The entry reads as dispassionately as an accounting ledger should: "game performance bonus to W. Heffelfinger for playing (cash) $500.00"
But that handwritten note on a 120-year old record -- indicating a secret payment by the Allegheny Athletic Association to William "Pudge" Heffelfinger for an 1892 game against rival Pittsburg Athletic Club on the city's North Side -- is regarded as the birth certificate of professional football.
That document, along with 200 other pieces on loan from the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, will be on display beginning Saturday at the Heinz History Center for the national debut of the Gridiron Glory exhibition.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sports/steelers/heinz-history-center-is-initial-stop-for-hall-of-fame-exhibit-655922/#ixzz28DrZh1jV
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