In 1989, Mats Sundin would make history as he would become the first European player to be chosen number one in the NHL Draft when the Quebec Nordiques did so in 1989. 

Mario Marois joined the Quebec Nordiques, where he would stay until he was traded to the Winnipeg Jets in November of the 1985-86 Season.

In an earlier entry, we looked at the candidacy of William Heffelfinger, who predated the NFL by decades and was the first paid Pro Football player.  Charles Follis would make similar history as the first African-American Pro Football player.

Follis enrolled in Wooster College, but he elected instead to play in the Wooster Athletic Association.  There, he earned the nickname “Black Cyclone,” and if that is not one of the best nicknames in sports, then we don’t know what is.  Follis was impressive in a game against the Shelby Blues, who would then recruit him to play for them instead of against them.  He was an absolute stud for the team, and decades later it would be revealed that he was paid for his services, making him the first Black player to be paid to play pro football.

This is very tricky, or maybe it isn’t.  It just depends on what type of football historian you are.

A three-time All-American at Yale (1889-91), William Heffelfinger’s college squad only ever lost two games.  Heffelfinger was considered the star of that team, but in the 1890s, and for many decades after that, you went on with your life and stopped playing football.  That was not the case for Heffelfinger.