Tweet   This episode we fire up the DeLorean and head back to explore the life and career of William "Pudge" Heffelfinger, the First Professional Football Player.  He was an excellent guard at Yale University in the late 1800’s, but his biggest contribution to the game of football was being known as the first documented professional football player.  Pudge Heffelfinger's account as the first professional player paved the way to transform the game into what you and I now know as the National Football League.  Strap on your seatbelt, and let’s get ready to take this baby up to 88mph.
 
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Read Full Transcript Early NFL historians believed a 16-year old quarterback named John Brollier, from Indiana College in Pennsylvania was the first professional football player because he accepted $10 and some expenses to play a football game on September 3, 1895. They were wrong, and this travesty wasn’t discovered until about 80 years later. In this episode, I’m going to give you the name of the true first documented professional football player and how a book on the field at the Battle of Gettysburg can be linked to Kirk Cousins and the NFL.
THE FIRST DOCUMENTED PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL PLAYER'S EARLY LIFE
When we step off our time-traveling Delorean in this episode, we end up in Minneapolis, MN. The date is December 20, 1867, which is the date our hero was born. Our hero’s name is William “Pudge†Heffelfinger, and he would end up going down as the first documented professional football player. His mother was Mary Ellen Totten, and his father was Christopher B. Heffelfinger. Throughout the episode, I refer to William Heffelfinger as “Heff†more than I do “Pudge.†Growing up as a boy, his father owned a successful shoe manufacturing company, and his family rose to prominence in the area. Heff attended Central High School in Minneapolis, where he was a star athlete. It was even said he played baseball and football at the nearby University of Minnesota during his junior and senior years in high school.
THE COLLEGE YEARS
Heff had originally intended to go to the University of Minnesota, which he already had a previous relationship. However, a Yale alumnus was in attendance at one of his high school games and realized how much of a beast this dude was, so he recruited him to play football at the prestigious Yale University. It was discussed in the previous episode how Yale was a powerhouse of a football team in the nation, so being recruited to this school was a big deal. Rumor had it the Yale alumnus even volunteered Heff to ensure he would pass the entrance exam. During his first freshman practice, his undoubtedly enormous size was recognized by William Herbert “Pa†Corbin. He was 6’3†and 210 pounds of pure destruction to his opponents. However, even though he was physically capable of overpowering his opponents, it was said the team didn’t feel Heff quite met the nastiness standards of the time for a Yale football player. A quote from William Herbert himself described how Howard Knapp was able to turn the beast mode on the inside of Heff. The quote went as such: “The freshman Heffelfinger was 6 feet 3 inches in height, weighed 210 pounds and looked like the most demure, gentle, self-effacing individual that could be imagined. His usual posture was head bowed, shoulders stopped, eyes to the ground, with no idea whatever of his marvelous power and nature-given ability to strike terror in his opponents. Knapp did everything possible by word and deed to arouse Heff so that he would give all he had in him for the good of the Yale team. Finally, at his wit's end, Howar