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First Professional Football Game

First Professional Football Game is a Pennsylvania historical marker in Allegheny County, dedicated 1992.

Near Heinz Field, North Shore (Pittsburgh)

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On November 12, 1892, at Recreation Park a few blocks NW of here, the Allegheny Athletic Association defeated the Pittsburgh Athletic Club, 4-0. The winning touchdown was scored by William ("Pudge") Heffelfinger, who received $500 for playing. He was the first football player known to have been paid outright, and pro football traces its origin from this game.

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library

Historical maps covering this location

Allegheny, Washington, Greene counties, 1872, covering the location of First Professional Football Game, with a pin at the marker's coordinates
Allegheny, Washington, Greene counties, 1872, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.
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What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

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Marker data: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission via data.pa.gov

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