The Chicago Athletic Association [2]
Prior to his arrival in Chicago Heffelfinger was working a job in Omaha, NE. Crawford however offered Heffelfinger enough "incentive" for him to leave his job & join the CAA. At the time there were no AAU rules prohibiting players from receiving their expenses. Crawford offered Heffelfinger enough "inducements" and/or "incentives" for him to quit his railroad job in Omaha to play for the Chicago Athletic Association. Now the rest of the world may think that Heffelfinger wasn't getting paid. Well he left his job... to play for free? Obviously not!! So while the Amateur Athletic Union didn't consider this as getting paid, we here at asmFootball see it differently. Officials at Northwestern University thought likewise calling the CAA players professionals. Crawford, undaunted, would make contacts with other athletic clubs while on tour to further his agenda. Heffelfinger of course accepted Crawford's "incentives" & ...