1901 Homestead Library & Athletic Club football team
Encyclopedia
The 1901 Homestead Library & Athletic Club football team won the professional football
championship of 1901. The team was affiliated with the Homestead Library & Athletic Club in Homestead, Pennsylvania
, near Pittsburgh. The team featured a lineup of former college All-Americans paid by Pittsburgh Pirates
owner William Chase Temple
.
took over the Duquesne Country and Athletic Club
, becoming the first individual team owner in professional football. In 1900, most of the Duqesne players were hired by the Homestead Library & Athletic Club, by offering them higher salaries. Over the next two season (1900 and 1901), Homestead fielded the best professional football team in the country and did not lose a game.
In August 1901, former Brown University
player Dave Fultz
(1875–1959) was hired as the captain of the Homestead team. Fultz played right halfback for Homestead and also played professional baseball from 1898-1905. Playing for the Philadelphia Athletics
in 1902, Fultz led the American League
in runs scored (109) and was third in stolen bases (44).
In late September 1901, Fultz announced the makeup of the 1901 team. The payroll for the 1901 Homestead team was $25,000 a year, which was paid by William Chase Temple
(owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates
) and officers of the Carnegie Steel Company.
When Fultz first announced the lineup in late September, it included Pete Overfield
(center from Penn), Bemus Pierce
(left guard from the Carlisle Indian School), Art Poe
(right end from Princeton), "Hoppy" Hunt (left end from Brown University), Daff Gammons (left halfback from Brown who also played baseball for the Boston Beaneater in 1901), Fred Crolius
(fullback from Dartmouth who played professional baseball and ranked fifth in the National League
after being hit by a pitch 10 times in 1901), Maxson from Maryland, Frank Woodley (quarterback from Penn), Arthur Mosse
from the University of Kansas (later a coach at Pittsburgh), Bob Shiring
from Pittsburgh, McNulty (right guard from Notre Dame), Weinstein (right tackle from Pittsburgh), Nieman from the University of Cincinnati
, Shields from Pittsburgh, and Perry Hale
(fullback from Yale who also coached the Exeter football team and joined Homestead in mid-November after Exeter’s last game).
Others who played for the 1901 Homestead team include Hawley Pierce
(left tackle and brother of Bemus Pierce) and Willis “Little” Richardson
(quarterback from Brown).
On November 2, 1901, Homestead played its first game against a significant opponent, defeating the college team from Penn State by a score of 39 to 0.
On November 6, 1901, Homestead defeated the Brown University
football team by a score of 34 to 0. The teams met at Exposition Park in Pittsburgh. Homestead’s success in securing a match against one of the major college teams, from one of the Ivy League schools, was considered “the big card of the season” by Homestead management. The Brown faculty consented to allow the game in October. Homestead was a heavy favorite in the game, with one newspaper noting, “While a victory for Brown is too much to expect, the players certainly ought to have a very pleasant trip.” The game’s biggest play was a run of 110 yards by Homestead’s left halfback, Gammons, who picked up the ball at the back of the goalposts after a blocked kick and “ran the entire length of the field.” Brown was “outweighed and outclassed in all departments.”
On November 16, 1901, Homestead played its second game against a major college team, defeating Lafayette 48 to 0 at Pittsburgh.
By late October 1901, Homestead and Philadelphia team was recognized as the strongest professional football teams in the United States, and a Philadelphia admirer of football offered up a cup to be awarded to the winner in a match between the two teams. The championship game between Homestead and Philadelphia was the subject of "lively" betting, as reported in the following newspaper story:
On November 23, 1901, Homestead defeated the Blondy Wallace
’s Philadelphia professionals for “the athletic championship of the United States.” The game was played at the Philadelphia park, and Homestead won by a score of 18 to 0. Newspaper accounts indicate that Philadelphia “was completely outplayed and never menaced the Homestead goal.” Another account reported that the Philadelphia team appeared to be in poor physical condition and was unable to gain ground consistently.” Homestead gained most of its yardage through the Philadelphia line, directing most of its plays at tackle and center. The New York Times reported on the game as follows:
While the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that at least one of Homestead’s scores was the result of an error by the umpire, they agreed Homestead was the better team: “The Homestead line was like a stone wall, and only occasionally was Philadelphia able to gain around the ends. Homestead played a team of giants, all in perfect condition, and with a system of team play developed to the highest possible perfection.”
On November 28, 1901, Homestead played a Thanksgiving Day game against the college team from Washington & Jefferson. Homestead won the game 42 to 0 at Pittsburgh.
On November 30, 1901, Homestead finished the season with a rematch against Philadelphia, in a game played two days after the Washington & Jefferson game. Two of Homestead’s starters, Hawley Pierce and Pete Overfield, were unable to play due to injuries, and captain Dave Fultz was knocked unconscious in the first half. Homestead gave up a touchdown in the first half, the first points scored against them in 1901. But they came back in the second half and won by a score of 6 to 5.
Despite their success on the field, the 1901 Homestead team was not a financial success, as “the winningest team in pro football was a financial loser again, dropping $8,000.”
Pittsburgh baseball officials Harry Pulliam and Barney Dreyfuss proposed a league with teams in Chicago, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Boston and New York. In December 1901, Pulliam told a reporter:
In 1902, Dreyfuss formed the first National Football League
, consisting of three teams made up in large part of former Homestead players.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
championship of 1901. The team was affiliated with the Homestead Library & Athletic Club in Homestead, Pennsylvania
Homestead, Pennsylvania
Homestead is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA, in the "Mon Valley," southeast of downtown Pittsburgh and directly across the river from the city limit line. The borough is known for the Homestead Strike of 1892, an important event in the history of labor relations in the United...
, near Pittsburgh. The team featured a lineup of former college All-Americans paid by Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
owner William Chase Temple
William Chase Temple
William Chase Temple was a coal, citrus, and lumber baron during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was also a part owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates from baseball's National League...
.
Organization
In 1898, William Chase TempleWilliam Chase Temple
William Chase Temple was a coal, citrus, and lumber baron during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was also a part owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates from baseball's National League...
took over the Duquesne Country and Athletic Club
Duquesne Country and Athletic Club
The Duquesne Country and Athletic Club was a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1895 until 1900. The team was considered one of the best, if not the best, professional football teams in the country from 1898 until 1900...
, becoming the first individual team owner in professional football. In 1900, most of the Duqesne players were hired by the Homestead Library & Athletic Club, by offering them higher salaries. Over the next two season (1900 and 1901), Homestead fielded the best professional football team in the country and did not lose a game.
In August 1901, former Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
player Dave Fultz
Dave Fultz
David Lewis Fultz was a center fielder in Major League Baseball who played in the National League with the Philadelphia Phillies and Baltimore Orioles , and for the Philadelphia Athletics and New York Highlanders of the American League. He batted and threw right-handed...
(1875–1959) was hired as the captain of the Homestead team. Fultz played right halfback for Homestead and also played professional baseball from 1898-1905. Playing for the Philadelphia Athletics
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....
in 1902, Fultz led the American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
in runs scored (109) and was third in stolen bases (44).
In late September 1901, Fultz announced the makeup of the 1901 team. The payroll for the 1901 Homestead team was $25,000 a year, which was paid by William Chase Temple
William Chase Temple
William Chase Temple was a coal, citrus, and lumber baron during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was also a part owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates from baseball's National League...
(owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
) and officers of the Carnegie Steel Company.
When Fultz first announced the lineup in late September, it included Pete Overfield
Pete Overfield
Peter Delome "Pete" Overfield was an All-American and professional football player, federal judge and rancher. Overfield played center for the University of Pennsylvania and was a first-team All-American in 1898 and 1899. He served as a federal district judge in Alaska from 1909-1917...
(center from Penn), Bemus Pierce
Bemus Pierce
Bemus Pierce was a Native American football guard in the 1890s and 1900s. He played for the great Carlisle Indian School teams from 1894-1898 and later played professional football for the championship teams from the Homestead Library & Athletic Club of 1900 and 1901. He also played for the...
(left guard from the Carlisle Indian School), Art Poe
Art Poe
Arthur "Art" Poe was an American football player and businessman, and one of six celebrated Poe brothers - second cousins, twice removed of American author Edgar Allan Poe - to play football at Princeton in the late 19th and early 20th century...
(right end from Princeton), "Hoppy" Hunt (left end from Brown University), Daff Gammons (left halfback from Brown who also played baseball for the Boston Beaneater in 1901), Fred Crolius
Fred Crolius
Frederick Joseph Crolius was a professional baseball and football player. He is best remembered as being the first player from Tufts University to come to play Major League Baseball. He was at Tufts in 1894, and at Dartmouth College, where he also played college football, from 1896 until 1899...
(fullback from Dartmouth who played professional baseball and ranked fifth in the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
after being hit by a pitch 10 times in 1901), Maxson from Maryland, Frank Woodley (quarterback from Penn), Arthur Mosse
Arthur Mosse
Arthur St. Leger "Texas" Mosse was the 9th head football coach of the Pittsburgh Panthers and the 13th head football coachfor the University of Kansas Jayhawks. While at Pittsburgh, he coached the university to its first undefeated season in 1904...
from the University of Kansas (later a coach at Pittsburgh), Bob Shiring
Bob Shiring
Robert Shiring was a professional football player from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is best known for playing for the Massillon Tigers from 1903 until 1907. However he also played for the Pittsburgh Stars of the first National Football League in 1902...
from Pittsburgh, McNulty (right guard from Notre Dame), Weinstein (right tackle from Pittsburgh), Nieman from the University of Cincinnati
University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati is a comprehensive public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a part of the University System of Ohio....
, Shields from Pittsburgh, and Perry Hale
Perry Hale
-Bibliography:***-External links:...
(fullback from Yale who also coached the Exeter football team and joined Homestead in mid-November after Exeter’s last game).
Others who played for the 1901 Homestead team include Hawley Pierce
Hawley Pierce
Hawley Pierce was an early professional football player for the Philadelphia Athletics of the first National Football League and later for the Syracuse Athletic Club during the 1902 and 1903 World Series of Football. In 1901, he began his professional career playing on the 1901 Homestead Library &...
(left tackle and brother of Bemus Pierce) and Willis “Little” Richardson
Willis Richardson (American football)
Willis Richardson was an early professional football player-coach for the Homestead Library & Athletic Club and the Pittsburgh Stars of the first National Football League. He won the Pennsylvania State Championship with Homestead in 1900 and 1901...
(quarterback from Brown).
Season summary
There was no organized professional football league in 1901, and most of Homestead’s games were played against college football teams. Early in the season, Homestead played games against teams from Lalus, Ohio Medical College and Baltimore Medical College. Homestead won each of those games by wide margins, including a 42 to 0 margin over Baltimore Medical College on October 26, 1901.On November 2, 1901, Homestead played its first game against a significant opponent, defeating the college team from Penn State by a score of 39 to 0.
On November 6, 1901, Homestead defeated the Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
football team by a score of 34 to 0. The teams met at Exposition Park in Pittsburgh. Homestead’s success in securing a match against one of the major college teams, from one of the Ivy League schools, was considered “the big card of the season” by Homestead management. The Brown faculty consented to allow the game in October. Homestead was a heavy favorite in the game, with one newspaper noting, “While a victory for Brown is too much to expect, the players certainly ought to have a very pleasant trip.” The game’s biggest play was a run of 110 yards by Homestead’s left halfback, Gammons, who picked up the ball at the back of the goalposts after a blocked kick and “ran the entire length of the field.” Brown was “outweighed and outclassed in all departments.”
On November 16, 1901, Homestead played its second game against a major college team, defeating Lafayette 48 to 0 at Pittsburgh.
By late October 1901, Homestead and Philadelphia team was recognized as the strongest professional football teams in the United States, and a Philadelphia admirer of football offered up a cup to be awarded to the winner in a match between the two teams. The championship game between Homestead and Philadelphia was the subject of "lively" betting, as reported in the following newspaper story:
"At least $10,000 has already been bet in Pittsburg on the Philadelphia-Homestead football game … Some days ago a sport in Pittsburg from Philadelphia with $3,000 to bet even that Philadelphia team would beat Homestead. He was prepared to bet even, and his money was taken so promptly that he wired Philadelphia for another trunkful of coin. About $2,500 arrived Monday and friends of the Homestead team were ready at the station to meet it. There is yet a lot of loose money to bet that Homestead beats the Quakers and there is a good amount to bet at decent odds that Philadelphia does not score."
On November 23, 1901, Homestead defeated the Blondy Wallace
Blondy Wallace
Charles Edgar "Blondy" Wallace was an early professional football player. He was a 240-pound, former Walter Camp second-team All-American tackle from the University of Pennsylvania. He also played two years at Peddie Institute, in New Jersey, winning state championships in 1896 and 1897...
’s Philadelphia professionals for “the athletic championship of the United States.” The game was played at the Philadelphia park, and Homestead won by a score of 18 to 0. Newspaper accounts indicate that Philadelphia “was completely outplayed and never menaced the Homestead goal.” Another account reported that the Philadelphia team appeared to be in poor physical condition and was unable to gain ground consistently.” Homestead gained most of its yardage through the Philadelphia line, directing most of its plays at tackle and center. The New York Times reported on the game as follows:
”Against the well-trained, concerted team work of Homestead they were like so many pigmies. Their line could not hold the fast onslaught of the Western contingent, and after the first ten minutes of play a lack of good physical condition began to assert itself. … The 5,000 spectators present shivered through thirty minute halves and at no time during the game was a real opportunity offered to get enthusiastic over the work of Wallace’s [Philadelphia’s captain] team. It was an eleven made up of stars against well-trained team work, and the latter triumphed.”
While the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that at least one of Homestead’s scores was the result of an error by the umpire, they agreed Homestead was the better team: “The Homestead line was like a stone wall, and only occasionally was Philadelphia able to gain around the ends. Homestead played a team of giants, all in perfect condition, and with a system of team play developed to the highest possible perfection.”
On November 28, 1901, Homestead played a Thanksgiving Day game against the college team from Washington & Jefferson. Homestead won the game 42 to 0 at Pittsburgh.
On November 30, 1901, Homestead finished the season with a rematch against Philadelphia, in a game played two days after the Washington & Jefferson game. Two of Homestead’s starters, Hawley Pierce and Pete Overfield, were unable to play due to injuries, and captain Dave Fultz was knocked unconscious in the first half. Homestead gave up a touchdown in the first half, the first points scored against them in 1901. But they came back in the second half and won by a score of 6 to 5.
Public and press response
After Homestead won the professional football championship, the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote the following editorial expressing pride in the accomplishments of Pennsylvania’s professional football teams: "It is a curious fact, apropos of the constant charge that Pennsylvania is now a slow state, that the two greatest professional football teams in the country, Philadelphia and Homestead, should have found a spontaneous sort of existence within the Keystone limits, and without fuss or flurry of any kind, be ready to meet all comers."Despite their success on the field, the 1901 Homestead team was not a financial success, as “the winningest team in pro football was a financial loser again, dropping $8,000.”
Birthplace of the NFL
The success of the 1901 Homestead team also spurred interest in the formation of a nationwide professional football league. One writer opined that Homestead, though an "exceptionally strong organization," were actually too strong a team for the best box office results, as “its games were won too easily.”Pittsburgh baseball officials Harry Pulliam and Barney Dreyfuss proposed a league with teams in Chicago, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Boston and New York. In December 1901, Pulliam told a reporter:
"There were 7,000 persons out to see the Homestead and Philadelphia teams play … and I believe that strong teams evenly matched in the cities named will appeal to the average football crank. Enough graduates and men who are taking post graduate courses at colleges can be found to make strong teams. They would be men who have learned the game at the colleges, but older and stronger, and would have the advantage of playing together year after year more than college players."
In 1902, Dreyfuss formed the first National Football League
National Football League (1902)
The National Football League was the first attempt at forming a national professional football league in 1902. The league has no ties with the modern National Football League. In fact the league was only composed of teams from Pennsylvania, which was hardly "national". Two of the teams were based...
, consisting of three teams made up in large part of former Homestead players.
Season schedule
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | October 1901 | Lalus | W |
| 2 | October 1901 | Ohio Medical College | W |
| 3 | October 26, 1901 | Baltimore Medical College | W 42-0 |
| 4 | November 2, 1901 | Penn State Penn State Nittany Lions football The Penn State Nittany Lions football team represents the Pennsylvania State University in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Big Ten Conference. It is one of the most tradition-rich and storied college football programs in the... |
W 39-0 |
| 5 | November 6, 1901 | Brown University Brown University Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,... |
W 34-0 |
| 6 | November 16, 1901 | Lafayette College Lafayette College Lafayette College is a private coeducational liberal arts and engineering college located in Easton, Pennsylvania, USA. The school, founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter,son of General Andrew Porter of Norristown and citizens of Easton, first began holding classes in 1832... |
W 48-0 |
| 7 | November 23, 1901 | Philadelphia Philadelphia Phillies (NFL) The Philadelphia Phillies were a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1902. The team was member of what was referred to as the National Football League. This league has no connection with the National Football League of today. The whole league was a curious... |
W 18-0 |
| 8 | November 28, 1901 | Washington & Jefferson Washington & Jefferson Presidents football The Washington & Jefferson Presidents football team represents Washington & Jefferson College in collegiate level football. The team competes in NCAA Division III and is affiliated with the Presidents' Athletic Conference... |
W 42-0 |
| 9 | November 30, 1901 | Philadelphia | W 6-5 |