Pudge Heffelfinger:
He was a 3 time All-American for Yale. He is credited as being the first professional football player. He was paid to play football for the Allegheny Athletic Association in 1892.
Frank Hinkey:
He is one of a handful of players to be named as a 4-time All-American. That is an accomplishment that probably will never happen again with many players leaving early for the NFL draft. Despite his small stature he was known as a J.J. Watt type of defensive enforcer. There is some amazing information about his career and life here FrankHinkey
Hi Tyson -- I'm trying to identify someone in this photo and came across your post. According to later profiles of his life, Erman J. Ridgway had been part of the 1888 Northwestern team which is considered to have launched their program, and was then recruited by Yale. He transferred and played on the 1890 and 1891 Yale teams. Later profiles refer to him as a halfback, and he's said to have been a backup on those teams. Based on who is identified and who isn't in this photo, plus a pic of him from 20 years later, I think he might be back row center or back row second from left. I wonder if you might have any further thoughts on the matter?
ReplyDeleteSorry for the late reply I just saw this. I looked in one of my resource books and he is not in that 1891 image. I could not find him in the Y book either so he did not letter in varsity. He probably played on the scrub team.
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