Ira Lawson Fiscus (1866-1949) was one of the first professional
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
players. He attended
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
, where his outstanding play at
offensive guard
Offensive may refer to:
* Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative
* Offensive (military), an attack
* Offensive language
** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...
earned him the title Samson of Princeton, before going on to play professionally with the
Allegheny Athletic Association
The Allegheny Athletic Association was an athletic club that fielded the first ever professional American football player and later the first fully professional football team. The organization was founded in 1890 as a regional athletic club in A ...
in 1891 and the
Greensburg Athletic Association
The Greensburg Athletic Association was an early organized football team, based in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, that played in the unofficial Western Pennsylvania Professional Football Circuit from 1890 until 1900. At times referred to as the Greensb ...
in 1893. His brothers
Ross Ross or ROSS may refer to:
People
* Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan
* Ross (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning
* Earl of Ross, a peerage of Scotland
Places
* RoSS, the Republic of Sou ...
and Newell also played for Pittsburgh-area athletic clubs and were highly regarded as players.
Early life
Lawson was the son of a farmer and he grew up in
Indiana County, Pennsylvania
Indiana County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the west central part of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 83,246. Its county seat is Indiana. Indiana County comprises the Indiana, PA Mic ...
. He was just one of sixteen children. All of his brothers were athletic and largely built, however Lawson was considered the toughest of family.
Football
Princeton
Lawson may have played some informal football at Indiana Normal School (now
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) is a public research university in Indiana County, Pennsylvania. As of fall 2021, the university enrolled 7,044 undergraduates and 1,865 postgraduates, for a total enrollment of 9,009 students. The univ ...
) in the late 1880s. By 1891, he and Ross played well enough to receive "liberal expense money" to go to
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
and play for the Allegheny Athletic Association. In 1892, Lawson was recruited to play football at Princeton University. At the time, college football was considered more prestigious than professional football. While at Princeton, Fiscus played guard and excelled at the position. However, he dropped out of school and returned home after the 1892 season.
Professional football
In 1893, Lawson played for both the Allegheny Athletic Association and the Greensburg Athletic Association. Both clubs were thirty miles apart. While Allegheny used Fiscus on the offensive line, Greensburg placed him at
halfback. Lawson became a teacher in
South Fork in 1894.
However, Greensburg secretly offered him $20 a game to play with their Athletic Association. Fiscus quickly took the job, making Greensburg the third football team in three years to hire professionals.
Greensburg then enjoyed their best season to date. Their only loss to a club from
Altoona was avenged with
a 6–4 victory at home on Thanksgiving Day. Other wins came over the
Kiski Kiskiminetas, Indiana Normal,
West Virginia University
West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College ...
, the
Carnegies of Braddock, Holy Ghost College (now
Duquesne University
Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( or ; Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a private Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, Duquesne first opened as the Pittsbu ...
), and the
Jeannette Athletic Club
The Jeannette Athletic Club, also referred to as the Jeannette Indians, was an early football team, based in Jeannette, Pennsylvania from 1894 until around 1906. The team is best known for its role in the Latrobe Athletic Association's hiring of ...
.
The Jeannette incident
During the first half was of the Jeannette game Fiscus got into an altercation with an unknown Jeannette player. Several accounts of the incident describe Fiscus kicking the Jeannette player in the face. However, the ''
Pittsburgh Press
''The Pittsburgh Press'' (formerly ''The Pittsburg Press'' and originally ''The Evening Penny Press'') was a major afternoon daily newspaper published in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1884 to 1992. At one time, the ''Press'' was the second larg ...
'' reported that he tripped the guy and "purposely tramped on his neck." Either way, Jeannette immediately petitioned the referee to expel Fiscus from the game, while Greensburg defended Fiscus's actions. The arguments continued through to the second half of the game. Finally, either Jeannette or Greensburg stormed off the field in protest, and the game was declared a scoreless draw.
1896
In 1896 Lawson and his brother Ross Fiscus played the halfback slots for Greensburg, while his other brother Newell became the team's
offensive tackle
Offensive may refer to:
* Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative
* Offensive (military), an attack
* Offensive language
** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...
.
The team accumulated a 5-0-0 at the end of October and had a final record of 6-1-1. This was Greensburg's best finish since the team began playing football in 1890. In 1897 Fiscus helped Greensburg win the "Western Pennsylvania football championship."
After football
Fiscus continued to play football with Greensburg for the next several years. He was later involved in businesses throughout the years. Still later, he became a police chief in
Youngwood, Pennsylvania
Youngwood is a borough in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States.
History
The community was established in 1899 and was built on land owned by John Y. Woods, a farmer. In creating the name Youngwood, John Y. Woods took his own family na ...
. For the longest time sports historians were convinced that pro football had begun in 1895 when the
Latrobe Athletic Association
The Latrobe Athletic Association was a professional football team located in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, from 1895 until 1909. A member of the unofficial Western Pennsylvania Professional Football Circuit, the team is best known for being the first fo ...
offered to pay
John Brallier
John Kinport "Sal" Brallier (December 12, 1876 – September 17, 1960) was one of the first professional American football players. He was nationally acknowledged as the first openly paid professional football player when he was given $10 to play f ...
$10 to play against Jeannette. However just before his death in 1949, Fiscus announced he was paid $20 by Greensburg a year earlier and believed himself to have been the first pro football player.
Today, Fiscus is the sixth player known to have been openly paid to play football.
However, after looking at the list of the first several professional football players, Fiscus seemed to be unaware that some of his Allegheny Athletic Association teammates in 1893 had been salaried.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fiscus, Lawson
Players of American football from Pennsylvania
People from Indiana, Pennsylvania
IUP Crimson Hawks football players
Princeton Tigers football players
Allegheny Athletic Association players
Greensburg Athletic Association players
19th-century players of American football
1866 births
1949 deaths