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{{Short description|American football player (1866–1949)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name = Lawson Fiscus
| image = Lawson Fiscus.png
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| position = [[Guard (American football)|Guard]], [[Halfback (American football)|Halfback]]
| birth_date = {{birth date|1866|6|28}}
| birth_place = [[Indiana, Pennsylvania|Indiana]], [[Pennsylvania]], United States
| death_date = {{death date and age|1949|8|31|1866|6|28}}
| death_place = [[Youngwood, Pennsylvania]]
| college = [[Princeton University|Princeton]]
| pastteams =
* [[Allegheny Athletic Association]] (1891, 1893)
* [[Greensburg Athletic Association]] (1893–1900)
| pastcoaching =
| highlights =
* Sixth ever paid professional football player
* 1x [[Western Pennsylvania Professional Football Circuit|W. Pennsylvania Circuit Champion]] ([[1897 Greensburg Athletic Association season|1897]])
| CollegeHOF =
}}
'''Irvin Lawson Fiscus''' (June 28, 1866 – August 31, 1949) was one of the first professional [[American football|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 Athletic Association]] in 1893. His brothers [[Ross Fiscus|Ross]] and Newell also played for Pittsburgh-area athletic clubs and were highly regarded as players.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rCnbhSRZpgIC | title=Pigskin: The Early Years of Pro Football | first=Robert W. | last=Peterson | isbn=0-19-511913-4 | publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] | year=1997}}</ref>

==Early life==
Lawson was the son of a farmer and he grew up in [[Indiana County, Pennsylvania]]. He was just one of sixteen children. All of his brothers were athletic and largely built, however Lawson was considered the toughest of family.<ref name="3A's">{{cite journal|title=The A's Have It The 3A's Triumph: 1894 |journal=PFRA Books |publisher=Professional Football Researchers Association |pages=3 |url=http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Articles/3As_Triumph.pdf |author=PFRA Research |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101126224105/http://profootballresearchers.org/Articles/3As_Triumph.pdf |archivedate=2010-11-26 }}</ref>

==Football==
===Princeton===
Lawson may have played some informal football at Indiana Normal School (now [[Indiana University of Pennsylvania]]) in the late 1880s. By 1891, he and Ross played well enough to receive "liberal expense money" to go to [[Pittsburgh]] and play for the Allegheny Athletic Association. In 1892, Lawson was recruited to play football at Princeton University. At the time, college football was considered more prestigious than professional football. While at Princeton, Fiscus played guard and excelled at the position. However, he dropped out of school and returned home after the 1892 season.<ref name="3A's"/>

===Professional football===
In 1893, Lawson played for both the Allegheny Athletic Association and the Greensburg Athletic Association. Both clubs were thirty miles apart. While Allegheny used Fiscus on the offensive line, Greensburg placed him at [[Halfback (American football)|halfback]]. Lawson became a teacher in [[South Fork, Pennsylvania|South Fork]] in 1894.<ref name="Greensburg"/> However, Greensburg secretly offered him $20 a game to play with their Athletic Association. Fiscus quickly took the job, making Greensburg the third football team in three years to hire professionals.<ref name="3A's"/> Greensburg then enjoyed their best season to date. Their only loss to a club from [[Altoona, Pennsylvania|Altoona]] was avenged with [[NFL on Thanksgiving Day|a 6–4 victory at home on Thanksgiving Day]]. Other wins came over the [[The Kiski School|Kiski Kiskiminetas]], Indiana Normal, [[West Virginia University]], the [[Carnegies of Braddock]], Holy Ghost College (now [[Duquesne University]]), and the [[Jeannette Athletic Club]].<ref name="Greensburg">{{cite journal|first=Robert |last=Van Atta |title=History of Professional Football at Greensburg, Pennsylvania (1890-1900) |url=http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/05-An-165.pdf |year=1983 |journal=Coffin Corner |publisher=Professional Football Researchers Association |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127054500/http://profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/05-An-165.pdf |archivedate=2010-11-27 }}</ref>

====The Jeannette incident====
During the first half was of the Jeannette game Fiscus got into an altercation with an unknown Jeannette player. Several accounts of the incident describe Fiscus kicking the Jeannette player in the face. However, the ''[[Pittsburgh Press]]'' reported that he tripped the guy and "purposely tramped on his neck." Either way, Jeannette immediately petitioned the referee to expel Fiscus from the game, while Greensburg defended Fiscus's actions. The arguments continued through to the second half of the game. Finally, either Jeannette or Greensburg stormed off the field in protest, and the game was declared a scoreless draw.<ref name="Greensburg"/>

===1896===
In 1896 Lawson and his brother Ross Fiscus played the halfback slots for Greensburg, while his other brother Newell became the team's [[offensive tackle]].<ref name="3A's"/> The team accumulated a 5-0-0 at the end of October and had a final record of 6-1-1. This was Greensburg's best finish since the team began playing football in 1890. In 1897 Fiscus helped Greensburg win the "Western Pennsylvania football championship."

==After football==
Fiscus continued to play football with Greensburg for the next several years. He was later involved in businesses throughout the years. Still later, he became a police chief in [[Youngwood, Pennsylvania]]. For the longest time{{When|date=February 2016}} sports historians were convinced that pro football had begun in 1895 when the [[Latrobe Athletic Association]] offered to pay [[John Brallier]] $10 to play against Jeannette. However just before his death in 1949, Fiscus announced he was paid $20 by Greensburg a year earlier and believed himself to have been the first pro football player.<ref name="Greensburg"/> Today, Fiscus is the sixth player known to have been openly paid to play football.<ref>{{cite web|title=History: Nov. 12: Birth of Pro Football |publisher=Pro Football Hall of Fame |url=http://www.profootballhof.com/history/general/birth.jsp |accessdate=March 8, 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20061116215456/http://www.profootballhof.com/history/general/birth.jsp |archivedate=November 16, 2006 }}</ref> However, after looking at the list of the first several professional football players, Fiscus seemed to be unaware that some of his Allegheny Athletic Association teammates in 1893 had been salaried.<ref name="Greensburg"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Greensburg Athletic Association}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fiscus, Lawson}}
[[Category:Players of American football from Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:People from Indiana, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:IUP Crimson Hawks football players]]
[[Category:Princeton Tigers football players]]
[[Category:Allegheny Athletic Association players]]
[[Category:Greensburg Athletic Association players]]
[[Category:19th-century players of American football]]
[[Category:1866 births]]
[[Category:1949 deaths]]

Lawson Fiscus - Revision history

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