View source for Pudge Heffelfinger

{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Short description|American football player and coach (1867–1954)}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name = Pudge Heffelfinger
| image = Pudge heffelfinger.jpg
| alt = 
| caption = Heffelfinger at [[Yale]]
| number =
| position = [[Guard (gridiron football)|Guard]]
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1867|12|20}}
| birth_place = [[Minneapolis|Minneapolis, Minnesota]], U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1954|4|2|1867|12|20}}
| death_place = [[Blessing, Texas]], U.S.
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 3
| weight_lbs = 195
| college = [[Yale Bulldogs football|Yale]] (1888–1891)
| pastteams = 
* [[Chicago Athletic Association]] (1892)
* [[Allegheny Athletic Association]] (1892)
| pastcoaching = 
* [[California Golden Bears football|California]] (1893)<br/>Head coach
* [[Lehigh Mountain Hawks football|Lehigh]] (1894)<br/>Head coach
* [[Minnesota Golden Gophers football|Minnesota]] (1895)<br/>Head coach
| highlights = 
* 3× Consensus [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] ([[1889 College Football All-America Team|1889]]–[[1891 College Football All-America Team|1891]])
* Camp All-time All-America team
* [[Football Writers Association of America|FWAA]] College Football All-Time team <br />(1869–1919)
* [[Western Pennsylvania Professional Football Circuit|W. Pennsylvania Circuit champion]] (1892)
* First recognized professional football player
* [[Pittsburgh Pro Football Hall of Fame]]
| overall_record  = {{Winning percentage|17|13|1|record=y}}
| CollegeHOF = 2109
}}
{{History of American football}}
'''William Walter''' "'''Pudge'''" '''Heffelfinger''' (December 20, 1867 – April 2, 1954), also spelled '''Hafelfinger''', was an [[American football]] player and coach. He is considered the greatest [[Lineman (gridiron football)|lineman]] of his time, and the first athlete to play American football professionally, having been paid to play in 1892 for the [[Allegheny Athletic Association]].<ref name=birth>{{cite web|url=https://www.profootballhof.com/football-history/nov-12-birth-of-pro-football/ |title=Nov 12 Birth of Pro Football |website=Pro Football Hall of Fame |access-date=April 5, 2023}}</ref>

Heffelfinger played [[college football]] from 1888 to 1891 at [[Yale University]], where he was a three-time consensus [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] as a [[Guard (gridiron football)|guard]]. He served as the head football coach at the [[University of California, Berkeley|University of California]] in 1893, [[Lehigh University]] in 1894, and the [[University of Minnesota]] in 1895, compiling a career coaching record of 17–13–1. He was inducted into the [[College Football Hall of Fame]] as player with the inaugural class of 1951.

==Early life and education==
Heffelfinger was born in 1867 in [[Minneapolis]], to Christopher B. Heffelfinger and Mary Ellen Totton, both of whom were born in [[Pennsylvania]]. Heffelfinger's father came by riverboat to Minneapolis, eventually joining the [[Union Army]] at the outset of the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]. He was wounded at the [[Battle of Gettysburg]]. After the Civil War, he started the family shoe manufacturing business.<ref name="CBH Obit">{{cite news|title="Major Heffelfinger, Pioneer and Veteran, Succumbs at Home"|work=Minneapolis Morning Tribune|date=November 8, 1915}}</ref> During Heffelfinger's lifetime, the family rose to prominence in Minneapolis.<ref name="CBH Obit" /><ref>{{cite news|title="F.T.,'Chief Heffelfinger,' Honored by Banco Directors"|work=The Minneapolis Star|date=December 23, 1948}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title="Heffelfinger discusses Grandfather's Legacy, Ryder Cup"|url=http://kstp.com/news/tottonheffelfingerlegacyhazeltinenationalgolfclubrydercup/4278370/|access-date=March 19, 2017|work=KTSP.com|date=September 30, 2016|archive-date=November 1, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181101140147/https://kstp.com/news/tottonheffelfingerlegacyhazeltinenationalgolfclubrydercup/4278370/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

As a boy, Heffelfinger was nicknamed "Pudge". He played baseball and football at [[Minneapolis]] [[Central High School (Minneapolis, Minnesota)|Central High School]]. <ref name=NFFHoF>{{cite web|url=https://footballfoundation.org/hof_search.aspx?hof=2109 |publisher=National Football Foundation|title=Pudge Hefflefinger}}</ref> Occasionally, during his junior and senior years of high school he also played both sports for the [[University of Minnesota]], where he was a catcher in baseball and a halfback in football.<ref name="Star Obit">{{cite news|title="Pudge Heffelfinger" Dies in Texas at 86"|work=The Minneapolis Star|date=April 3, 1954}}</ref>

==Playing career==
===Yale===
Heffelfinger, a three-time [[All-American]], played for [[Walter Camp]] at [[Yale College]] in 1888, 1889, 1890, and 1891, graduating in 1892.<ref name="larrynames">{{cite book |last1=Names |first1=Larry D |editor1-first=Greg |editor1-last=Scott |title=The History of the Green Bay Packers: The Lambeau Years |volume=1 |year=2021 |publisher=Angel Press of WI |isbn=978-0-939995-00-4 |pages=24–25 |chapter=The Myth }}</ref>

Heffelfinger originally planned to attend the [[University of Minnesota]], but in May of his senior year in high school a local Yale alumnus who recognized his athletic talent convinced him to play for Yale instead, and tutored him so he could pass the entrance exam.<ref name="rootsweb1">{{cite web|title="William Walter "Pudge" Heffelfinger"|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txmatago/hm_bl_heffelfinger.htm|website=Rootsweb|publisher=ancestry.com|access-date=March 21, 2017}}</ref> On Heffelfinger's first day of freshman practice in 1888, the captain of the varsity team, [[William Herbert Corbin|"Pa" Corbin]], spotted him on the field and gave him a position on the varsity line.<ref name="rootsweb1"/> According to Corbin, during Heffelfinger's first year, in spite of his skill, the freshman from the Midwest was not sufficiently ferocious for the Yale style of play until Howard Knapp, one of the graduate coaches, motivated him by an unusual method:

{{quote|text=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 wits end, Howard decided he would try the sight of blood to stir up Heff's dormant bellicose spirit.

He wrote Heff, with pen dipped in blood which be had obtained from a slaughter house, one of the sharpest, strongest of letters, using every reasonable form of expression to get Heff out of his lethargy.  Heff, not knowing the nature of the gore, certainly must have been stirred, for the week after receiving the letter he played the best game of the season against Princeton.

Heff found himself that day and from then on was a terror to his opponents.|author=      William Herbert "Pa" Corbin|source=Reference<ref>{{cite news|title=Famed Pudge Heffelfinger, Yale Football Great, Dies|work=The Hartford Courant|date=3 April 1954}}</ref>}}

The [[1888 Yale Bulldogs football team|1888 Yale team]] was not only undefeated and untied, but unscored upon, with a season scoring record of 698 to 0.<ref>{{cite news|title=Heffelfinger, 86, Yale Star, is Dead. All-American Blocking Guard of 1889–91 Was Legendary Figure of Ivy Gridiron |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1954/04/03/archives/heffelfinger-86-yale-star-is-dead-allamerican-blocking-guard-of.html |work=New York Times|date=April 3, 1954}}</ref>

During Heffelfinger's four years playing for Yale under Camp, the team only lost two games. His teammates included, besides Pa Corbin: [[Amos Alonzo Stagg|Alonzo Stagg]], [[Charles O. Gill|Charley Gill]], [[William Rhodes (American football)|Billy Rhodes]], [[Lee McClung|Lee "Bum" McClung]] and [[George Washington Woodruff]]. Heffelfinger felt that the greatest of these teams was the undefeated [[1891 Yale Bulldogs football team|1891 team]] he played on in his senior year, which he described as "one of the best balanced teams I ever saw."<ref name="Great Guard"/>

Heffelfinger's athletic activities at Yale were not limited to football: he lettered in three other sports: rowing, baseball and track,<ref name="Great Guard"/> and won the university heavyweight boxing championship.<ref name="Trib obit"/>

===First professional football player===
After leaving Yale, Heffelfinger played amateur football for the [[Chicago Athletic Association]] (for which he was compensated with "double expenses", as was a common practice at the time). He was widely considered the best player at the time. Meanwhile, two [[Pittsburgh]] teams, the [[Allegheny Athletic Association]] (nicknamed the 3As) and the [[Pittsburgh Athletic Club (football)|Pittsburgh Athletic Club]] had a heated rivalry and both were looking for an advantage in their upcoming game. Pittsburgh A.C. offered him $250 ({{Inflation|US|250|1892|fmt=eq}}) to play for them in the game, but he felt the amount was not enough to jeopardize his [[Amateur Athletic Union|amateur]] status. The 3As doubled the amount and on the day of the game, Heffelfinger and two of his Chicago teammates were playing for the 3As. The game was played at [[Recreation Park (Pittsburgh)|Recreation Park]], which was located on Pittsburgh's north shore. The spot is marked by a historic marker.<ref name="ExplorePA">{{cite web |url=http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-30D |title=First Professional Football Game Historical Marker |website=ExplorePAHistory.com |access-date=November 12, 2014}}</ref>

Although the payment for Heffelfinger's play was not published or admitted at the time, his presence set off quite a controversy as the Pittsburgh A.C. protested the presence of the 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 Allegheny win. Heffelfinger scored the game's only [[touchdown]] on a recovered [[fumble]]. A touchdown was only worth four points at the time.<ref name="larrynames"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.profootballhof.com/history/general/birth_certificate.aspx |title=History: Pro Football's Birth Certificate |website=Pro Football Hall of Fame |access-date=November 12, 2014}}</ref>

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 ({{Inflation|US|500|1892|fmt=eq}}). 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."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nfl.com/history/chronology/1869-1910 |website=NFL.com |title=NFL History by Decade, 1869–1910 |access-date=November 12, 2014}}</ref> 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 established Heffelfinger as being the first professional American football player on record.<ref name=birth/>

The week after the game against the P.A.C., Allegheny paid former [[Princeton University|Princeton]] [[end (gridiron football)|end]] [[Ben "Sport" Donnelly]] $250 to play alongside Pudge against [[Washington & Jefferson Presidents football|Washington & Jefferson College]]. Despite having two pros in their line-up, Allegheny lost the game, 8–0.<ref>{{cite web |title=Five Hundred Reasons |website=Professional Football Researchers Association |url=http://www.profootballresearchers.com/articles/Five_Hundred_Reasons.pdf |author=PFRA Research |access-date=November 12, 2014}} Originally published in Carroll and Braunwart, ''Pro Football, from AAA to '03: The Origin and Development of Professional Football in Western Pennsylvania, 1890–1903'' (1991) from PFRA.</ref>

==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 5–1–1.<ref name=Grasso2013>{{cite book|first=John |last=Grasso |title=Historical Dictionary of Football |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YTUPQ2Zm-dQC&pg=PA175 |year=2013 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-7857-0 |page=175}}</ref>

===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 and 9 losses.<ref name=Grasso2013/>

===Minnesota===
{{see also|1895 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team}}
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.<ref name=Grasso2013/> Highlights included victories over rivals [[University of Wisconsin–Madison]] and [[University of Chicago]], outscoring their opponents 136 to 58 for the season.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/coaching/alltime_coach_game_by_game.php?coachid=1021&year=1895 |title=Coaching Records Game by Game: Heffelfinger, 1895 |website=College Football Data Warehouse |last=DeLassus |first=David |access-date=November 12, 2014 |archive-date=November 11, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171111205139/http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/coaching/alltime_coach_game_by_game.php?coachid=1021&year=1895 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Later life==
Heffelfinger married Grace Harriet Pierce in 1901. The couple remained married until his death in 1954.<ref>{{cite news|title=Football's first pro player called South Texas home|url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/columnists/native-texan/article/Football-s-first-pro-player-called-South-Texas-10904520.php|first=Joe|last=Holley|work=Houston Chronicle|date=February 3, 2007|access-date=November 12, 2018}}</ref> After his official coaching career ended, Heffelfinger immersed himself in the business world in Minneapolis. He joined the family shoe manufacturing business. The business suffered heavily in the [[Panic of 1907]],<ref>{{cite news|title='Pudge,' of Yale, 'Downed.'|work=Washington Herald|date=April 17, 1910}}</ref> and was forced into bankruptcy in 1910, as were Heffelfinger and his father.<ref>{{cite news|title=North Star Bankruptcy Involves Many Creditors|work=Minneapolis Sunday Tribune|date=May 15, 1910}}</ref>

After the failure of the manufacturing business, Heffelfinger had an active career in real estate,<ref name="Trib obit">{{cite news|title=Heffelfinger, All-Time Grid Great, Is Dead|work=Minneapolis Morning Tribune|date=April 3, 1954}}</ref> including major commercial deals.<ref>{{cite news|title=McDonald Block is Sold to Investor of Montana|work=Minneapolis Morning Tribune|date=September 8, 1911}}</ref> In his real estate work, Heffelfinger is credited with important contributions to the early development of the upper [[Nicollet Avenue]] area, with organizing the company which built the 1910 Physicians and Surgeons building, and with bringing [[Butler Square|Butler Brothers]] to Minneapolis.<ref name="Trib obit"/>

Heffelfinger was a delegate to the [[Republican National Convention]] in [[1904 Republican National Convention|1904]] and [[1908 Republican National Convention|1908]].<ref name="Trib obit"/> He first won elective office in 1924, running against more experienced politicians and easily capturing a seat on the [[Hennepin County Board of Commissioners]].<ref name="Trib obit"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Broderick, Heffelfinger, Ferrin Win Hennepin County Board Contests|work=Minneapolis Daily Star|date=November 6, 1924}}</ref> During his first election campaign, Heffelfinger competed energetically, and compared politics to football, telling a reporter he would reduce taxes "if I make a touchdown in this political game, which I'll admit is tougher than football, a whole lot."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Armstrong|first1=Gail|title='Pudge' Bucks Toughest Game|work=Minnesota Daily Star|date=June 12, 1924}}</ref> Heffelfinger continued to serve on the Hennepin County Board for 24 years, including four years as board chairman.<ref name="Trib obit"/> During [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition]] Heffelfinger ran twice as a "wet" in the Republican [[Partisan primary|primary]] for [[Minnesota's 5th congressional district]], losing both times to prohibitionist and former [[List of lieutenant governors of Minnesota|Lieutenant Governor]] [[William I. Nolan]].<ref name="Trib obit"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Two State Races Still Undecided|work=Minneapolis Tribune|date=June 18, 1930}}</ref>

Throughout his life, Heffelfinger, maintained a high level of involvement with football.<ref name="Trib obit"/> After his professional coaching career ended, he continued for decades to make yearly trips to New Haven to assist the coaching staff.<ref name="Great Guard">{{cite news|last1=Barton|first1=George A.|title=Pudge Heffelfinger Great Guard|work=Minneapolis Sunday Tribune|date=May 13, 1923}}</ref> Into his fifties, Heffelfinger not only coached the [[Yale Bulldogs football|Bulldogs]] from the sideline, but scrimmaged with them on the field, showing remarkable toughness.<ref name="Great Guard"/><ref name="Trib obit"/> He also played competitively in charity and exhibition games against much younger men, playing his last game at age 65.<ref name="Trib obit"/> From 1935 to 1950, Heffelfinger edited ''Heffelfinger's Football Facts'', a yearly booklet featuring history, rules, statistics, and professional and college schedules for the upcoming season.<ref>{{cite web|title=William Walter "Pudge" Heffelfinger First Professional Football Player|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txmatago/family_heffelfinger3.htm|website=Rootsweb|publisher=Ancestry.com|access-date=March 21, 2017}}</ref>

Heffelfinger died in Texas on April 2, 1954.<ref name="Trib obit"/>

==Hall of Fame==
Heffelfinger was inducted into the [[College Football Hall of Fame]] in 1951. 

In 1969, in honor of the centennial of collegiate football, the [[Football Writers Association of America]] named two "College Football All-Time Teams" of eleven players — an "early" team consisting of players who played prior to 1920, and a "modern" team who played in 1920 and after.<ref name=FG70>National Collegiate Athletic Association, ''The Official National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Guide, 1970.'' Phoenix, AZ: College Athletics Publishing Service, 1970; p. 161.</ref> Heffelfinger was chosen as one of two guards on the pre-1920 squad.<ref name=FG70 />
 
Despite being one of the earliest pioneers for the professional game, he has still yet to be inducted into the [[Pro Football Hall of Fame]]. However, he was inducted into the [[Pittsburgh Pro Football Hall of Fame]] in 2015. <ref name="Inductees">[http://www.pithall.com/#!inductees/cee5 Inductees] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180821155918/http://www.pithall.com/#!inductees/cee5 |date=August 21, 2018 }}. Pittsburgh Pro Football Hall of Fame official website. Retrieved April 2, 2014.</ref> He was named one of the 10 inaugural members for the Football Learning Academy's Hall of Honor in 2022, which looks to acknowledge icons not currently inducted in the hall.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.football-learning-academy.com/pages/blog?p=hall-of-honor-pudge-heffelfinger | title=Football Learning Academy }}</ref>

==Head coaching record==
{{CFB Yearly Record Start | type = coach | team = | conf = | bowl = | poll = no }}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
 | name         = [[California Golden Bears football|California Golden Bears]]
 | conf         = Independent
 | startyear    = 1893
 | endyear      = single
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = 
 | year         = [[1893 college football season|1893]]
 | name         = [[1893 California Golden Bears football team|California]]
 | overall      = 5–1–1
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
 | name       = California
 | overall    = 5–1–1
 | confrecord = 
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
 | name         = [[Lehigh Mountain Hawks football|Lehigh]]
 | conf         = Independent
 | startyear    = 1894
 | endyear      = single
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = 
 | year         = [[1894 college football season|1894]]
 | name         = [[1894 Lehigh football team|Lehigh]]
 | overall      = 5–9
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
 | name       = Lehigh
 | overall    = 5–9
 | confrecord = 
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
 | name         = [[Minnesota Golden Gophers football|Minnesota Golden Gophers]]
 | conf         = Independent
 | startyear    = 1895
 | endyear      = single
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = 
 | year         = [[1895 college football season|1895]]
 | name         = [[1895 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team|Minnesota]]
 | overall      = 7–3
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
 | name       = Minnesota
 | overall    = 7–3
 | confrecord = 
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record End
 | overall      = 17–13–1
 | bowls    = no
 | poll     = no
 | polltype = 
 | legend   = no
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{cfbhof|2109}}
* {{Find a Grave}}

{{California Golden Bears football coach navbox}}
{{Lehigh Mountain Hawks football coach navbox}}
{{Minnesota Golden Gophers football coach navbox}}
{{Navboxes
| title = Pudge Heffelfinger—championships, awards, and honors
| list1 =
{{1888 Yale Bulldogs football navbox}}
{{1891 Yale Bulldogs football navbox}}
{{1889 College Football Consensus All-Americans}}
{{1890 College Football Consensus All-Americans}}
{{1891 College Football Consensus All-Americans}}
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heffelfinger, Pudge}}
[[Category:1867 births]]
[[Category:1954 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century players of American football]]
[[Category:American football guards]]
[[Category:Allegheny Athletic Association players]]
[[Category:California Golden Bears football coaches]]
[[Category:Chicago Athletic Association players]]
[[Category:Lehigh Mountain Hawks football coaches]]
[[Category:Minnesota Golden Gophers football coaches]]
[[Category:Yale Bulldogs football players]]
[[Category:All-American college football players]]
[[Category:College Football Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Minneapolis]]
[[Category:Sports coaches from Minneapolis]]
[[Category:coaches of American football from Minnesota]]
[[Category:American people of Swiss descent]]