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.