The American version of football has been in existence since Rutgers and Princeton tossed the ol' pigskin around in 1869, and it only took another 50-plus years for the NFL to be established.

And since the World Cup will wrap up this weekend, perhaps now's a good time to wonder why Americans call this game football while the rest of the world refers to soccer as football or futbol (probably, the better question is why Americans refer to football as soccer)?

Although it's too late to switch the vernacular now, this unnamed letter-writer to the NY Times had a pretty good idea more than 100 years ago about what to call this sport that so many love so dearly (H/T to Adrienne LaFrance).

Point to you, good sir or madam!

And great news for those proponents of a change in the name.

Coming this fall from CBSSports.com: the Eye on Hand-Egg blog!!!