00:00Have you always wondered why a football is shaped the way it is?
00:04Looks like a potato that's been yelled at too much.
00:06Well, let's rewind to the 1800s.
00:09American-style football was still trying to figure out what it wanted to be when it grew up.
00:13And what did they use for a ball?
00:15A pig bladder.
00:16And that's why we refer to it as the pig skin.
00:19They would inflate these bladders by mouth, tie off the ends, and wrap them in leather.
00:23But as the game evolved, they eventually ditched the pig's bladder and replaced it with rubber, but kept the shape.
00:29It actually has a name.
00:30Prolate spheroid.
00:31That's correct.
00:32That's a fancy math term for pointy on both ends and impossible to explain at parties.
00:36It made the ball easier to throw, flashier to catch, and more hilarious when fumbled.
00:41Fumble!
00:42So the next time you see that oddly shaped ball spiraling through the air like a caffeinated torpedo,
00:48just remember, it all started with a pig's internal organ, a rubber upgrade, and a complete disregard for symmetry.
00:55The Always Wondered Podcast.
