When did professional American football begin?

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Jalen Hurts, wearing number 1 for the Philadelphia Eagles, winds up to throw a football during the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LVII against the Kansas City Chiefs. — American football Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts during Super Bowl LVII, 2023; the team lost to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Professional American football is considered to have officially begun on November 12, 1892. On that date, William (Pudge) Heffelfinger was paid $500 to play in a single game for the Allegheny Athletic Association against the Pittsburgh Athletic Club.1

While individual players had been paid for their services since 1892, the sport struggled for respectability for many years. The organized structure of the professional game emerged later, with the formation of the American Professional Football Association in 1920, which was renamed the National Football League (NFL) in 1922. Despite these early developments, professional football did not achieve the status of a major sport until after World War II.23