Philadelphia Athletics ( NFL ) The Philadelphia Athletics were a professional American football team based in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania 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 fiananced 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 start a football team , the Athletics followed suit . A ' s owner Ben Shibe fielded a team made - up of several baseball players as well as some local football talent . He appointed his baseball manager Connie Mack as the team ' s general manager and named former Penn player , Charles " Blondy " Wallace as the team ' s coach . Each Philadelphia team was named after their respective baseball clubs and became the Philadelphia Athletics and Philadelphia Phillies . However both Rogers and Shibe knew that to lay claim to the World Championship , they had to play a team from Pittsburgh , which was the focal point of football at the time . They called upon Dave Berry , pro football promoter , and a Pittsburgh team was soon formed . These three teams are all that made up the first NFL . Upon hiring Wallace as coach of team , Shibe primarily put Mack in the manager position to watch over Wallace . Mack wasn ' t an expert on football , but he had always been careful with Shibe ' s money and his sports teams . Nevertheless , Wallace beagn signing the best football talent available . The Phillies had a headstart , but A ' s soon caught up until Philadelphia rosters began to look like a " Who ' s Who of Phialdelphia Football talent " . Rube Waddell . Many of the baseball players from the Major League Baseball teams . The Athletics ' star left - hander , Rube Waddell . When in the mood , he could throw a baseball better than anyone in the world , but he wasn ' t always in the mood . Newspapers of the time charitably referred to Waddell as " eccentric " while others ranked him between " screwball " and " nutsy . " When football began , Connie saw a chance to keep his star in line for a few months more . He signed the lefty on as an extra lineman , against Waddell ' s recommendation that he be placed at halfback . While there is no mention of Waddell ’ s name in any lineups or game accounts , Wallace may have let the lefty into a few games when the score was safe . Regardless , it was no secret to anyone that the Rube was there to be watched . 1902 Season . First Stars game . The league played all of its games on Saturdays , since there were no Sunday sports events according to Pennsylvania blue laws in 1902 . The teams began playing various colleges and local football clubs before finally playing each other . On November 8 , the Stars traveled to Philadelphia to play the A ' s . In the first half Pittsburgh scored two touchdown s but failed on each extra point attempts ( PAT ) . In 1902 , the PAT was more difficult than those of today . It had to be kicked from a point straight out from where the ball crossed the goal line on the TD . If the angle was bad , the scoring team ' s fullback punted the ball out into the field from behind the goal line . The extra point man had first to field the punt - out , and then , kick from where he ' d caught the ball . If the fullback couldn ' t give the kicker good field position , he didn ' t stand a chance on his try . The Athletics also got a touchdown and added the point . Until 1912 a touchdown counted only five points , so the score at the half stood 10 - 6 . However , the A ' s were not content to be the first team to score against the Stars ; they added a second - half field goal — also five points , the same as a touchdown . Under modern scoring , the game would have been a 12 - 10 Pittsburgh victory . In 1902 scoring it was 11 - 10 , Philadelphia . Issues with Waddell . However was still more committed to baseball than football and worried more about losing Rube Waddell than any football game . In Elmira , Waddell was tempted to remain in a town that was the home of one of the biggest manufacturers of fire engines , which he loved . Mack had to then convince Rube to saty with the team . Then the night before the first championship game try with Pittsburgh , Connie caught Rube sneaking into the hotel long after curfew . After being delivered a lecture by Mack , Waddell turned return to his hotel room . However , a loaded pistol dropped out of his pocket and went off . The bullet missed Mack ' s head by inches . First championship try . The Athletics had split on the 1902 season with the Phillies , as had Pittsburgh . Although a Philadelphia victory on Thanksgiving Day would give the A ' s the championship hands down , a win by the Stars could tie the league race tighter than a toper on Saturday night . The game going to be billed by Dave Berry , the league president and manager of the Stars , as the championship game . Mack prepared the A ' s for the big game by playing an exhibition tour through northern Pennsylvania and southern New York . In Elmira , New York the Athletics joined in the first night game in pro football history . Lights were set up along the sidelines and giant searchlights glared from behind the goal posts . When Mack agreed to the championship game , he was promised $ 2 , 000 in return for his team ' s participation . When he saw that the stands were practically empty , he refused to play until his team was paid their share of the gate . With the stands almost empty , it looked as if the game wouldn ' t be played . However , Mack soon after received a check for $ 2 , 000 from William Corey , the head of Carnegie Steel who impatiently wanted to see the game , and the game soon began . Corey got his money ' s worth , if he liked evenly matched games . Both teams played at their best and sweated to a scoreless tie . It was a fair verdict , but Dave Berry ' s " championship game " hadn ' t decided anything . 1902 Championship . Another championship game was soon planned between Berry and Mack . The crowd was a little better that day , but not by much . Only about 2 , 000 fans showed up . With less than three minutes left in a scoreless game , neither team had yet been able to score a point . Everyone was about ready to contend with another tie . However , a late fumble led to a Pittsburgh touchdown and another touchdown soon followed . The Stars won the championship . Meanwhile the Athletics went home and beat the Phillies to wrap up second place . It was a nice win and gave them the city championship . Controversy . With the win , A ' s players decided to call the Stars game an exhibition , and declared themselves the champs . However , the team had agreed to that season - ending championship game against Pittsburgh the Saturday after Thanksgiving , and they had lost it . This was recognized by all parties at the time as the championship game . Each team carried a record of 2 - 2 for league play . Pittsburgh had by far the better point ratio , scoring 39 points to their opponents ' 22 . Both the Athletics and the Phillies gave up more points than they scored in their league games . Finally Dave Berry used his power as league president and name his Stars the 1905 champions . In late December of that same year the 1902 World Series of Football was held at Madison Square Garden in New York City . While neither the Phillies nor Athletics participated in this event , several members of both squads joined together on a team known variously as " New York " , the New Yorks and the New York Philadelphians . The " New York " team played in the first indoor football game against the Syracuse Athletic Club . The Philadelphia Athletics Football Club finished the 1902 season some $ 4000 in debt . Mack reorganized the team for the 1903 but the squad played only two games , a 0 - 12 defeat at the hands of the Watertown Red & Black and a 6 - 0 victory over the All - Syracuse eleven , before folding .