WASHINGTON, Sept. 3, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

FIRST FOOTBALL PROFESSIONAL

Profile America — Thursday, September 3rd. Football season is soon to be in full swing again. Many colleges begin playing their schedules today, and the National Football League season starts a week from now. For many years, it was believed the first professional game took place on this date in 1895 in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. It was considered professional because one player was paid the sum of $10. However, recent research determined that the first professional game took place in 1892 in Pittsburgh between two athletic clubs. There, a Yale All-American named Pudge Heffelfinger received $500 for his gridiron exploits, which amounted to scoring the game's only points. That is almost $13,000 today, or very nearly half of America's current annual per capita income of $28,000. Profile America is in its 19th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau. 

Sources: Kane's Famous First Facts, 7322
1895 game: http://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/Football.html 
"Pudge" Heffelfinger: http://www.profootballhof.com/history/general/birth.aspx 
1892-2014 value: http://www.westegg.com/inflation/     
Per capita income: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html

Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotions of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Multimedia Gallery" by the "Newsroom" button). 

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110428/DC91889LOGO

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-census-bureau-daily-feature-for-september-3-first-football-professional-300135491.html

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau