Let’s take a closer look at Walter Camp, the man who started it all. Who Is Walter Camp? Camp — born on April 7, 1859, in New Britain, Connecticut — was an intriguing man who served on various collegiate football rules committees that developed the American game from what it was to what we know it to be now.

Walter Camp invented American Football. He, often dubbed the “Father of American Football,” significantly shaped its rules in the late 19th century.