15
The Heisman Trophy
site of one of the four BCS bowl games on a rotating basis, one week after the regular bowl game. This opened up the BCS to two additional at-large teams. Also, rules were changed to add the champions of five additional conferences (Conference USA, the Mid-American Conference, the Mountain West Conference, the Sun Belt Conference and the Western Athletic Conference), provided that said champion ranked in the top twelve in the final BCS rankings. Every season since this rule change was implemented, schools from non-BCS conferences played in BCS bowl games, namely Boise State in 2006, Hawaiʻi in 2007, and Utah in 2008. In 2009, Boise State played TCU in the Fiesta Bowl, the first time two schools from non-BCS conference played in BCS bowl games.
Professional football
Early players, teams, and leagues (1892–1919)
In the early twentieth century, football began to catch on in the general population of the United States and was the subject of intense competition and rivalry, albeit of a localized nature. Although payments to players were considered unsporting and dishonorable at the time, a Pittsburgh area club, the Allegheny Athletic Association, surreptitiously hired former Yale All-American
guard William "Pudge" Heffelfinger. On November 12, 1892, Heffelfinger became the first known professional football player. He was paid $500 to play in a game against the Pittsburgh Athletic Club. Heffelfinger picked up a Pittsburgh fumble and ran 35 yards for a touchdown, winning the game 4–0 for Allegheny. Although observers held suspicions, the payment remained a secret for years.
On September 3, 1895 the first wholly professional game was played, in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, between the Latrobe Athletic Association and the Jeannette Athletic Club. Latrobe won the contest 12–0. In 1897, the Latrobe Athletic Association paid all of its players for the whole season, becoming the first fully professional football team. Three years later in 1899, the Morgan Athletic Club, on the South Side of Chicago, was founded. This team later became the