10 Football Facts Featuring U.S. Presidents

Question

adapted from the National Archives

President Obama is an avid football fan, an interest shared by many of his predecessors in the White House. As young men, several future Presidents played football in high school and college. Other Presidents have enthusiastically assumed the role of First Fan by hosting football teams, viewing parties, and sports writers at the White House. In fact, the history of modern American football is full of Presidential cameo appearances, both on and off the field.
William J. Clinton hosted Super Bowl parties at the White House. President Clinton invited friends and family to watch the Super Bowl from the Family Theater at the White House in 1993, 1994, 1997, and 2000. The Clintons' Super Bowl party was held at Camp David in 1999.
George H. W. Bush was the first President to perform the Super Bowl coin toss in person. On February 3, 2002, former President Bush went onto the field of the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans to conduct the coin toss for Super Bowl XXXVI. He was accompanied by Dallas Cowboys quarterback alum, Roger Staubach.
Ronald Reagan's second inauguration marked the first time Super Bowl Sunday coincided with Inauguration Day. Ronald Reagan was sworn in for his second term on January 20, 1985, the same day as Super Bowl XIX. President Reagan also performed the game's coin toss via satellite from the Oval Office. Earlier that day, President Reagan had taken the Oath of Office privately at the White House since Inauguration Day fell on a Sunday. The next day, the swearing-in was repeated in a public ceremony at the U.S. Capitol.
John F. Kennedy played on the junior varsity football team at Harvard. He would later quip, "Politics is an astonishing profession—it has…enabled me to go from being an obscure member of the junior varsity at Harvard to being an honorary member of the Football Hall of Fame."
On November 9, 1912, Dwight D. "Ike" Eisenhower was injured tackling Jim Thorpe, the legendary American Indian athlete and future first President of the National Football League. Thorpe had just won gold at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, and Ike was a cadet at West Point. The two men faced off in a game between the Carlisle Indian Institute and the Army. Contrary to popular belief, Ike's tackle of Thorpe did not result in the injury that ended his football career, which instead occurred in a later game against Tufts University.
Herbert Hoover attended the first-ever football game between Berkeley and Stanford. Hoover entered Stanford University in its inaugural year, 1891. One year later, he was present for the first "Big Game" football rivalry between the University of California at Berkeley and Stanford University.
Theodore Roosevelt helped to legalize the forward pass. In 1905, football was under scrutiny after 18 deaths related to the sport were reported. President Roosevelt invited college officials to the White House saying "Football is on trial. Because I believe in the game, I want to do all I can to save it."
2
Select all the correct answers.
Read the following sentence from the passage.

Contrary to popular belief, Ike's tackle of Thorpe did not result in the injury that ended his football career, which instead occurred in a later game against Tufts University.

Which three sentences correctly paraphrase the sentence?

Eisenhower's injury that occurred in the game against Tufts University put an end to his football career, not his tackling Thorpe (the National Archives).
Eisenhower's football career did not end when he tackled Thorpe, as people believe, but when he was injured playing Tufts University (the National Archives).
Contrary to popular belief, Eisenhower's tackle of Thorpe did not result in the injury that ended his football career (the National Archives).
Eisenhower's injury that occurred in the game against Tufts University put an end to his football career (the National Archives).
Most people believe Eisenhower's football career ended when he tackled Thorpe, but that injury happened playing Tufts University (the National Archives).
The injury caused to Thorpe by Ike in a football match put an end to Thorpe's football career (the National Archives).

Answer 1

- Contrary to popular belief, Eisenhower's tackle of Thorpe did not result in the injury that ended his football career (the National Archives).
- Most people believe Eisenhower's football career ended when he tackled Thorpe, but that injury happened playing Tufts University (the National Archives).
- Eisenhower's football career did not end when he tackled Thorpe, as people believe, but when he was injured playing Tufts University (the National Archives).