Hawley Pierce was an early professional football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 player for the Philadelphia Athletics

Philadelphia Athletics (NFL)

The Philadelphia Athletics were a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1902. The team was member of what was referred to as the National Football League. This league has no connection with the National Football League of today. The whole "league" was a curious...

 of the first National Football League

National Football League (1902)

The National Football League was the first attempt at forming a national professional football league in 1902. The league has no ties with the modern National Football League. In fact the league was only composed of teams from Pennsylvania, which was hardly "national". Two of the teams were based...

 and later for the Syracuse Athletic Club during the 1902 and 1903 World Series of Football

World Series of Football (1902)

The World Series of Football was a series of football games played indoors at New York's Madison Square Garden in 1902 and 1903. It originally comprised five teams, four from New York state and one from New Jersey...

. In 1901, he began his professional career playing on the 1901 Homestead Library & Athletic Club football team

1901 Homestead Library & Athletic Club football team

The 1901 Homestead Library & Athletic Club football team won the professional football championship of 1901. The team was affiliated with the Homestead Library & Athletic Club in Homestead, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh...

. Prior to his professional career, Pierce, a Seneca

Seneca nation

The Seneca are a group of indigenous people native to North America. They were the nation located farthest to the west within the Six Nations or Iroquois League in New York before the American Revolution. While exact population figures are unknown, approximately 15,000 to 25,000 Seneca live in...

 Native American

Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

, played for the Carlisle Indian School, located in Carlisle, Pennsylvania

Carlisle, Pennsylvania

Carlisle is a borough in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The name is traditionally pronounced with emphasis on the second syllable. Carlisle is located within the Cumberland Valley, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the 2010 census, the borough...

. He was the brother of college and professional football's Bemus Pierce

Bemus Pierce

Bemus Pierce was a Native American football guard in the 1890s and 1900s. He played for the great Carlisle Indian School teams from 1894-1898 and later played professional football for the championship teams from the Homestead Library & Athletic Club of 1900 and 1901. He also played for the...

.

Role in development of the overhead spiral forward pass

Howard Reiter

Howard R. Reiter

Howard Roland "Bosey" Reiter was an All-American football player, coach and athletic director. He was selected for the 1899 College Football All-America Team and played professional football as a player coach for the Philadelphia Athletics of the first National Football League in 1902...

, a teammate of Pierce during his time with football's Philadelphia Athletics, claimed to have invented the overhead spiral forward pass

Forward pass

In several forms of football a forward pass is when the ball is thrown in the direction that the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line...

 while playing professional football as a player-coach

Player-coach

A player-coach, in sports, is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. The term can be used to refer to both players who serve as head coaches, or as assistant coaches....

 for the team in the 1902 National Football League. Pierce reportedly taught Reiter to throw an underhand spiral pass, but Reiter had short arms and was unable to throw for distance from an underhand delivery. Accordingly, Reiter began working on an overhand spiral pass. Reiter recalled trying to imitate the motion of a baseball catcher throwing to second base. After practice and experimentation, Reiter "discovered he could get greater distance and accuracy throwing that way."

World Series of Football

Prior to the start of the series, Syracuse A.C. under Cornell University

Cornell University

Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...

 coach, Frank "Buck" O'Neill

Frank "Buck" O'Neill

Frank J. "Buck" O'Neill was an American football player and coach. He served as head football coach at Colgate University , Syracuse University , and Columbia University , compiling a career college football coaching record of 81–41–8...

, signed three running backs from the Watertown Red & Black

Watertown Red & Black

The Watertown Red & Black is a semi-professional American football team based in Watertown, New York. Founded in 1896, the team is the oldest semi-pro football team in the United States...

, along with Hawley and his brother Bemus. He also signed Bill Warner

Bill Warner

William J. "Bill" Warner was an American football player and coach. Warner graduated from Cornell University in 1903 and was a member of the Sphinx Head Society...

 and his brother Glenn

Glenn Scobey Warner

Glenn Scobey Warner , most commonly known as Pop Warner, was an American football player and coach...

. O'Neill conducted daily practices in preparation for the series.

Syracuse defeated the heavily favored "New York team

New York (World Series of Football)

"New York" was a term given to a professional football team formed by promoter Tom O'Rouke for the World Series of Football in 1902. The event was held in New York City at Madison Square Garden...

" in what has been called the first indoor pro football game. The final score of the game was recorded as 6-0, but in reality it was 5-0, since touchdowns only counted for five points in 1902 and Pop Warner missed the extra point. The finale on New Year's night against the Orange Athletic Club resulted in another 36-0 win, and the series championship, for Pierce and Syracuse.

Pierce played for Syracuse again in the 1903 World Series of Football.