Charley Aull

Charley Aull

Aull pictured c. 1891 at Penn State
Date of birth	(1869-09-05)September 5, 1869
Place of birth	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,US
Date of death	June 28, 1958(1958-06-28)(aged 88)
Place of death	Butler County, Ohio,US
Career information
Position(s)	Guard,quarterback
US college	Penn State
Career history
As player
1892–1895	Pittsburgh Athletic Club

Charles Elmer Aull(September 5, 1869 – June 28, 1958) was an early professionalfootballplayer. He played professionally for thePittsburgh Athletic Club.He also played college football from 1889 until 1891 for thePenn State Nittany Lions.He was born in Pittsburgh in 1869.He died in Ohio in 1958.

Professional career

Aull served as the team's captain for the 1892 season. His brotherBurtalso played on the team. Charley was also accused of bringing in a ringer for the club against its rival theAllegheny Athletic AssociationThat year Aull stated that he met an old friend named "Stayer," on the street prior to the team's October 21 game against Allegheny. Since Pittsburgh was in need of replacement atcenter,"Stayer" agreed to replace the injured regular player. A week after the game, it was disclosed that "Stayer" actually wasA.C. Read,the captain of thePenn Statefootball team. Although no one could prove that Read actually had been paid, and Aull had not tried to present him as a Pittsburgh A.C. member, Allegheny hired under the tablePudge Heffelfinger,a college star formerly fromYale,for $500, to play for the club in a November 21 rematch. This game made Heffelfinger the first professional football player. During the rematch, Aull reportedly received an injury when he was crushed beneath a pile of several Allegheny players. As a result, Charley's back was so wrenched he had to be taken off the field on a stretcher. His brother Burt, was also injured during the game, after receiving a fierce blow to the head which forced him to retire from football.

In 1893, Charley was renamed the team's captain. On October 7, 1893, he was reportedly injured in a 10-0 Pittsburgh A.C. win over Western University (today theUniversity of Pittsburgh). He was out of the Pittsburgh line-up for two weeks with a swollen lip.

In 1895, Aull served as Pittsburgh'squarterback.

College football

Prior to his professional career, Aull played at thecollege levelfor Penn State from 1889 to 1891. On November 11, 1889, Penn State suffered their worst loss in football history falling toLehigh University106–0. The players arrived back at campus and asked about the game. Aull stated that "We couldn't get at the son-of-a-bitch with the ball."

On October 28, 1900, Aull was therefereefor a game between the professionalDuquesne Country and Athletic Cluband the amateur Penn State football team. Duquesne won the game, held inPittsburgh,by a score of 29–0.

References

• PFRA Research."Five Hundred Reasons"(PDF).Coffin Corner.Professional Football Researchers Association: 1–6. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on September 29, 2010.
• Riffenburgh, Beau & Bob Carroll (1989)."The Birth of Pro Football"(PDF).Coffin Corner.11(Annual). Professional Football Researchers Association: 1–30. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on November 27, 2010.
• "Duquesne A.C. 29, State 0"(PDF).New York Times(October 28). 1900.
• Peterson, Robert W. (1997).Pigskin: The Early Years of Pro Football.Oxford University Press.ISBN0-19-511913-4.
• Denlinger, Ken (1994).For the Glory: College Football Dreams and Realities Inside Paterno's Program.H.B Finn and Company.ISBN0-312-13496-7.
• PFRA Research."A Weekly Wage"(PDF).Coffin Corner.Professional Football Researchers Association: 1–4. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on November 26, 2010.