Jack Cusack Jack Cusack ( 1890 – 1973 ) was one of the prominent early figures in professional football in Ohio . At the age of twenty - one , Cusack became the manager and owner of the Canton Bulldogs , one of the leading teams of the day . During his six years with the Canton Bulldogs , Cusack led the team to Ohio League championships , in 1916 and 1917 , and was responsible for bringing Jim Thorpe into professional football . Cusack also is responsible for helping revive the Bulldogs following the Canton Bulldogs - Massillon Tigers Betting Scandal , which eroded public support for the game from 1906 until 1911 . He also ensured that the Bulldogs had a sturdy financial foundation for when they would later enter the National Football League . In 1918 , Cusack left football to enter the oil and gasoline business in Oklahoma . He later worked as an independent oil operator in Fort Worth , Texas . Early life and the Bulldogs betting scandal . Cusack developed a love for professional football during the early days of the Canton Bulldogs franchise , then headed up by Blondy Wallace . In 1906 though the Bulldogs were accused of throwing a game to rival Massillon Tigers . Making one of the earliest accusations was Victor Kaufmann , who had lost a heavy bet on the disputed contest . Right after the Bulldogs returned to Canton , the day of the 13 - 6 loss to Massillion , Kaufmann and Cusack went to the Courtland Hotel Bar , where most of the Bulldogs had congregated to post - mortem the game . There a fight broke out after Kaufman accused the Bulldogs of throwing the game . The fight engulfed the whole bar and police had to be called in . Kauffman and Cusack escaped the bar , before the police showed up . In his book , " A Pioneer in Pro Football " , Cusack still believed , years later , that the Bulldogs and Wallace threw the game . Pro football . A Canton team was organized in 1912 , with all games held at League Park , owned by Ed Piero and Dr . Lothamer . The new organization was called the Canton Professionals for fears that the old Bulldog name would bring back memories of the 1906 scandal . In 1912 this time , at the age of 21 , Cusack became the team ' s secretary - treasurer , at no cost to the team , as a favor to Roscoe Oberlin . However Cusack was disliked by the current Professionals manager H . H . Halter . Cusack later went behind Halter ' s back to sign a contract with Peggy Parrett ' s Akron Indians , concerning conditions for a match between the two squads , something Halter was unable to do . When Jack ' s actions were discovered by Halter , he tried to dispose of Jack ' s services through a team meeting . However during the meeting the team sided Cusack , after discovering that he had secured a 5 - year lease on League Park for the Pros . The result was Halter being removed from the team , and Jack being named the team ' s new manager . As manager of the Pros , Cusack slowly added star college players to his roster along with the local sandlotters who constituted the bulk of the team . To make the team more profitable he had 1 , 500 seats added to League Park . Also Jack felt that the Pros had to live down the 1906 scandal and gain the public ' s confidence in the honesty of the game . It was his theory that if he could stop players from jumping from one team to another , it would be a first step in the right direction . Therefore , the managers made a verbal agreement that once a player signed with a team he was that team ' s property as long as he played , or until he was released by management . Finally Cusack revived the Canton - Massillon rivalry in 1915 . With the rivalry , fans began referring to Canton as the " Bulldogs " again . Soon afterwards Cusack reinstated the team ' s former name . Signing Thorpe . Just before Canton ' s first game with the newly revived Massillon Tigers , Cusack signing the Jim Thorpe , the Sac and Fox Indian from Oklahoma who was then rated as the world ' s greatest football player , and all - around athlete . He had Thorpe under contract to play for Canton for $ 250 a game . Thorpe ended up being a huge draw for Canton bringing record numbers of fans to the games . Canton lost the first game to the Tigers 16 - 0 , however they won the second game 6 - 0 . Under Cusack the Bulldogs won the 1916 and 1917 Ohio League Championships . Even with World War I taking place , Canton still had a tough team . However with more players going into the armed forces , football came to a halt until after the Armistice , in November 1918 . Oil Business . After leaving high school in 1907 , Jack went to work as an office employee for the East Ohio Gas Company , a subsidiary of the Standard Oil . When professional football took a hiatus for World War I . Jack returned to the oil business in Oklahoma . In the spring of 1919 he received a letter from Ralph Hay stating that he would like to carry on with the team if he was not returning . Ralph , who was a very good friend of both Thorpe and Jack , was acquainted with most of our 1916 and 1917 players , and therefore was in position to organize a team from that foundation . Jack decided to let Hay go ahead rather than withdraw from his oil operations . he transferred the lease on League Park to Hay . Back to football . In 1921 , Cusack left Arkansas , after contracting malaria , for Canton . There met up with Thorpe , who was now playing for the Cleveland Tigers . He hired Cusack to look after his personnel affairs as he felt the he wasn ' t receiving his full amount of gate money owed to him . he later found out that when Cleveland played in a baseball venue , the stadium personnel would take a larger cut for themselves and leave the rest for the players . He also found out that over 800 - 900 complimentary tickets were given out per contest , far above the allowable amount . Cusack soon found himself collecting all of the monies due to the every Tigers player . Even when the treasurer of the Tigers tried to run off with over $ 3 , 750 owed to the team , Cusack and Thorpe tracked him down and returned the money to the players . he soon became the manager for the Tigers for two games before quitting in 1922 . Cusack later became an independent oil operator living in Fort Worth , Texas .