William Heffelfinger William " Pudge " Walter Heffelfinger ( December 20 , 1867 – April 2 , 1954 ) was an American football player and coach . He is considered the first person to play football professionally . Playing career . Heffelfinger , a three - time All - American , played for Walter Camp at Yale University in 1889 , 1890 , and 1891 . He then played amateur football for the Chicago Athletic Association ( for which he was compensated with " double expenses , " as was a common practice at the time ) . First professional football player . In the 1960s a man known only as " Nelson Ross " walked into the office of Art Rooney , the president of the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League . After a brief discussion , the man gave Rooney a typed , 49 - page manuscript about the early history of pro football . Ross ' examination of Pittsburgh newspapers indicated that the first pro American football player actually was Pudge Heffelfinger , an all - American guard from Yale , who was hired to play for Allegheny on November 12 , 1892 for $ 500 ( $ in 2018 dollars ) . Up until then John Brallier , of the Latrobe Athletic Association , was considered the first professional American football player . The Pro Football Hall of Fame soon discovered a page torn from an 1892 account ledger prepared by Allegheny manager , O . D . Thompson , that included the line item : " Game performance bonus to W . Heffelfinger for playing ( cash ) $ 500 . " Though the payment was not verified until the acquisition of an Allegheny Athletic Association expense ledger from the day by the Pro Football Hall of Fame , this fee has established Heffelfinger as being the first professional American football player on record . The Pittsburgh Athletic Club had previously offered him $ 250 to play for them in the game , but he felt the amount was not enough to jeopardize his amateur status . On November 12 , 1892 , Heffelfinger was paid $ 25 for his expenses and a bonus of $ 500 ( far above and beyond even double his expenses ) by the Allegheny Athletic Association to play in a game against the rival Pittsburgh Athletic Club . The game was played at Recreation Park , which was located on Pittsburgh ' s north shore . The spot is marked by a historic marker . Although the payment for Heffelfinger ' s play was not published or admitted , his presence set off quite a controversy as Pittsburgh A . C . protested the presence of Heffelfinger and several other Chicago Athletic Association players in their line - up . Allegheny retaliated with the fact that Pittsburgh had imported players as well . The game ended in a 4 – 0 Allgheny win . Heffelfinger scored the game ' s only touchdown on a recovered fumble . A touchdown was only worth four points at the time . The next week , Allegheny paid former Princeton tight end Ben " Sport " Donnelly $ 250 to play alongside Pudge against Washington & Jefferson College . Despite having two pros in their line - up , the Allegheny would go on to lose the game , 8 – 0 . Coaching career . California . Heffelfinger took his first head football coaching job with the University of California , Berkeley for the 1893 football season and was the third person to be assigned to the post . His team achieved a record of 5 wins , 1 loss , and 1 tie . Lehigh . Heffelfinger was the third head football coach for Lehigh University in Bethlehem , Pennsylvania and he held that position for the 1894 season . His overall coaching record at Lehigh was 5 wins , 9 losses , and 0 ties . Minnesota . Heffelfinger also coached the University of Minnesota football team in 1895 . He led the team to a 7 - 3 record in his only season there . Highlights included victories over rivals University of Wisconsin – Madison and University of Chicago , outscoring their opponents 136 to 58 for the season .