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The first Unofficially paid Professional Football player had been “Pudge” Heffelfinger in 1892 in Allegheny Atheltic Association. While the Amateur Football Union still forbade the payment of players clubs like the A.A.A. paid players secretly and in 1894 after winning the Unofficial Western Pennsylvania Pro Football Circuit (the Pittsburgh Area was where early Pro Football flourished) Championship in 1894 the A.A.A. learned they were under investigation for possible payment of players leading to the team not defending its title in 1895.

It fell to Washington & Jefferson High School star quarterback John Brallier became the first openly paid professional player, winning “$10 plus Cake” to play for Latrobe YMCA while he was also playing for Washington & Jefferson High School and the local College. Latrobe YMCA won its first two games under him, and after he left to play for his school when term started they won two more.

Meanwhile, Greensburg Athletic Association, the “Greenies” were putting up a six-game winning streak which included a victory to start with against fellow-Westmoreland County team Latrobe YMCA. Pittsburgh Athletic Club, dubbed the Red and White were also putting up big scores against opponents on the way to a 6-0 start through October 1895.

Duquesne Country and Athletic Club (the Red and Blacks) were also scoring high against opponents, which included the famed Carlisle Indian School and two Universities, including the University of Pennsylvania which stopped by on its way to the National Championship. Back then there were less official rules governing players moving between teams and teams playing teams from Amateur, Professional, High School, College and University alike.

Towards the end of the year in November, a seroes of games between the Big Four saw Duquesne Country and Athletic Club defeat Greensburg Athletic Association 12-0 and then in the following week, an unofficial third place game saw Latrobe YMCA (the Orange and Crimson) defeat Greensburg AA, gaining revenge for an earlier defeat. Latrobe were helped by the return of Brallier, after the end of the Washington & Jefferson High School President’s season.

The same weekend the top two teams in the Circuit, Duquesne Country and Athletic Club and Pittsburgh Athletic Club, met before 10,000 fans in Pittsburgh’s East End Stadium for the Unofficial title game. Duquesne emerged 10-6 winners, and despite a 4-3-1 (Wins-Losses-Ties) record were assured the Championship having beaten the only two previously undefeated teams in Greensburg AA and Pittsburgh AC and having played a tougher schedule.

The DC & AC had also scheduled two matches against Universities including the National Champion (The Universities were stronger than the Pro teams in those days) as well as games against the top “Amateur” side in the Country (Chicago AA) and the Carlisle Indian School, a team of formidable Native Americans at the Indian School in Pennsylvania, who had been defeating all before them. Greensburg had also scheduled a game gainst a non-Pennsylvania team: the Tigers of Wheeling in nearby West Virginia.

All this money floating around Western Pennsylvania back then was down to the booming Coal-mining and Oil-drilling industries in Pennsylvania at the time. Brallier would be famed as the first openly Pro (American) Footballer in history, gaining a free-pass to every NFL game after his contribtion to Pro Football was acknowledged in the 1930s, although the honour of the first Pro would later be granted to “Pudge” Heffelfinger in 1892, Brallier was the first openly-Pro player.

The money at the time was significant. PAC made a profit of $4,500 for the year and Greensburg AA $4,000. A man by the name of Donovan, an Irish name, broke free in the deciding game between Duquesne and Pittsburgh with the score 6-4 to Pittsburgh. his touchdown (then worth four points) and resulting goal kick gave Duquesne a 10-6 win.

References

Bibliography

[1] Professional Football Researchers Association (2011) “Ten Dollars and Cakes: The “Not Quite” First Pro 1895” The Early History of Professional Football. pg. 113-122. PFRA Publications. Connecticut. Available online at the Pro Football Researchers Association at: http://www.footballresearch.com/articles/frpage_topic_1895.html [accessed 31 August 2020]

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Claire Daly, Rebecca Martin, Deirdre and Jason

About this document

Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the

Irish North American and World Sports Archive

Last Updated: 31 August 2020

(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2020

You are free to copy this document in whole or part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All Rights Reserved.

Major League Teams 1873-Present

Notes

[1] Watertown Red and Black competed in the World Series of Football in 1902 and 1903. The team is still around playing in the Empire Football League (New York City / New Jersey). It is like the Notts County of American Football.

[2] Washington Redskins were formed in 1932 as the Boston Braves, and moved to Washington changing their nickname in 1936. They retired their logo and nickname in 2020 under pressure from Native American groups who saw it as racist. Team provisionally renamed Washington Football Team is considered as separate team by Eirball like the Tennessee Titans / Houston Oilers.

[3] Houston Oilers name retired by the National Football League in 1995 after they moved to Tennessee and renamed themselves the Titans. Eirball considers them separate teams.

Report

The first Major League Football teams still in existence were formed in Canada in the late 19th century (Toronto Argonauts 1873 and Ottawa 1876), and later that century the first Major League American Football teams – Watertown Red and Black, who played in the first World Series of Football in 1902 and are still in existence in the Empire Football League in New York City / New Jersey – like the Notts County of American Football.

The Arizona Cardinals were the fourth team formed as the Morgan Athletic Club in an Irish neighborhood of Chicago, later becoming the Normals, then the Chicago Cardinals, St. Louis Cardinals and Arizona Cardinals.

The National Football League was formed in 1920 with the Green bay Packers, Chicago Cardinals (now Arizona) and Chicago Bears among early members and during the first half of the 20th Century the NFL and Canadian Football League each added teams (up to 12 in the case of the NFL and 9 in the case of the CFL).

In 1960 the American Football League started in the Western half of America primarily, which had been neglected by the NFL. By 1970 when the NFL and AFL merged as the National Football Conference and American Football Conference in the NFL in 1970, playing the Super Bowl between the winners, the two leagues had 26 teams between them, including the first teams in the South other than in Texas, Washington DC and Baltimore.

In 1976 there was a small expansion in the NFL when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks were added, but the next big expansion had to wait until the mid-1990s. Between 1995 and 2002 the NFL added five teams in the Southern states of America, bringing the total up to 32.

In the 1910s the Liga Football Americano de Mexico was started, which is the first Professional Football League to gain Major League recognition (from the CFL). It currently has 8 teams and was followed in 2020 by the Raiders starting a new life in Las Vegas and the Washington Football Team retiring the Redskins name and logo.

References

Bibliography

[1] National Football League (2014) “Past Standings” 2014 Official NFL Record & Factbook” pg. 350-399. National football League, Time Home Entertainment. 2014.

[2] Maher, Todd & Gill, Bob (2013) Canadian Pro Football EncyclopediaHistorical Highlights pg. 1-2. Maher Sports Media, 2013.

Websites

[3] Liga de Futbol Americano Profesional (2018) LFPA Standings [Internet] Available from: http://lfa.mx/home/standings/ [Accessed 20 January 2018]

[4] Liga de Futbol Americano Profesional (2018) LFPA Calendario [Internet] Available from: http://lfa.mx/home/calendario/ [Accessed 14 April 2018]

[5] Liga de Futbol Americano Profesional (2018) LFPA Standings [Internet] Available from: http://lfa.mx/standings/ [Accessed 14 April 2018]

[6] Liga de Futbol Americano Profesional (2018) LFPA Calendario [Internet] Available from: http://lfa.mx/calendario/ [Accessed 14 April 2018]

[7] American Football International (2016) Mayas Win First Liga de Football Americano Championship Game In Mexico [Internet] available from: http://www.americanfootballinternational.com/mayas-win-first-liga-de-futboll-americano-championship-game-mexico/ [accessed 5 August 2018]

[8] LFA Mexico (2019) Standings [Internet] Available from: https://lfa.mx/standings/ [Accessed 15 April 2019]

[10] Liga Football Americano Mexico (2020) Standings [Internet] Available from: https://lfa.mx/standings-lfa-2020/ [Accessed 17 April 2020]

[11] Watertown Red and Black (2020) Home [Internet] Available from: https://www.watertownredandblack.com/ [Accessed 30 August 2020]

Internet Archive

[12] Liga de Futbol Americano Profesional (2018) LFPA Standings [Internet] Available from: http://web.archive.org/web/20161106181310/http://lfa.mx/home/standings/ [Accessed 20 January 2018]

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Decy Maher and John Kane.

About this document

Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the

Eirball | Irish, North American & World Sports Archive

Last Updated: 30 August 2020

(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2020

You may quote this document in part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All Rights Reserved.AdvertisementsAdvertisements