Pro football, and the NFL in general, has a long and storied history.
Diehard fans know that the NFL dates back to 1920 when it was known as the American Professional Football Conference (APFC) before dropping “Conference” and adding “Association” roughly a month later.
On this date, September 17, 1920, eleven professional football franchises created a new league called the American Professional Football Association.
The new league, later named the NFL, would elect Jim Thorpe as the first president of the league.#NFL #JimThorpe #SacFox pic.twitter.com/bvAiw1NxQB
— NDNSPORTS.COM (@ndnsports) September 17, 2024
The league was formed at the Hupmobile dealership in Canton, Ohio, now home to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Four states were the home of ten ball clubs participating in the APFA.
In 1922, the league changed its name to what we now know it as, the National Football League (NFL).
By 1932, 18 teams played in the NFL.
Of those, only the Green Bay Packers sport their original franchise name.
As interesting as that information is, what’s even more interesting is that the APFA did not field the first pro football game.
That distinction actually came nearly three decades earlier, in 1892.
Here is a look back at when America’s favorite sport first became professional.
The Steel City’s Athletic Club Rivalry
In 1892, the Pittsburgh Athletic Club began its third season of play.
Originally, the outfit was known as the East End Gymnastic Club and their chief rival was the Allegheny Athletic Association, located in north Pittsburgh.
The sport of football was fast becoming popular in Pennsylvania, where scores of future NFL Hall of Famers would later hail.
Due to the rise in popularity, Allegheny’s club membership alone boasted over 300 people.
That number put the AAA on the same level with the East End.
Football tailgating in 1892 and the Allegheny Athletic Association vs. the Pittsburg Athletic Club #pgh pic.twitter.com/xfXJAgTdto
— Pittsburgh History Pie (@PghHistoryPie) September 5, 2020
Around the time that both clubs were seeing enormous growth in men looking to beat up on each other for fun, many known athletic clubs throughout the eastern United States were taking care in finding good players.
Since each club was technically amateur (meaning they couldn’t pay their players), most found ways around the rules.
For example, athletic organizations found jobs for their players.
Other athletes pawned their trophies or watches they were awarded for large sums of cash.
Most players were given expense money for their travel and meals, and clubs would double the expense amounts to sweeten the deal.
Even then, athletic clubs stayed one step ahead of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) each time the organization came sniffing around.
If the AAU announced that a pay-for-play idea was against the rules, the clubs would find a new loophole.
East End and the “Three A’s” were not above such practices, and there were frequent allegations of professional tomfoolery leveled at both clubs by the other.
It was this practice that eventually led to the first official “professional” football game.
1892
During their first year as a team in 1890, East End went 0-2, then had a strong 6-0 record in 1891.
Meanwhile, the Three A’s were 3-2-1 in 1890 and 2-2-1 a season later.
Before 1892, East End became the Pittsburgh Athletic Club (PAC).
PAC began the ‘82 season 2-0 by a combined score of 44-0 over Western University of Pennsylvania and Greensburg Athletic Association, respectively.
Their third opponent, Johnstown Athletic Association, never showed, so the PAC team played against each other.
Allegheny beat Indiana Normal (later renamed Indiana University of Pennsylvania) 20-6.
130 Years Ago…
On November 13, 1892 William Walter "Pudge" Heffelfinger became the first professional American football player on record, participating in his first paid game for the Allegheny Athletic Association. pic.twitter.com/pxYUuO68dd— Poindexter (@Ahclem53) November 12, 2022
Three A’s next game on October 21 was against PAC, and the two sides roughed each other up long enough for the contest to end in a 6-6 tie.
Although neither team was victorious, Allegheny accused PAC of paying their player/coach, William Kirschner, with improper benefits that made him a professional.
No one could prove anything, but that didn’t stop both sides from angling for an edge before their next meeting on November 12.
One week later, Allegheny tied Columbia Athletic Club in Washington D.C., then lost to Geneva College, 18-2, in Beaver Falls on November 8.
PAC, meanwhile, beat Geneva, 18-6, on October 22 before losing to Penn State, 16-0, on November 5.
“Pudge”
From 1888 to 1891, William “Pudge” Heffelfinger was a three-time All-American guard for the Yale University Bulldogs.
Before attending Yale, Heffelfinger was a hotshot football and baseball player at Central High School in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
As a prep junior and senior, he also played both sports for the University of Minnesota.
Pudge (who was actually the opposite of pudgy at 6’3” and 195 pounds) continued to play ball after college when he suited up for the Chicago Athletic Club (CAC).
Pudge Heffelfinger got the ball rolling for Pro Football on Nov 12, 1892, when he accepted $500 from the Allegheny Athletic Association, near Pittsburgh. @pigskindispatch https://t.co/fpnnv89pg2 @FootballHistory @SportsHistoryHQ @FootballLearn1 #NFL pic.twitter.com/M0IKQAYPFM
— Pigskin Dispatch 🏈🎙️ (@PigskinDispatch) November 12, 2022
He was compensated by CAC through the tried and true method of receiving double expenses.
A few weeks before Allegheny and PAC were set to meet for the second time, Pittsburgh secretly offered him $250 (roughly equivalent to $8,727 in 2025 dollars) to play for them.
Heffelfinger didn’t feel the amount was large enough to end his amateur status, so he declined.
He was still listening to offers on November 12 as both clubs met at Recreation Park in Pittsburgh’s north side.
Today marks the 127th Anniversary of the BIRTH of PRO FOOTBALL#Pittsburgh Nov 12, 1892, William "Pudge" Heffelfinger, was openly paid $500 to play #Football. Making him the first professional football player in all of sports history!@espn @NFL @nflnetwork @steelers @CityPGH pic.twitter.com/v9Uf0uhQqp
— 🅾🅳🅳🅿🅸🆃🆃🆂🅱🆄🆁🅶🅷 (@OddPittsburgh) November 12, 2019
The Allegheny coaching staff allegedly approached Pudge before the contest and offered to double the amount that PAC had offered him.
Sure enough, $500 ($17,340 in 2025) proved too much to pass up, and Heffelfinger and a couple of his Chicago teammates quickly donned the colors of the Three A’s.
The Jig is Up?
When Heffelfinger lined up for Allegheny at the start of the game, the PAC players cried foul.
They knew he had turned down the team’s hefty offer, so the fact that arguably the nation’s best ball player was now lined up across from them was suspicious.
To counter the vicious accusations from the PAC players, Allegheny simply leveled their own accusations of Pittsburgh bringing in pros.
Spectators who bet on the game were incensed because having “pros” in the game might upset the outcome and, thus, their potential payday.
Because of that particular outcry, the two coaches decided that the game would be labeled an exhibition instead of a contest that counted in the league standings.
That made the betting lines cease immediately, which upset the bettors even more.
#onthisday
1892 – William "Pudge" Heffelfinger became the first professional football player when he was paid a $500 bonus for helping the Allegheny Athletic Association beat the Pittsburgh Athletic Club#football #pro #Pittsburgh pic.twitter.com/0R3pf7vHWk— Daily Sports History (@DailySportsHis) November 12, 2023
Finally, the game finally got underway, but tensions were high, to say the least.
While passersby looked on and the crowd grew, the players slammed into each other in a violence usually reserved for war.
During the game, Pudge solidified his bona fides by causing a fumble, grabbing the loose ball, and returning it for a touchdown.
Football rules at the time gave just four points for a touchdown.
When the final gun sounded, the score remained 4-0, and the Three A’s were victorious.
PAC players and fans were incensed but, as usual, no one could prove Pudge and his mates were paid.
In fact, it would be several decades until the scheme was officially verified.
Nelson Ross Exposes the Truth
Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney was in his office one day in 1960 when a man by the name of Nelson Ross asked to speak with him.
OTD 1933 Art Rooney signs a deal with the NFL to create a professional football team in Pittsburgh. This team would become a franchise like no other.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE PITTSBURGH STEELERS!!!! pic.twitter.com/Zjyk26pA73— VintageSteelers (@VintageSteelers) July 8, 2021
As the story goes, Ross talked to Rooney for a bit before handing him a thick document about football’s genesis.
Ross had discovered by looking through old newspapers that Heffelfinger was the first player paid to play the sport.
It had long been believed that John Brallier, a teenager, had been paid to play for a Latrobe, Pennsylvania team.
However, that was in 1895, and Pudge was paid three years prior.
Not long after Rooney was approached by Ross, the Pro Football Hall of Fame found a page from a ledger that once belonged to Three A’s manager Oliver David (O.D.) Thompson.
As if discovering the Holy Grail itself, a line on the ledger page read, “Game performance bonus to W. Heffelfinger for playing (cash) $500.”
Topping our list at #1 for our most Historic Artifacts is the 1892 Allegheny Athletic Association Accounting Ledger proving that William “Pudge” Heffelfinger was the first football player to be paid professionally.
More: https://t.co/N2TPQ5y9Wq pic.twitter.com/hKHB9QmOvk
— Pro Football Hall of Fame (@ProFootballHOF) April 6, 2020
The Hall later bought the original ledger and the rumors proved to be true.
Once clearly established as fact, pro football historians were able to conclusively show that the first “professional” football game was, in fact, played in 1892.
It was labeled a professional game because football’s first paid player (at least by written proof) was Heffelfinger.
P.S.
From 1893 through 1895, Heffelfinger was the head coach of three different colleges, the University of California, Lehigh, and then the University of Minnesota.
A few blocks away from where the immaculate reception happened pudge Heffelfinger was paid 500 dollars by the Allegheny athletic association in 1892 to participate in the first pro football game. #profootball #firstgame #nfl pic.twitter.com/1eAmWPSGBC
— kee osama (@kee_osama) August 21, 2024
He then left coaching and immersed himself in his family’s shoe business before the company went bankrupt in 1910.
Pudge’s next foray was in real estate and politics.
Although he was heavily involved in the business world, Heffelfinger also spent time with the Yale football team.
Even into his 50s, the first pro in the sport’s history scrimmaged against much younger Bulldog players, showing that he may have been old, but he was still tough as nails.
Pudge died on April 2, 1954, in Blessing, Texas, at the age of 86.
References
https://www.profootballhof.com/football-history/nov-12-birth-of-pro-football/
https://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-30D
https://www.houstonchronicle.com
https://profootballresearchers.com/archives/Website_Files/Coffin_Corner/08-An-01.pdf
https://www.profootballhof.com
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