Dave Berry David J . Berry was a major football manager during the late 19th and early 20th centuries . He was the top promotor for the sport during that time period . He is credited with inventing the " all - star game concept " in 1898 , and also helped to form one of the first organized football leagues in 1902 . Latrobe . He was the manager of the Latrobe Athletic Association the first ever fully professional football team to play an entire season . He was also signed John Brallier to the Latrobe football team in 1895 , for $ 10 a game plus expenses , making him the first - ever openly professional football player . Outside of pro football , Berry was the editor of the " Latrobe Clipper " newspaper . All - Star game . Berry was also the inventor of the all - star game . In 1898 , Berry organized a team of local stars to play the Duquesne Country and Athletic Club , the Pennsylvania " football champions " that season . He came up with the idea of opposing them with an all - star team culled from Latrobe , Greensburg Athletic Association , Washington & Jefferson College , the Pittsburgh Athletic Club , and Pittsburgh College . Berry was able to form the 1898 Western Pennsylvania All - Star football team , however Greensburg and Washington & Jefferson refused to commit players , or allow them to play . Many of his players came directly from Latrobe . Still Berry ' s All - Star Game ended in a 16 - 0 Duquesne win . The game also resulted in a poor showing of attendance , with only 1 , 500 fans in attendance at Pittsburgh ' s Exposition Park . 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 the various star players would not appear in the game . Hours before the start of his all - star game , 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 . NFL ( 1902 ) . Berry also helped form the first National Football League in 1902 , with Ben Shibe and John Rogers . Shibe and Rodgers , owners of the Philadelphia Phillies and Philadelphia Athletics respectively , decided to field football teams to compete with each other during the baseball wars , that pitted the National League against the upstart American League . However both men needed to have a Pittsburgh - based team in their football league to add legitimacy to their league . So they contacted Berry who put together an all - star team of top players , that were named the Pittsburgh Stars . The Stars were owned by Berry on paper , however Barney Dreyfuss and William Chase Temple , owners of the Pittsburgh Pirates were rumoured to be funding the team . Meanwhile Shibe and Rogers named their teams after their baseball counterparts . Berry was also named the league ' s president . In the league ' s only season , Berry ' s Pittsburgh Stars defeated the Philadelphia Athletics , 11 - 0 at the Pittsburgh Coliseum to win the league championship . The 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 Day , 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 Berry used his power as league president and name his Stars the 1905 champions .