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Description
Well, so the World Cup is underway, and while the U.S. is out of it (regrettably ), I figured it was time for me to do my patriotic duty and post this AH about an alternate American soccer scene, one which becomes as dominant (well, as dominant alongside baseball, hockey, and basketball) like the rest of the world.

Of course, this is (kind of) based on a TL "Gass3268" (no idea of his DA handle) had made on AH.com, especially for the setup. I just added my own spin to it.

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By the turn of the 20th century, America's version of what became gridiron football was in crisis mode. It was facing staunch opposition from the likes of Harvard University President Charles W. Eliot and other likeminded opponents who saw it as "a fight whose strategy and ethics are those of war." The game was essentially little more than a glorified melee, with what little rules they had routinely ignored, and players sometimes getting killed out in the field. Desparate to save the sport, President Theodore Roosevelt did try and tackle the injury problems with a couple of changes to the game, including bans on gang tackling and rugby-style mass tackling, introducing forward passes, and increasing the distance between first downs to 10 yards.

Despite this, tragedy still struck on 22 September 1906 when, during a college game between Harvard and the US Military Academy (one which President Roosevelt himself was in attendance), Harvard halfback (and All-American) Daniel Hurley would be hurled backwards by an Army defensive player in the middle of a 15-yard run, snapping his neck and killing him in the process. Horrified by what he just saw and what that might do to his son [1], the President would finally declare that the reforms were not enough, giving Eliot and his allies the ammunition they needed to end the sport. By 1910, gridiron football in the United States was dead.

At the same time though, there came another team sport that was vastly growing more popular in gridiron's stead. Association football had branched off from the sport which became rugby, and for the heads American Football Association (AFA), the Daniel Hurley tragedy provided them with a unique golden opportunity to become the governing football federation in America from which all football clubs would answer to. With President Roosevelt's backing, they would join the football federations of Argentina and Chile (as the first federations in the Americas) to join what would become FIFA.

By the 1920s, football was the fastest-growing sport in the country, sped up by the country's involvement in the First World War spread the sport to people across the country (especially to soldiers at the front). And with that growth came the establishment of various professional football leagues initially centered on the New York City and St. Louis areas before spreading to various parts of the country. However, with the onset of the Great Depression, many teams would fold over the course of several years, threatening the survival of the sport. It was in this environment that the two largest professional leagues, the National Association Football League (NAFBL) and the Football League of America (FLA) would agree to merge, thus forming what would become the National Football League or NFL.

Since that tumult of the 1930s, the NFL has grown in size and scope to become one of the largest and most-valued professional football leagues in the world. With 48 teams scattered across the U.S. and Canada, it is generally on par with some of the great football leagues of Europe, drawing a pool of star players from across the country (like the Seattle Seahawks' Russell Wilson, Marshawn Lynch, and Clint Dempsey, the Washington Redskins' Robert Griffin III and the Buffalo Bills' LeSean McCoy [2]) and around the Americas, such as Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez (both playing for the New England Patriots and contributing to its rise there) and Brazilian titan Neymar (playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers).

And all of this has propelled the United States, as the global superpower, to become one of the major football powerhouses in the world. Since their spectacular third-place finish in the inaugural World Cup in 1930, America has won four World Cups (in 1982, 1990, 1994, and 2014 [3]) and have played host to the event a record four times (in 1954, 1962, 1974, and 1994), with the fifth scheduled for 2026 on the 250th anniversary of its independence.

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So yeah, while just making the map became rather simple enough, I then decided (just as I was about to upload this the first time) to add the teams' logos while I'm at it, so that took the better part of four days. I did reach out to "Xibalba" (again, no DA handle that I yet know of) to ask if adding some of our world's NFL team logos was a good idea. While I sorta didn't get a good-ish response (I eventually decided to use (with some exceptions) a mixture of both NFL logos (modified if necessary) and the traditional soccer shield/patch/roundels thing, plus also use a number of logos from MLS teams), when I actually showed him the list, he was actually kind enough to let me keep the name of one of the teams he also had for his project (he even gave me his design for his team, so many thanks!)

Lastly (because you kinda know me by now if you follow me on DeviantArt), I want to dedicate this not to anyone on DeviantArt, but rather to my dearest friend who we met in high school K. O'Connell. Her birthday is on 9 July (which happens to be Argentina's Independence Day, as well as that of South Sudan) and I just thought that would be a nice way to mark her really-special day. So yeah, if you want to give a shout-out, please feel free.

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[1] Yes, Theodore Roosevelt III was actually a member of the Harvard University football team at the time
[2] Since gridiron football as we know it never becomes prominent in the American cultural landscape (replaced ofc by association football), many of the star players of our world's NFL would probably either take up football/soccer or another sport entirely (I could see the Manning brothers and especially Tim Tebow becoming decent baseball players). Of those players, (and this is what "Gass3268" originally said which I concur, since this was based on his TL) many would be drawn from its pool of wide-recievers running backs, tight-ends, defensive backs, linebackers, kickers, and punters, as well as a few quarterbacks here and there (mostly of the dual-threat/running variety). I'll probably also add to that by drawing from MLS's current pool of players.
[3] In fact, remember the 7-1 Mineirazo between Germany and Brazil in the 2014 World Cup? In this world, it was actually between Brazil and the U.S., with the U.S. winning by that same margin and then moving on to beat Argentina in the final.

Description
Well, so the World Cup is underway, and while the U.S. is out of it (regrettably ), I figured it was time for me to do my patriotic duty and post this AH about an alternate American soccer scene, one which becomes as dominant (well, as dominant alongside baseball, hockey, and basketball) like the rest of the world.

Of course, this is (kind of) based on a TL "Gass3268" (no idea of his DA handle) had made on AH.com, especially for the setup. I just added my own spin to it.

=================================================

By the turn of the 20th century, America's version of what became gridiron football was in crisis mode. It was facing staunch opposition from the likes of Harvard University President Charles W. Eliot and other likeminded opponents who saw it as "a fight whose strategy and ethics are those of war." The game was essentially little more than a glorified melee, with what little rules they had routinely ignored, and players sometimes getting killed out in the field. Desparate to save the sport, President Theodore Roosevelt did try and tackle the injury problems with a couple of changes to the game, including bans on gang tackling and rugby-style mass tackling, introducing forward passes, and increasing the distance between first downs to 10 yards.

Despite this, tragedy still struck on 22 September 1906 when, during a college game between Harvard and the US Military Academy (one which President Roosevelt himself was in attendance), Harvard halfback (and All-American) Daniel Hurley would be hurled backwards by an Army defensive player in the middle of a 15-yard run, snapping his neck and killing him in the process. Horrified by what he just saw and what that might do to his son [1], the President would finally declare that the reforms were not enough, giving Eliot and his allies the ammunition they needed to end the sport. By 1910, gridiron football in the United States was dead.

At the same time though, there came another team sport that was vastly growing more popular in gridiron's stead. Association football had branched off from the sport which became rugby, and for the heads American Football Association (AFA), the Daniel Hurley tragedy provided them with a unique golden opportunity to become the governing football federation in America from which all football clubs would answer to. With President Roosevelt's backing, they would join the football federations of Argentina and Chile (as the first federations in the Americas) to join what would become FIFA.

By the 1920s, football was the fastest-growing sport in the country, sped up by the country's involvement in the First World War spread the sport to people across the country (especially to soldiers at the front). And with that growth came the establishment of various professional football leagues initially centered on the New York City and St. Louis areas before spreading to various parts of the country. However, with the onset of the Great Depression, many teams would fold over the course of several years, threatening the survival of the sport. It was in this environment that the two largest professional leagues, the National Association Football League (NAFBL) and the Football League of America (FLA) would agree to merge, thus forming what would become the National Football League or NFL.

Since that tumult of the 1930s, the NFL has grown in size and scope to become one of the largest and most-valued professional football leagues in the world. With 48 teams scattered across the U.S. and Canada, it is generally on par with some of the great football leagues of Europe, drawing a pool of star players from across the country (like the Seattle Seahawks' Russell Wilson, Marshawn Lynch, and Clint Dempsey, the Washington Redskins' Robert Griffin III and the Buffalo Bills' LeSean McCoy [2]) and around the Americas, such as Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez (both playing for the New England Patriots and contributing to its rise there) and Brazilian titan Neymar (playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers).

And all of this has propelled the United States, as the global superpower, to become one of the major football powerhouses in the world. Since their spectacular third-place finish in the inaugural World Cup in 1930, America has won four World Cups (in 1982, 1990, 1994, and 2014 [3]) and have played host to the event a record four times (in 1954, 1962, 1974, and 1994), with the fifth scheduled for 2026 on the 250th anniversary of its independence.

=================================================

So yeah, while just making the map became rather simple enough, I then decided (just as I was about to upload this the first time) to add the teams' logos while I'm at it, so that took the better part of four days. I did reach out to "Xibalba" (again, no DA handle that I yet know of) to ask if adding some of our world's NFL team logos was a good idea. While I sorta didn't get a good-ish response (I eventually decided to use (with some exceptions) a mixture of both NFL logos (modified if necessary) and the traditional soccer shield/patch/roundels thing, plus also use a number of logos from MLS teams), when I actually showed him the list, he was actually kind enough to let me keep the name of one of the teams he also had for his project (he even gave me his design for his team, so many thanks!)

Lastly (because you kinda know me by now if you follow me on DeviantArt), I want to dedicate this not to anyone on DeviantArt, but rather to my dearest friend who we met in high school K. O'Connell. Her birthday is on 9 July (which happens to be Argentina's Independence Day, as well as that of South Sudan) and I just thought that would be a nice way to mark her really-special day. So yeah, if you want to give a shout-out, please feel free.

=================================================

[1] Yes, Theodore Roosevelt III was actually a member of the Harvard University football team at the time
[2] Since gridiron football as we know it never becomes prominent in the American cultural landscape (replaced ofc by association football), many of the star players of our world's NFL would probably either take up football/soccer or another sport entirely (I could see the Manning brothers and especially Tim Tebow becoming decent baseball players). Of those players, (and this is what "Gass3268" originally said which I concur, since this was based on his TL) many would be drawn from its pool of wide-recievers running backs, tight-ends, defensive backs, linebackers, kickers, and punters, as well as a few quarterbacks here and there (mostly of the dual-threat/running variety). I'll probably also add to that by drawing from MLS's current pool of players.
[3] In fact, remember the 7-1 Mineirazo between Germany and Brazil in the 2014 World Cup? In this world, it was actually between Brazil and the U.S., with the U.S. winning by that same margin and then moving on to beat Argentina in the final.