O. D. Thompson

O. D. Thompson
Date of birth	September 24, 1855
Place of birth	Butler, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Date of death	June 10, 1925 (aged 69)
Place of death	Edgeworth, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Career information
Position(s)	Halfback/Fullback/Tackle
US college	Yale
Career history
As player
1890–1891, 1893	Allegheny Athletic Association
As manager
1891, 1893, 1896	Allegheny Athletic Association
Career highlights and awards
	Helped Walter Camp develop football; Scored Yale's first touchdown against Harvard; Caught first allowed forward pass in history; threw/completed the second one; Signed the first known professional football player, Pudge Heffelfinger; Signed the first professional football coach, Sport Donnelly; Managed the first completely professional football team; 3x Pittsburgh local champion (1890, 1892, 1894);

Oliver David Thompson (September 24, 1855 – June 10, 1925) was an early football player at Yale, who played alongside Walter Camp. After his time at Yale, Thompson played, and served as the manager, for the Allegheny Athletic Association. However Thompson is best known for paying Pudge Heffelfinger $500 to play for Allegheny against their rivals, the Pittsburgh Athletic Club. Thompson's historic actions went unnoticed until the 1960s, when an 1892 account ledger prepared by Thompson – while he was manager of the Allegheny Athletic Association – included the line: "Game performance bonus to W. Heffelfinger for playing (cash) $500." The ledger is currently on display at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

^ Williams, Frederick Wells (1906). A History of the Class of Seventy-Nine:Yale College, During the Thirty Years from its Admission into the Academic Department, 1875-1905. The University Press. pp. 434, 435.
^ Cite error: The named reference ObitRec was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[1] Williams, Frederick Wells (1906). A History of the Class of Seventy-Nine:Yale College, During the Thirty Years from its Admission into the Academic Department, 1875-1905. The University Press. pp. 434, 435.

[ObitRec-2] Cite error: The named reference ObitRec was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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Career information

Date of birth	September 24, 1855^[1]
Place of birth	Butler, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Date of death	June 10, 1925(1925-06-10) (aged 69)^[2]
Place of death	Edgeworth, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Position(s)	Halfback/Fullback/Tackle
US college	Yale
Career history
As player
1890–1891, 1893	Allegheny Athletic Association
As manager
1891, 1893, 1896	Allegheny Athletic Association

Career highlights and awards
Helped Walter Camp develop football Scored Yale's first touchdown against Harvard Caught first allowed forward pass in history; threw/completed the second one Signed the first known professional football player, Pudge Heffelfinger Signed the first professional football coach, Sport Donnelly Managed the first completely professional football team 3x Pittsburgh local champion (1890, 1892, 1894)