Meet the first professional football player: William “Pudge” Heffelfinger. Pudge played for the Chicago Athletic Association team against West Point at the Chicago’s World Fair game in 1893. One of the very first night football games in history, lasting just 40 minutes, CAA won 14-0.
Football was a popular, and very competitive, attraction between local athletic clubs at the time – Pudge was recruited and compensated for his athleticism with a lofty $500 fee (about $13,000 today).
Learn more about the game’s history here.
