Hiya! Well it sounds like you're buying, or maybe you both are :)

First up, you may be confusing football with basketball, which was invented in the US but by a Canadian - there's some discussion on that here.

As for American and Canadian football, they're just two of the many derivatives of ball-type games from the UK. Here are a few previous posts; they talk about the origins of football in general, and the evolution of the various "codes" (variations like Association Football aka "soccer", rugby, gridiron, Aussie-Rules, Gaelic, etc). But what we don't have is a clear origin story for Canadian football (and particularly in relation to American football: which came first? is one derived from the other?), so hopefully someone can chip in with that. Regardless, let's dig in:

A quick introduction:

• How exactly are the different football codes (NFL, Aussie Rules, Rugby, Soccer etc) related? Has anyone attempted creating a phylogeny chart of these sports? - this is a good starting point because it talks a bit about the old ball games, and there's even a link to a video of one of the few remaining games of that type in the UK

• Nearly all of the world's most popular sports seem to have been invented in English-speaking countries. Why? - a little more on early origins

• NFL Football is so obviously modeled after Rugby, but named after Soccer. How did that happen? - a few more example sports

Details:

• Can anybody explain when and how rugby, football, soccer, etc. developed? - this one goes into depth on the origins of the various codes

• Why is football not a major sport in many countries of the former British Empire? - an even deeper dive into American football

Bonus thread:

• How legit is the theory that the word soccer was invented in the United Kingdom? - mostly for fun, since I ran into this thread while searching for the above

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