 | |
| Date of birth | September 24, 1855[1] |
|---|---|
| Place of birth | Butler, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Date of death | June 10, 1925 (aged 69)[2] |
| Place of death | Edgeworth, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Career information | |
| Position(s) | Halfback/Fullback/Tackle |
| US college | Yale |
| Career history | |
| As player | |
| 1890–1891, 1893 | Allegheny Athletic Association |
| As manager | |
| 1891, 1893, 1896 | Allegheny Athletic Association |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Oliver David Thompson (September 24, 1855 – June 10, 1925) was an early football player at Yale, who played alongside Walter Camp. After his time at Yale, Thompson played, and served as the manager, for the Allegheny Athletic Association. However Thompson is best known for paying Pudge Heffelfinger $500 to play for Allegheny against their rivals, the Pittsburgh Athletic Club. Thompson's historic actions went unnoticed until the 1960s, when an 1892 account ledger prepared by Thompson – while he was manager of the Allegheny Athletic Association – included the line: "Game performance bonus to W. Heffelfinger for playing (cash) $500." The ledger is currently on display at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
- ^ Williams, Frederick Wells (1906). A History of the Class of Seventy-Nine:Yale College, During the Thirty Years from its Admission into the Academic Department, 1875-1905. The University Press. pp. 434, 435.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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