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 very 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 1898 , the Spanish - American War began . As a result , many of the team ' s recently signed players ended up in the United States Arm ] . Looking for a solution to the problem , Duquesne manager William Chase Temple went out and signed up replacement players . Temple succeeded , and he received excellent results , when it was noticed that some of the replacements actually ended up being even more talented than the original contracted stars . However that August , the war ended , with an American victory , and the soldiers quickly returned home . As a result , the Duquesnes suddenly found themselves with a surplus of pro football stars under contract . The team had so much depth , that it ' s benchwarmers would have starred for lesser teams . The amount of talent on the field was also reflected on the team ' s ledgers . Due to the high payroll , Temple eventually took over the payments to the athletes , thus becoming the first individual professional football team owner . After a 7 - 0 - 1 season , the Duquesnes ' team was being compared favorably with the 1896 team put together for a two - game stand by the Allegheny Athletic Association , featuring William Heffelfinger . Fielding an all - star team . However Latrobe manager Dave Berry knew the all - star depth of the Duquesne team . He then conceived the idea of opposing the Duquesnes with an all - star team that drawn from the best players from all the other area teams . A game between the two teams was then arranged for Saturday , December 3 , at Exposition Park . Berry began signing up stars , however he did not sign up everyone that he wanted . The leaders of the Greensburg Athletic Association opposed the game and did their best to discourage their players from taking part in it . The Washington & Jefferson Presidents football team also followed by disallowing their players from taking part in the game . Sam Boyle , an end from Penn State , was asked by Berry to be the team ' s captain , however he declined . No members from the Pittsburgh Athletic Club appeared on the team either . Berry was forced to rely heavily on his own Latrobe team , which fielded Eddie Wood , Doggie Trenchard , Harry Ryan , George Krebs , Bill Hammer , Jack Gass and Grennie Lewis . However George Barclay and Babe Rinehart , both from the Greensburg Athletic Association , decided to play on Berry ' s team despite the warnings given to them by Greensburg officials not to do so . The game . The All - Stars were outplayed by their Duquesne opponents . While both teams consisted of top tier players , the All - Stars consisted of lots of individual talent but no teammwork . Meanwhile , Duquesne played the entire 1898 season together and formed the bonds of teamwork during that time . A little into the 2nd quarter , Duquesne scored with a Roy Jackson touchdown . However they could not convert the extra point , and the score stood 5 - 0 at halftime ( touchdowns were only 5 points at the time ) . In the third quarter , Duquesne ' s J . A . Gammons ran 60 yards for a touchdown on a punt return . Roy Jackson scored Duquesne ' s third touchdown late in the game , after the team put together a scoring drive of 80 yards on just four plays . The extra point attempt failed , however the game ended in a 16 - 0 Duquesne win . Hours before the start of his all - star game , Dave Berry was " arrested " by one of his Latrobe players for a debt he claimed Berry owed him . Berry paid the $ 33 owed and then had the player arrested on false arrest charges . Attendence . Attendance for the game was only a mere 1 , 500 people . Part of the blame was due to many Pittsburghers considering the football season over with the Thanksgiving games . Uncertain weather was also blamed for the poor attendance . However most of the blame went to the leaders of the Greensburg Athletic Association , who were accused of spreading rumors that various star players would not appear in the game .