John "Jack" Lang was a professional American 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. In 1902 he won a championship in 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...

 with the Pittsburgh Stars

Pittsburgh Stars

The Pittsburgh Stars were a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh, 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 mixture...

. A year later he was a member of the Franklin Athletic Club

Franklin Athletic Club

The Franklin Athletic Club was an early professional football team based in Franklin, Pennsylvania. It was considered the top team in professional football in 1903, by becoming the becoming the US Football Champions and winning the 1903 World Series of Football, held after the 1903 season, at New...

 football team that was considered the "best in the world". He also won the 1903 World Series of Football, held at Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden (1890)

Madison Square Garden was an indoor arena in New York City, the second by that name, and the second to be located at 26th Street and Madison Avenue in Manhattan...

, with the Franklin Athletic Club.

Lang then spent the 1904 and 1905 seasons with the Massillon Tigers

Massillon Tigers

The Massillon Tigers were an early professional football team from Massillon, Ohio. Playing in the "Ohio League", the team was a rival to the pre-National Football League version of the Canton Bulldogs. The Tigers won Ohio League championships in 1903, 1904, 1905, and 1906, then merged to become...

 of the Ohio League

Ohio League

The Ohio League was an informal and loose association of American football clubs active between 1903 and 1919 that competed for the Ohio Independent Championship . As the name implied, its teams were based in Ohio...

. In 1906, he was convinced by Blondy Wallace

Blondy Wallace

Charles Edgar "Blondy" Wallace was an early professional football player. He was a 240-pound, former Walter Camp second-team All-American tackle from the University of Pennsylvania. He also played two years at Peddie Institute, in New Jersey, winning state championships in 1896 and 1897...

, coach of the Canton Bulldogs

Canton Bulldogs

The Canton Bulldogs were a professional American football team, based in Canton, Ohio. They played in the Ohio League from 1903 to 1906 and 1911 to 1919, and its successor, the National Football League, from 1920 to 1923 and again from 1925 to 1926. The Bulldogs would go on to win the 1917, 1918...

 to join the Bulldogs. He jumped from the Tigers to the Bulldogs along with Jack Hayden, Herman Kerchoff

Herman Kerchoff

Herman Kerchoffe was professional American football player for the Pittsburgh Stars of the first National Football League in 1902, the Massillon Tigers in 1904 and the Canton Athletic Club...

, and Clark Schrontz

Clark Schrontz

Clark A. Schrontz was a professional American football player. In 1902 he won a championship in the first National Football League with the Pittsburgh Stars. A year later he was a member of the Franklin Athletic Club football team that was considered the "best in the world"...

. That season Canton played Massillon in a two game home-and-home series to determine the 1906 Ohio League championship. While Canton won the first game of the series, Massillon won the second game (and under rules determined by both team) the championship. Canton was later accused of throwing the championship in a betting scandal.

Prior to his professional career Jack played three years at tackle while attending Washington and Jefferson College.