The Times-Picayune is marking the tricentennial of New Orleans with its ongoing 300 for 300 project, running through 2018 and highlighting the moments and people that connect and inspire us. Today, the series continues with what is recognized as the first organized, inter-club football game in New Orleans history.
THEN: New Orleans' interest in the then-still-developing game of American football dates at least to 1869, when "those crack ball clubs, the Lone Stars and the R.E. Lees" met at the Fair Grounds for a match, but it was hardly the same game fans today know.