- 1 8 9 0 s ▁alleg ations ▁of ▁professional ism ▁became ▁known ▁to ▁the ▁AA U . ▁The ▁Al leg hen y ▁Athlet ic ▁Association ▁was ▁found ▁guilty ▁of ▁pay ing ▁c ash ▁to ▁players ▁and ▁was ▁perman ently ▁bar red ▁from ▁any ▁kind ▁of ▁competition ▁with ▁other ▁AA U ▁members . ▁This ▁pun ishment ▁would ▁end ▁a ▁team , ▁because ▁their ▁oppon ents , ▁whether ▁other ▁pros , ▁amateur ▁associations , ▁or ▁colleg es , ▁would ▁have ▁simply ▁stopped ▁playing ▁them . ▁Al leg hen y ▁then ▁def ied ▁the ▁AA U ▁in ▁ 1 8 9 6 ▁and ▁created ▁an ▁entirely ▁open ▁professional ▁team . ▁A ▁year ▁later , ▁the ▁Lat ro be ▁Athlet ic ▁Association , ▁went ▁entirely ▁professional . ▁The ▁mis con ception ▁that ▁these ▁were ▁amateur ▁athlet ic ▁club ▁were ▁held ▁to ▁in ▁public , ▁even ▁when ▁newsp apers ▁wrote ▁open ly ▁of ▁players ▁being ▁under ▁contract . ▁To ▁get ▁around ▁this , ▁the ▁circuit ▁teams ▁played ▁for ▁local ▁or ▁regional ▁champion ships , ▁with ▁the ▁only ▁generally ▁recognized ▁national ▁champion ▁being ▁the ▁best ▁college ▁football ▁team . ▁However , ▁the ▁winner ▁of ▁the ▁circuit ▁was ▁usually ▁able ▁to ▁lay ▁claim ▁to ▁a ▁national , ▁but ▁professional , ▁football ▁title ▁from ▁ 1 8 9 0 - 1 9 0 3 . ▁ ▁By ▁ 1 9 0 4 , ▁the ▁ex od us ▁of ▁pro ▁football ▁talent ▁to ▁the ▁" Oh io ▁League ", ▁dimin ished ▁the ▁region ' s ▁level ▁of ▁play ▁and ▁the ▁national