O. D. Thompson

O. D. Thompson
Date of birth	September 24, 1855
Place of birth	Butler, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Date of death	June 10, 1925 (aged 69)
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
	Helped Walter Camp develop football; Scored Yale's first touchdown against Harvard; Caught first allowed forward pass in history; threw/completed the second one; Signed the first known professional football player, Pudge Heffelfinger; Signed the first professional football coach, Sport Donnelly; Managed the first completely professional football team; 3x Pittsburgh local champion (1890, 1892, 1894);

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 was a player and manager for the Allegheny Athletic Association. He is best known for paying Pudge Heffelfinger $500 to play for Allegheny against their rivals, the Pittsburgh Athletic Club—a move that made Heffelfinger the first known professional football player. Thompson's historic action went unnoticed until the 1960s, when a record of the payment was discovered on a page of a ledger prepared by Thompson. The page is currently on display at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.