Greensburg Athletic Association
Encyclopedia
The Greensburg Athletic Association was an early organized football
team, based in Greensburg, Pennsylvania
, that played from 1890 until 1900. The team began as an amateur football club in 1890 and was composed primarily of locals before several professional players were added for the 1895 season
. In 1894 it was discovered that the team had secretly paid formerly Indiana Normal (now Indiana University of Pennsylvania
) player, Lawson Fiscus
, to play football and retained his services on salary. The team was the chief rival of another early professional football team, the Latrobe Athletic Association
.
Aside from Fiscus, the Greensburg Athletic Association included several of the era's top players, such as: Charlie Atherton
, George Barclay
, Ross Fiscus
, Jack Gass
, Arthur McFarland
, Charles Rinehart
, Isaac Seneca
and Adam Martin Wyant
. Several of these players revolutionized the game during their playing careers. Charlie Atherton is credited with inventing the place kick
, and George Barclay invented the first-ever football helmet
. Meanwhile Isaac Seneca became the first Native-American
to earn All-American honors and Adam Martin Wyant was the first professional football player to become a United States Congressman
.
The team's home games were played at Athletic Park (which was later renamed Offut Field). The field is still in use as football field by Greensburg Salem High School
and, up until 1993, Greensburg Central Catholic High School
.
The Greensburg Athletic Association kicked off its inaugural season
in 1890. Their first game resulted in 6–6 tie against Indiana Normal (IUP
), while losing their first-ever home game to the Kiskiminetas Springs School (Kiski Prep)
, 34–4. A group of college students, which of whom returned home to Greensburg for Thanksgiving
vacation, played for the team for a game against an unknown Pittsburgh club to close out the season. However the team, filled with supplement players, lost to the Pittsburgh club by a narrow margin. During the 1891 season
, the club suffered from at least two known losses against two of the two top football athletic clubs in Pittsburgh: the Pittsburgh Athletic Club
and the Allegheny Athletic Association
. Meanwhile, the result of an earlier game against Indiana Normal remains unknown. Meanwhile the surviving records of the club's 1892 campaign
show only two games being played, resulting in two losses against Western University of Pennsylvania (today the University of Pittsburgh
), 6-2, and the Pittsburgh Athletic Club, 28-0.
In 1893, Greensburg placed a higher emphasis on its football program. The results of three of the four games from that season
remain unknown. The team's fourth game, against the Pittsburgh Athletic Club, resulted in 10–0 loss.
, for $20 a game plus expenses. While Fiscus did play for Greensburg as an amateur in 1893, he was actively recruited by several other teams as professionalism in football begain to take hold. Fiscus played informal football at Indiana Normal, even before it even fielded a school team. He has also played at halfback
for the Allegheny Athletic Association as well as for Princeton University
.
During the 1894 season
, Greensburg jumped out to a 5-0 record, before losing 10-0 against the Altoona Athletic Club. A week later, a game against the Jeannette Athletic Club
, ended at halftime due to disagreement between the two teams. The disagreement regarded the tough play of Greensburg's Lawson Fiscus, who was accused of kicking or stepping on the face of one of the Jeannette players, during the game. A rematch between Greensburg and Altoona was held on Thanksgiving Day
. This time though, Greensburg defeated Altoona, 6-4 in front of about 2,500 fans. During this era, please note that a touchdown
accounted for four points and the “goal after
” for two. Greensburg finished a highly successful season with a record of 6-1-1 and led to an increased interest in football throughout Western Pennsylvania. Fans now turned out in large numbers for games, and even accompanied the team by train to road games. And while Fiscus was the only paid player on the 1894 team, several other pros joined him in 1895.
, from nearby Latrobe
, which served as Greensburg's chief rival. The Latrobe team had an impressive squad led by John Brallier
who became the first football player to admit to being a paid professional. Greensburg won the opening game 25–0 to start the season 2–0. However problems arose when Lawson, and two former Penn State University players, Charlie Atherton
(who was also the team's coach), and Ed Robison, turned down Greensburg's offer of $125 a month each to play for the upstart Duquesne Country and Athletic Club
, located in Pittsburgh. However the community raised some extra money to give the players a better offer than Duquesne. As a result, all three players stayed with Greensburg. After a 6–0 start the team tied the Pittsburgh Athletic Club 0–0 at Exposition Park
.
The following week, Greensburg was defeated by the Duquesne Country and Athletic Club in Pittsburgh, 14-0, in what was seen as a controversial game. A local resident with ties to Duquesne was substituted for the scheduled official. This resulted in what the Greensburg Daily Tribune
called bad officiating and “thievery”. A touchdown was said to have been scored by Duquesne after time was called, along with rough play. However Greensburg soon recovered and finished their season with a 9-1-1 record. However the score and the outcome of Greensburg's final game against Latrobe is disputed by historians. While Greensburg and Latrobe records both indicate a 4-0 Greensburg win, one Pittsburgh newspaper reported the game ended in 4-0 Latrobe victory.
became the team's fullback
and coach, and two more Fiscus brothers, Ross
and Newill, were added to the team. Greensburg began their season 5–0, which included wins over the Pittsburgh Athletic Club and Latrobe. The team was acclaimed by Pittsburgh papers at mid-season as being the best in Pennsylvania. During a game against a squad from Beaver Falls
, Greensburg's Tom Donohoe ran 44 yards with an intercepted pass
. [Note: Pass was probably a lateral
, since the forward pass
was not legal until 1906].
On October 17, Greensburg defeated the Pittsburgh Athletic Club for the very first time, posting a 14-0 win at home. All three of the game's touchdowns were scored by Lawson Fiscus. On October 31, Greensburg defeated Latrobe, 10-4. In the stands there was considerable betting over whether Latrobe would score or not. Late in game Latrobe's Doggie Trenchard scored a touchdown, led to a Latrobe newspaper stating that “Greensburg got the game and Latrobe got the cash.”
However Greensburg's hopes of winning a state championship were dashed when the club was finally defeated by the Duquesne Country and Athletic Club in Pittsburgh, 18-4, on November 14. The game was followed by a scoreless tie with Pittsburgh Athletic Club. Greensburg did recover from their road trip to post a 10-0 win over Latrobe on Thanksgiving Day to end the season 6-1-1.
marked the pinnacle of the professional football era in Greensburg. That year's squad had 27 players, which included a number of new ones. Among those players was George Barclay
, of Millville
, who played a halfback at Bucknell University
and Lafayette University
. Barclay brought several of Lafayette top players with him to Greensburg to enhance the team. Greensburg went on to post a 10-1 record. The team's only defeat came at a 12–6 loss in the ninth game to Latrobe. However the outcome of that game was reversed by a 6–0 score in a season-ending rematch at Latrobe. Greensburg, along with Washington and Jefferson College
, had the best football records in Pennsylvania for the 1897 season. Barclay, however, was the only Greensburg player among the eleven named by the Pittsburgh Times
to their “All-Western Pennsylvania” team.
The start of the 1898 season
saw optimism in Greensburg with the return of ex-coach Charlie Atherton. However, some of the players from the 1897 season had bigger offers to play elsewhere and left the team. Replacing these players proved hard since the amount of money, to lure new talent to Greensburg, was hard to come by in a small city.
Greensburg's first game that season was against, their rivials, Latrobe. The game was played on a field, so muddy that the game had to be delayed at one point so that mud could be removed from the eyes, nose, mouth and ears of Latrobe’s Ed Abbaticchio, who was buried in the mud on one of his carries. Latrobe went on to win the game 6-0 (4-0 by other accounts). The 1898 season would go on to be marred with another loss to Latrobe, and ties against Duquesne Country and Athletic Club and the Pittsburgh Athletic Club. However the team later turned things around to finish the season strong. In the final game of the season, Greensburg beat rival Latrobe 6-0 at Latrobe. According to the Greensburg Daily Tribune, the end of the game was marred by stoning and spitting on Greensburg players and fans, “boorish conduct by ruffians,” resulting in one player being injured when he was hit on the head by a rock.
At the end of the season, against their club's wishes, Greensburg's Charles Rinehart
and George Barclay played in the very first pro football all-star game
for the 1898 Western Pennsylvania All-Star football team
, against the Duquesne Country and Athletic Club, on December 3, 1898. The all-star team was put together by Latrobe manager, Dave Berry
and resulted in 16-0 Duquesne win. For reasons that are still unclear, Greensburg leaders opposed the game and did their best to discourage their players from taking part.
After an apparent decline in financial resources and interest, professional football in Greensburg and Latrobe underwent a one-year hiatus in 1899. Some efforts were made to reorganize a team around a core of local members of the 1898 squad, which would have to be shored up by obtaining some Latrobe players. However this effort never materialized. When the 1899 season began, most of the top Greensburg players of the year before were playing for either Greensburg's rivals in Pittsburgh or for other teams as far away as Newark, New Jersey
. As result of not having a Greensburg or Latrobe team in 1899, the football clubs from Pittsburgh completed their schedules by playing teams mainly from eastern Pennsylvania.
of Princeton
, signed with Greensburg as a player-coach
. Meanwhile Isaac Seneca
, a former All-American from the Carlisle Indian School, was also signed to the team. Also that year, Latrobe's team was reorganized by the team's long-time manager, Dave Berry. Soon a three-game series had been arranged between Latrobe and Greensburg which provided for a home-and-home series, with a third game at the site which drew the largest crowd.
Greensburg began the season 2-1-1, before losing 6-5 to the Homestead Library & Athletic Club
, a Pittsburgh-area team financed heavily by the Carnegie Steel Company
. Newspapers in Greensburg called it “the greatest contest ever witnessed on the Greensburg gridiron”. The game also featured a match-up between two of the era's star players: Homestead's Art Poe
and Greensburg's Issac Seneca. Greensburg newspaper accounts of the day state that Seneca outplayed Poe. However the Greensburg club did sustain several key injuries during the game.
By this time Greensburg was unable to regain its footing. A loss at home, this time to Latrobe, was sustained a week later on October 27. This marked Greensburg's third straight loss. During the game a fight between Seneca and the Latrobe quarterback, named Kennedy, led to a riot between the opposing fans and players. This riot prompted the Westmoreland County Sheriff's Office to devise a heighten security plan for the return game in Latrobe. On October 31, the Greensburg team, still injury-plagued, suffered a fourth consecutive loss, 24-0, to Duquesne Country and Athletic Club at Exposition Park. Greensburg's final win came on November 5 with a 22-0 over Altoona. However the team was defeated again by Homestead five days later, 22-0 over Altoona.
The final professional football game for Greensburg took place on November 17, in Latrobe. Latrobe would go onto win the game, 11-0, and the claim of “Westmoreland County championship”. By this time, the team was experiencing major financial problems. To make matters even worse, the club's scheduled next-to-last game was cancelled due to inclement weather. However the worst occurred when Latrobe, who always drew large crowds when they played Greensburg, withdrew from a scheduled Thanksgiving Day game. Latrobe paid a $400 forfeit and withdrew from the Thanksgiving Day game at Greensburg to play against Duquesne instead. However that game also had to be cancelled because of extreme weather conditions. Greensburg's final season record was 3-7.
, and fullback Charles Atherton and halfback Fred Robison, both of Penn State. Wyant was cited by his coach at Chicago, Amos Alonzo Stagg
, as “one of the best men that ever donned the canvas jacket” (then part of the uniform). Wyant also served at one time as principal of the Greensburg schools and became a U.S. Congressman
from the Greensburg area. He would go on to be the first U.S. Congressman to have played professional football. Atherton, who had a street and campus building named after him, later became president of Penn State University.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
team, based in Greensburg, Pennsylvania
Greensburg, Pennsylvania
Greensburg is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States, and a part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. The city is named after Nathanael Greene, a major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War...
, that played from 1890 until 1900. The team began as an amateur football club in 1890 and was composed primarily of locals before several professional players were added for the 1895 season
1895 Greensburg Athletic Association season
The 1895 Greensburg Athletic Association season was their sixth season in existence. The team finished 8-2-1.-Schedule:-References:...
. In 1894 it was discovered that the team had secretly paid formerly Indiana Normal (now Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Indiana University of Pennsylvania is a public university in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, USA. The university is northeast of Pittsburgh. It is the largest university in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education and is the commonwealth's fifth largest university...
) player, Lawson Fiscus
Lawson Fiscus
Ira Lawson Fiscus was one of the first professional football players. He attended Princeton University, where his outstanding play at offensive guard earned him the title Samson of Princeton, before going on to play professionally with the Allegheny Athletic Association in 1891 and the Greensburg...
, to play football and retained his services on salary. The team was the chief rival of another early professional football team, the Latrobe Athletic Association
Latrobe Athletic Association
The Latrobe Athletic Association was a professional football team located in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, from 1895 until 1909. The team is best known for being the first football club to play a full season while composed entirely of professional players...
.
Aside from Fiscus, the Greensburg Athletic Association included several of the era's top players, such as: Charlie Atherton
Charlie Atherton
Charles Morgan Herbert Atherton is a former Major League Baseball third baseman. Nicknamed "Prexy", he batted and threw right-handed, was 5'10" tall and weighed 160 pounds. Atherton attended Penn State University. He was also an early professional football player for the Greensburg Athletic...
, George Barclay
George Barclay (baseball)
George Oliver Barclay was an American football and baseball player. He played Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals and later the Boston Beaneaters. He was also an early professional football player-coach for the Greensburg Athletic Association. He was nicknamed "The Rose" for his...
, Ross Fiscus
Ross Fiscus
Ross Fiscus was an early professional football player and coach in the United States. He was one of the first pro players on record.-Playing history:...
, Jack Gass
Jack Gass
John "Jack" Gass was an early professional football player. He played mostly with the Latrobe Athletic Association from 1895 until 1899. In 1898 he was a member of the Western Pennsylvania All-Stars, which was a team put together by Latrobe manager, Dave Berry for the purpose of challenging the...
, Arthur McFarland
Arthur McFarland
Arthur L. "Tiger" McFarland was an early professional American football player who played with the Greensburg Athletic Association as well as the Latrobe Athletic Association. He later played for the Philadelphia Athletics in the 1902 version of the National Football League and for the 1903 US...
, Charles Rinehart
Charles Rinehart
Charles Ramsay Rinehart was an American football player, engineer and businessman. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1964....
, Isaac Seneca
Isaac Seneca
Isaac Seneca, Jr. was an All-American football player for the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. He was selected as an All-American halfback on the 1899 College Football All-America Team...
and Adam Martin Wyant
Adam Martin Wyant
Adam Martin Wyant was an American politician who served as Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. He served six terms, a total of 12 years, in the House. However Wyant is also best remembered for being the first professional football player to be elected to the...
. Several of these players revolutionized the game during their playing careers. Charlie Atherton is credited with inventing the place kick
Place kick
The place kick is a kicking style commonly used in rugby league and rugby union. It is also seen in Association football, American football and Canadian football.-American and Canadian football:...
, and George Barclay invented the first-ever football helmet
Football helmet
A football helmet is a protective device used primarily in American football and Canadian football. It consists of a hard plastic top with thick padding on the inside, a face mask made of one or more plastic bars, and a chinstrap. Some players add polycarbonate visors to their helmets, which are...
. Meanwhile Isaac Seneca became the first Native-American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
to earn All-American honors and Adam Martin Wyant was the first professional football player to become a United States Congressman
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
.
The team's home games were played at Athletic Park (which was later renamed Offut Field). The field is still in use as football field by Greensburg Salem High School
Greensburg-Salem School District
Greensburg-Salem School District is a public school district in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. The City of Greensburg as well as South Greensburg Boro, Southwest Greensburg Boro, and Salem Township are within district boundaries.-Schools:...
and, up until 1993, Greensburg Central Catholic High School
Greensburg Central Catholic
Greensburg Central Catholic High School is a Roman Catholic high school located in Greensburg, Pennsylvania and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Greensburg.- History :...
.
Amateur era
The first four years of Greensburg Athletic Association football that began with the 1890 season, through 1893, were not particularly successful. The drawbacks included a lack of local opponents, rivalries which did not develop until later as well as a lack of local experienced players. It is not even known if the club recorded a win prior to 1894.The Greensburg Athletic Association kicked off its inaugural season
1890 Greensburg Athletic Association season
The 1890 Greensburg Athletic Association season was their first season in existence. The team's record for this season is largely unknown.-Schedule:-References:...
in 1890. Their first game resulted in 6–6 tie against Indiana Normal (IUP
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Indiana University of Pennsylvania is a public university in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, USA. The university is northeast of Pittsburgh. It is the largest university in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education and is the commonwealth's fifth largest university...
), while losing their first-ever home game to the Kiskiminetas Springs School (Kiski Prep)
The Kiski School
The Kiski School is a private, all-male boarding school located in Saltsburg, Pennsylvania, about 40 miles east of Pittsburgh. It is the oldest remaining non-military all-male boarding school in the United States....
, 34–4. A group of college students, which of whom returned home to Greensburg for Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving (United States)
Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is a holiday celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November. It has officially been an annual tradition since 1863, when, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving to be celebrated on Thursday,...
vacation, played for the team for a game against an unknown Pittsburgh club to close out the season. However the team, filled with supplement players, lost to the Pittsburgh club by a narrow margin. During the 1891 season
1891 Greensburg Athletic Association season
The 1891 Greensburg Athletic Association season was their second season in existence. The team's record for this season is largely unknown.-Schedule:-References:...
, the club suffered from at least two known losses against two of the two top football athletic clubs in Pittsburgh: the Pittsburgh Athletic Club
Pittsburgh Athletic Club (football)
The Pittsburgh Athletic Club football team, established in 1891, was based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1892 the intense competition between two Pittsburgh-area clubs, the Allegheny Athletic Association and the Pittsburgh Athletic Club, led to William Heffelfinger becoming the first known...
and the Allegheny Athletic Association
Allegheny Athletic Association
The Allegheny Athletic Association was an athletic club that fielded the first ever professional American football player and later the first fully professional football team. The organization was founded in 1890 as a regional athletic club in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which is today the North...
. Meanwhile, the result of an earlier game against Indiana Normal remains unknown. Meanwhile the surviving records of the club's 1892 campaign
1892 Greensburg Athletic Association season
The 1892 Greensburg Athletic Association season was their third season in existence. The team's record for this season is largely unknown.-Schedule:-References:...
show only two games being played, resulting in two losses against Western University of Pennsylvania (today the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
), 6-2, and the Pittsburgh Athletic Club, 28-0.
In 1893, Greensburg placed a higher emphasis on its football program. The results of three of the four games from that season
1893 Greensburg Athletic Association season
The 1893 Greensburg Athletic Association season was their fourth season in existence. The team's record for this season is largely unknown.-Schedule:-References:...
remain unknown. The team's fourth game, against the Pittsburgh Athletic Club, resulted in 10–0 loss.
1894
In 1894 Greensburg hired its first professional player, Lawson FiscusLawson Fiscus
Ira Lawson Fiscus was one of the first professional football players. He attended Princeton University, where his outstanding play at offensive guard earned him the title Samson of Princeton, before going on to play professionally with the Allegheny Athletic Association in 1891 and the Greensburg...
, for $20 a game plus expenses. While Fiscus did play for Greensburg as an amateur in 1893, he was actively recruited by several other teams as professionalism in football begain to take hold. Fiscus played informal football at Indiana Normal, even before it even fielded a school team. He has also played at halfback
Halfback (American football)
A halfback, sometimes referred to as a tailback, is an offensive position in American football, which lines up in the backfield and generally is responsible for carrying the ball on run plays. Historically, from the 1870s through the 1950s, the halfback position was both an offensive and defensive...
for the Allegheny Athletic Association as well as for Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
.
During the 1894 season
1894 Greensburg Athletic Association season
The 1894 Greensburg Athletic Association season was their fifth season in existence. The team finished 6-1-1.-Schedule:-References:...
, Greensburg jumped out to a 5-0 record, before losing 10-0 against the Altoona Athletic Club. A week later, a game against the Jeannette Athletic Club
Jeannette Athletic Club
The Jeannette Athletic Club, also referred to as the Jeannette Indians, was an early football team, based in Jeannette, Pennsylvania from 1894 until around 1906. The team is best known for its role in the Latrobe Athletic Association's hiring of John Brallier, who became the first player to openly...
, ended at halftime due to disagreement between the two teams. The disagreement regarded the tough play of Greensburg's Lawson Fiscus, who was accused of kicking or stepping on the face of one of the Jeannette players, during the game. A rematch between Greensburg and Altoona was held on Thanksgiving Day
Thanksgiving Classic
The National Football League's Thanksgiving Classic is a series of games played during the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States. It has been a regular occurrence since the league's inception in 1920. Since 2006, three games are played every Thanksgiving...
. This time though, Greensburg defeated Altoona, 6-4 in front of about 2,500 fans. During this era, please note that a touchdown
Touchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...
accounted for four points and the “goal after
Extra Point
Extra Point is a twice-daily, two-minute segment on ESPN Radio that covers generic sports-related topical news and opinion. The AM edition airs Monday through Saturday at various times between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. ET, and the PM edition airs Monday through Friday between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. ET...
” for two. Greensburg finished a highly successful season with a record of 6-1-1 and led to an increased interest in football throughout Western Pennsylvania. Fans now turned out in large numbers for games, and even accompanied the team by train to road games. And while Fiscus was the only paid player on the 1894 team, several other pros joined him in 1895.
1895
Greensburg's 1895 season opened and closed with games against the Latrobe Athletic AssociationLatrobe Athletic Association
The Latrobe Athletic Association was a professional football team located in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, from 1895 until 1909. The team is best known for being the first football club to play a full season while composed entirely of professional players...
, from nearby Latrobe
Latrobe, Pennsylvania
Latrobe is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania in the United States, approximately southeast of Pittsburgh.The city population was 7,634 as of the 2000 census . It is located near the Pennsylvania's scenic Chestnut Ridge. Latrobe was incorporated as a borough in 1854, and as a city in 1999...
, which served as Greensburg's chief rival. The Latrobe team had an impressive squad led by John Brallier
John Brallier
John Kinport "Sal" Brallier was one of the first professional American football players. He was nationally acknowledged as the first openly paid professional football player when he was given $10 to play for the Latrobe Athletic Association for a game against the Jeanette Athletic Association in...
who became the first football player to admit to being a paid professional. Greensburg won the opening game 25–0 to start the season 2–0. However problems arose when Lawson, and two former Penn State University players, Charlie Atherton
Charlie Atherton
Charles Morgan Herbert Atherton is a former Major League Baseball third baseman. Nicknamed "Prexy", he batted and threw right-handed, was 5'10" tall and weighed 160 pounds. Atherton attended Penn State University. He was also an early professional football player for the Greensburg Athletic...
(who was also the team's coach), and Ed Robison, turned down Greensburg's offer of $125 a month each to play for the upstart Duquesne Country and Athletic Club
Duquesne Country and Athletic Club
The Duquesne Country and Athletic Club was a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1895 until 1900. The team was considered one of the best, if not the best, professional football teams in the country from 1898 until 1900...
, located in Pittsburgh. However the community raised some extra money to give the players a better offer than Duquesne. As a result, all three players stayed with Greensburg. After a 6–0 start the team tied the Pittsburgh Athletic Club 0–0 at Exposition Park
Exposition Park (Pittsburgh)
Exposition Park was a baseball park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1890 to circa 1915. It was located on the north side of the Allegheny River across from Pittsburgh's downtown area. Prior to the construction of this version of Exposition Park, two previous ballparks of the same name were...
.
The following week, Greensburg was defeated by the Duquesne Country and Athletic Club in Pittsburgh, 14-0, in what was seen as a controversial game. A local resident with ties to Duquesne was substituted for the scheduled official. This resulted in what the Greensburg Daily Tribune
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, also known as "the Trib," is the second largest daily newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States...
called bad officiating and “thievery”. A touchdown was said to have been scored by Duquesne after time was called, along with rough play. However Greensburg soon recovered and finished their season with a 9-1-1 record. However the score and the outcome of Greensburg's final game against Latrobe is disputed by historians. While Greensburg and Latrobe records both indicate a 4-0 Greensburg win, one Pittsburgh newspaper reported the game ended in 4-0 Latrobe victory.
1896
For 1896, Alfred Sigman of Lafayette CollegeLafayette College
Lafayette College is a private coeducational liberal arts and engineering college located in Easton, Pennsylvania, USA. The school, founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter,son of General Andrew Porter of Norristown and citizens of Easton, first began holding classes in 1832...
became the team's fullback
Fullback (American football)
A fullback is a position in the offensive backfield in American and Canadian football, and is one of the two running back positions along with the halfback...
and coach, and two more Fiscus brothers, Ross
Ross Fiscus
Ross Fiscus was an early professional football player and coach in the United States. He was one of the first pro players on record.-Playing history:...
and Newill, were added to the team. Greensburg began their season 5–0, which included wins over the Pittsburgh Athletic Club and Latrobe. The team was acclaimed by Pittsburgh papers at mid-season as being the best in Pennsylvania. During a game against a squad from Beaver Falls
Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania
Beaver Falls is a city in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 8,987 at the 2010 census. It is located 31 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, and on the Beaver River, six miles from its confluence with the Ohio River...
, Greensburg's Tom Donohoe ran 44 yards with an intercepted pass
Interception (football)
An interception, intercept or pick is a move in many forms of football, including Canadian and American football, as well as rugby league, rugby union, Australian rules football and Gaelic football, which involves a pass, either by foot or hand, being caught by an opposition player, who usually...
. [Note: Pass was probably a lateral
Lateral pass
In American football, a lateral pass or lateral, officially backward pass , occurs when the ball carrier throws the football to any teammate behind him or directly next to him...
, since the forward pass
Forward pass
In several forms of football a forward pass is when the ball is thrown in the direction that the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line...
was not legal until 1906].
On October 17, Greensburg defeated the Pittsburgh Athletic Club for the very first time, posting a 14-0 win at home. All three of the game's touchdowns were scored by Lawson Fiscus. On October 31, Greensburg defeated Latrobe, 10-4. In the stands there was considerable betting over whether Latrobe would score or not. Late in game Latrobe's Doggie Trenchard scored a touchdown, led to a Latrobe newspaper stating that “Greensburg got the game and Latrobe got the cash.”
However Greensburg's hopes of winning a state championship were dashed when the club was finally defeated by the Duquesne Country and Athletic Club in Pittsburgh, 18-4, on November 14. The game was followed by a scoreless tie with Pittsburgh Athletic Club. Greensburg did recover from their road trip to post a 10-0 win over Latrobe on Thanksgiving Day to end the season 6-1-1.
1897
The 1897 season1897 Greensburg Athletic Association season
The 1897 Greensburg Athletic Association season was their eighth season in existence. The team finished 10-1.-Schedule:-References:...
marked the pinnacle of the professional football era in Greensburg. That year's squad had 27 players, which included a number of new ones. Among those players was George Barclay
George Barclay (baseball)
George Oliver Barclay was an American football and baseball player. He played Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals and later the Boston Beaneaters. He was also an early professional football player-coach for the Greensburg Athletic Association. He was nicknamed "The Rose" for his...
, of Millville
Millville, Pennsylvania
Millville is a borough in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Bloomsburg–Berwick Micropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
, who played a halfback at Bucknell University
Bucknell University
Bucknell University is a private liberal arts university located alongside the West Branch Susquehanna River in the rolling countryside of Central Pennsylvania in the town of Lewisburg, 30 miles southeast of Williamsport and 60 miles north of Harrisburg. The university consists of the College of...
and Lafayette University
Lafayette College
Lafayette College is a private coeducational liberal arts and engineering college located in Easton, Pennsylvania, USA. The school, founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter,son of General Andrew Porter of Norristown and citizens of Easton, first began holding classes in 1832...
. Barclay brought several of Lafayette top players with him to Greensburg to enhance the team. Greensburg went on to post a 10-1 record. The team's only defeat came at a 12–6 loss in the ninth game to Latrobe. However the outcome of that game was reversed by a 6–0 score in a season-ending rematch at Latrobe. Greensburg, along with Washington and Jefferson College
Washington & Jefferson Presidents football
The Washington & Jefferson Presidents football team represents Washington & Jefferson College in collegiate level football. The team competes in NCAA Division III and is affiliated with the Presidents' Athletic Conference...
, had the best football records in Pennsylvania for the 1897 season. Barclay, however, was the only Greensburg player among the eleven named by the Pittsburgh Times
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, also known simply as the "PG," is the largest daily newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.-Early history:...
to their “All-Western Pennsylvania” team.
Decline
1898 Greensburg Athletic Association season
The 1898 Greensburg Athletic Association season was their ninth season in existence. The team finished 6-2-1.-Schedule:-References:...
saw optimism in Greensburg with the return of ex-coach Charlie Atherton. However, some of the players from the 1897 season had bigger offers to play elsewhere and left the team. Replacing these players proved hard since the amount of money, to lure new talent to Greensburg, was hard to come by in a small city.
Greensburg's first game that season was against, their rivials, Latrobe. The game was played on a field, so muddy that the game had to be delayed at one point so that mud could be removed from the eyes, nose, mouth and ears of Latrobe’s Ed Abbaticchio, who was buried in the mud on one of his carries. Latrobe went on to win the game 6-0 (4-0 by other accounts). The 1898 season would go on to be marred with another loss to Latrobe, and ties against Duquesne Country and Athletic Club and the Pittsburgh Athletic Club. However the team later turned things around to finish the season strong. In the final game of the season, Greensburg beat rival Latrobe 6-0 at Latrobe. According to the Greensburg Daily Tribune, the end of the game was marred by stoning and spitting on Greensburg players and fans, “boorish conduct by ruffians,” resulting in one player being injured when he was hit on the head by a rock.
At the end of the season, against their club's wishes, Greensburg's Charles Rinehart
Charles Rinehart
Charles Ramsay Rinehart was an American football player, engineer and businessman. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1964....
and George Barclay played in the very first pro football all-star game
All-star game
An all-star game is an exhibition game played by the best players in their sports league, except in the circumstances of professional sports systems in which a democratic voting system is used...
for the 1898 Western Pennsylvania All-Star football team
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...
, against the Duquesne Country and Athletic Club, on December 3, 1898. The all-star team was put together by Latrobe manager, Dave Berry
Dave Berry (American football)
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...
and resulted in 16-0 Duquesne win. For reasons that are still unclear, Greensburg leaders opposed the game and did their best to discourage their players from taking part.
After an apparent decline in financial resources and interest, professional football in Greensburg and Latrobe underwent a one-year hiatus in 1899. Some efforts were made to reorganize a team around a core of local members of the 1898 squad, which would have to be shored up by obtaining some Latrobe players. However this effort never materialized. When the 1899 season began, most of the top Greensburg players of the year before were playing for either Greensburg's rivals in Pittsburgh or for other teams as far away as Newark, New Jersey
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
. As result of not having a Greensburg or Latrobe team in 1899, the football clubs from Pittsburgh completed their schedules by playing teams mainly from eastern Pennsylvania.
Final season
In 1900, plans were complete for the return of professional football to Greensburg. Under the direction of industrialist Morris L. Painter, Greensburg once again fielded a team. Many of the players were from eastern and midwestern colleges and universities. The top sought player for the 1900 season, Ralph HutchinsonRalph Hutchinson
Ralph Fielding "Hutch" Hutchinson was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach in the United States...
of Princeton
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, signed with Greensburg as a player-coach
Player-coach
A player-coach, in sports, is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. The term can be used to refer to both players who serve as head coaches, or as assistant coaches....
. Meanwhile Isaac Seneca
Isaac Seneca
Isaac Seneca, Jr. was an All-American football player for the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. He was selected as an All-American halfback on the 1899 College Football All-America Team...
, a former All-American from the Carlisle Indian School, was also signed to the team. Also that year, Latrobe's team was reorganized by the team's long-time manager, Dave Berry. Soon a three-game series had been arranged between Latrobe and Greensburg which provided for a home-and-home series, with a third game at the site which drew the largest crowd.
Greensburg began the season 2-1-1, before losing 6-5 to the Homestead Library & Athletic Club
1900 Homestead Library & Athletic Club football team
The 1900 Homestead Library & Athletic Club football team won the professional football championship of 1900. The team was affiliated with the Homestead Library & Athletic Club in Homestead, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh...
, a Pittsburgh-area team financed heavily by the Carnegie Steel Company
Carnegie Steel Company
Carnegie Steel Company was a steel producing company created by Andrew Carnegie to manage business at his steel mills in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area in the late 19th century.-Creation:...
. Newspapers in Greensburg called it “the greatest contest ever witnessed on the Greensburg gridiron”. The game also featured a match-up between two of the era's star players: Homestead's Art Poe
Art Poe
Arthur "Art" Poe was an American football player and businessman, and one of six celebrated Poe brothers - second cousins, twice removed of American author Edgar Allan Poe - to play football at Princeton in the late 19th and early 20th century...
and Greensburg's Issac Seneca. Greensburg newspaper accounts of the day state that Seneca outplayed Poe. However the Greensburg club did sustain several key injuries during the game.
By this time Greensburg was unable to regain its footing. A loss at home, this time to Latrobe, was sustained a week later on October 27. This marked Greensburg's third straight loss. During the game a fight between Seneca and the Latrobe quarterback, named Kennedy, led to a riot between the opposing fans and players. This riot prompted the Westmoreland County Sheriff's Office to devise a heighten security plan for the return game in Latrobe. On October 31, the Greensburg team, still injury-plagued, suffered a fourth consecutive loss, 24-0, to Duquesne Country and Athletic Club at Exposition Park. Greensburg's final win came on November 5 with a 22-0 over Altoona. However the team was defeated again by Homestead five days later, 22-0 over Altoona.
The final professional football game for Greensburg took place on November 17, in Latrobe. Latrobe would go onto win the game, 11-0, and the claim of “Westmoreland County championship”. By this time, the team was experiencing major financial problems. To make matters even worse, the club's scheduled next-to-last game was cancelled due to inclement weather. However the worst occurred when Latrobe, who always drew large crowds when they played Greensburg, withdrew from a scheduled Thanksgiving Day game. Latrobe paid a $400 forfeit and withdrew from the Thanksgiving Day game at Greensburg to play against Duquesne instead. However that game also had to be cancelled because of extreme weather conditions. Greensburg's final season record was 3-7.
Legacy
Although there were probably others, several members of the 1895 squad who were known to have been paid to play football were Fiscus, guard-quarterback Adam Wyant of Bucknell and the University of ChicagoUniversity of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, and fullback Charles Atherton and halfback Fred Robison, both of Penn State. Wyant was cited by his coach at Chicago, Amos Alonzo Stagg
Amos Alonzo Stagg
Amos Alonzo Stagg was an American athlete and pioneering college coach in multiple sports, primarily American football...
, as “one of the best men that ever donned the canvas jacket” (then part of the uniform). Wyant also served at one time as principal of the Greensburg schools and became a U.S. Congressman
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
from the Greensburg area. He would go on to be the first U.S. Congressman to have played professional football. Atherton, who had a street and campus building named after him, later became president of Penn State University.