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Professional American Football Championship Games
Below is a list of professional football Championship Games in the United States, involving: * the informal western Pennsylvania professional football circuit (WPC, 1890 to c.1910); * the 1902 "National" Football League and the World Series of Professional Football (WSF, 1902–1903); * the Ohio Independent Championship (OIC, 1903–1919); * the New York Pro Football League (NYPFL, 1916–1919); * the American Professional Football Association and the National Football League (NFL, 1920–present); * the All-America Football Conference (AAFC, 1946–1949); * the American Football League (AFL, 1960–1969); * the World Football League (WFL, 1974–1975); * the United States Football League (USFL, 1983–85); * the XFL (2001); * the United Football League (2009–2011); * and any inter-league challenge games that included at least one champion of a major, or borderline-major, league. Prior to 1920, no national professional football league existed, and play was scattered across s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Pennsylvania Professional Football Circuit
The Western Pennsylvania Professional Football Circuit was a loose association of American football clubs that operated from 1890 to approximately 1940. Originally amateur, professionalism was introduced to the circuit in 1892; cost pressures pushed the circuit to semi-professional status from about 1920 through the rest of its existence. Existing in some form for 48 years, it was one of the longest-lived paying football loops to operate outside the auspices of the National Football League. The football clubs of the 1880s and 1890s were amateur teams. They were under the membership of an athletic club, which provided both sports and the ability to wager money on the sports. However, the prestige and increased membership that could come from a successful team, led these clubs to begin secretly hiring talented players. The amateur athletics that these clubs engaged in were policed by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU). By the mid-1890s allegations of professionalism became known to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Preston Marshall
George Preston Marshall (October 11, 1896 – August 9, 1969) was an American businessman best known for founding the Washington Commanders, an American football franchise belonging to the National Football League (NFL). He founded the team as the Boston Braves in 1932 and was its controlling owner until his death in 1969. Marshall, a supporter of racial segregation, was the last NFL owner to integrate African Americans onto a roster, only doing so in 1962 under pressure from the federal government, which threatened to block the use of D.C. Stadium, which they owned, unless he did. Life and career Marshall was born in Grafton, West Virginia, where his parents, Thomas Hildebrand ("Hill") Marshall and Blanche Preston Marshall, owned the local newspaper. When he was a teenager, his family moved to Washington D.C. after his father bought a laundromat business there. He briefly attended Randolph–Macon College before quitting school at age 18. He pursued acting and was an extra for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philadelphia Athletics (NFL)
The Philadelphia Athletics were a professional American football team based in Philadelphia in 1902. The team was member of what was referred to as the National Football League. This league has no connection with the National Football League of today. The whole "league" was a curious mixture of baseball and football. During the league's only year in existence, two of the three teams that were financed by the owners of the Philadelphia Athletics and the Philadelphia Phillies, hence the names Philadelphia Athletics and Philadelphia Phillies. The Pittsburgh Stars made up the third team and was suspected of being financed by the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team. History Origins The Athletics began as a part of the baseball wars between the National League and the new American League that began in 1901. In Philadelphia, the AL's Athletics lured several of the NL's Phillies from their contracts, only to lose them again through court action. When Phillie owner John Rogers decided to st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1901 Homestead Library & Athletic Club Football Team
The 1901 Homestead Library & Athletic Club football team won the professional football championship of 1901. The team was affiliated with the Homestead Library & Athletic Club in Homestead, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh. The team featured a lineup of former college All-Americans paid by Pittsburgh Pirates' minority-owner William Chase Temple. Organization In 1898, William Chase Temple took over the Duquesne Country and Athletic Club, becoming the first individual team owner in professional football. In 1900, most of the Duquesne players were hired by the Homestead Library & Athletic Club, by offering them higher salaries. Over the next two season (1900 and 1901), Homestead fielded the best professional football team in the country and did not lose a game. In August 1901, former Brown University player Dave Fultz (1875–1959) was hired as the captain of the Homestead team. Fultz played right halfback for Homestead and also played professional baseball from 1898 to 1905. Play ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Akron East Ends
The Akron East Ends was an amateur American Football team that played in the Ohio League, a forerunner to the National Football League. They played in Akron, Ohio, from 1894 until at least 1904. Its primary rivals were the amateur Canton Athletic Association (which eventually evolved into the professional Canton Bulldogs), the Shelby Blues, and later the Massillon Tigers. The team became known as the Akron Athletic Club around 1904. History The East Ends, along with the Akron Imperials and the Akron Blues, were one of the top amateur teams in Akron. According to Professional Football Researchers Association founder Bob Carroll; Akron was, for several years prior to 1903, a top contender for the Ohio Independent Championship (OIC), though this was in the days before the association became a force in the professional game; there is a record of an "East Ends" team losing 30-0 to the nation's best team, the Homestead Athletic Club from Pittsburgh, on November 24, 1900 (though this mi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1900 Homestead Library & Athletic Club Football Team
The 1900 Homestead Library & Athletic Club football team won the professional football championship of 1900. The team was affiliated with the Homestead Library & Athletic Club in Homestead, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh. The team featured a lineup of former college All-Americans paid by Pittsburgh Pirates' minority-owner William Chase Temple. Organization In 1898, William Chase Temple took over the Duquesne Country and Athletic Club, becoming the first individual team owner in professional football. In 1900, most of the Duquesne players were hired by the Homestead Library & Athletic Club, by offering them higher salaries. Over the next two season (1900 and 1901), Homestead fielded the best professional football team in the country and did not lose a game. The 1900 team reportedly paid its player "from $50 to $100 a game plus 'expenses.'" After two years as captain of the Duquesne team, Dave Fultz from Brown University was hired by Homestead and served as the team's captain. O ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1898 Western Pennsylvania All-Star Football Team
The 1898 Western Pennsylvania All-Star football team was a collection of early football players, from several teams in the area, to form an all-star team. The team was formed by Dave Berry, the manager of the Latrobe Athletic Association, for the purpose of playing the Duquesne Country and Athletic Club, which fielded a team composed of many of the game's stars from the era. The game between the two clubs ended in a 16-0 Duquesne victory and is considered to be the first all-star game for professional football. Contrary to popular belief, while the game was held at Exposition Park, which would be currently located inside of the city limits of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the 1898 location of the game was Allegheny, Pennsylvania which was not incorporated into the city of Pittsburgh until 1907. History Origin At the end of the Duquesne Country and Athletic Club's 1897 season, the club signed a number of talented players to contracts for the upcoming 1898 season. However, in April ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 football club to play a full season while composed entirely of professional players. In 1895, team's quarterback, John Brallier, also became the first football player to openly turn professional, by accepting $10 and expenses to play for Latrobe against the Jeannette Athletic Club. Origins In 1895 the local Latrobe YMCA organized a local football team and announced that the team play a formal schedule. With the decision, Russell Aukerman, an instructor at the club and a former halfback at Gettysburg College, was named as a player-coach. Meanwhile, David Berry, an editor-publisher of a local newspaper, the ''Latrobe Clipper'', was chosen as the team's manager. Harry Ryan, a former tackle from West Virginia University, was then elect ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 Greensburg Athletic Club, the team began as an amateur football club in 1890 and was composed primarily of locals before several professional players were added for the 1895 season. In 1894 it was discovered that the team had secretly paid formerly Indiana Normal (now Indiana University of Pennsylvania) player, Lawson Fiscus, to play football and retained his services on salary. The team was the chief rival of another early professional football team, the Latrobe Athletic Association. Aside from Fiscus, the Greensburg Athletic Association included several of the era's top players, such as: Charlie Atherton, George Barclay, Ross Fiscus, Jack Gass, Arthur McFarland, Charles Rinehart, Isaac Seneca and Adam Martin Wyant. Several of these play ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duquesne Country And Athletic Club
The Duquesne Country and Athletic Club was a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1895 until 1900. The team was considered one of the best, if not the best, professional football teams in the country from 1898 until 1900. However, the team is most famous for being the first football franchise to be owned by an individual, William Chase Temple. Origin The Duquesne Country and Athletic Club, started playing in 1895 and at first intended to use only amateur players. However, after four games, before playing the Pittsburgh Athletic Club, they began hiring stars and soon became the most professional team in the city. 1898 Duquesne fielded the best team in Pittsburgh since 1895. In 1898 the Duquesnes decided to build an even better team. After the 1897 season, the club had signed a number of good players to contracts for the next year. However at this time, many of the players went into the army in the spring to fight in the Spanish–American War. This l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pittsburgh Athletic Club (football)
The Pittsburgh Athletic Club or the Pittsburg Athletic Club football team, established in 1891, was based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1892 the intense competition between two Pittsburgh-area clubs, the Allegheny Athletic Association and the Pittsburgh Athletic Club, led to William (Pudge) Heffelfinger becoming the first known professional football player. Heffelfinger was paid $500 by Allegheny to play in a game against Pittsburgh on November 12, 1892. As a result, Heffelfinger became the first person to be paid to play football. Allegheny would go on to win the game, 4–0, when Heffelfinger picked up a Pittsburgh fumble and ran it 35 yards for a touchdown. In 1893, Pittsburgh again made history when it signed one of its players, probably halfback Grant Dibert, to the first known pro football contract, which covered all of the team's games for the year. History Origins In 1891 the Pittsburgh Athletic Club, then called the East End Gymnasium Club, decided to field a footbal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which is today the North Side of Pittsburgh. History Origins The Allegheny team was assembled in 1890. At that time athletic clubs and associations, ranging from the best with extensive facilities to local organizations with minimum meeting rooms, were in their prime as a source of fraternal fellowship for athletes. In most sports, Allegheny provided very little competition for the more established East End Gymnasium Club (EEGC), which in 1892 became the Pittsburgh Athletic Club. Allegheny soon took up football largely when the club discovered that it could give them a recruiting edge over the East Enders. Many Allegheny club members had gone to eastern colleges and played football. Members O. D. Thompson and J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
