| John Van Cleve | |
| Birth Date: | 26 September 1871 |
| Birth Place: | South Amboy, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Position1: | End, halfback |
| Coaching Years1: | 1898 |
| Coaching Team1: | Pittsburgh College |
| Playing Years1: | 1892 |
| Playing Team1: | Lehigh |
| Playing Years2: | 1893–1894 |
| Playing Team2: | Allegheny Athletic Association |
| Playing Years3: | 1895 |
| Playing Team3: | Duquesne Country and Athletic Club |
| Playing Years4: | 1896–1897 |
| Playing Team4: | Pittsburgh Athletic Club |
| Playing Years5: | 1898 |
| Playing Team5: | Pittsburgh College |
| Career Highlights: |
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John Moore Van Cleve (September 26, 1871 – January 9, 1914)[1] was an American football player and coach, and one of the first known professional players of the sport. After playing college football at Lehigh, he played five seasons for independent teams in or near Pittsburgh and served in 1898 as player-coach for Pittsburgh College, later known as Duquesne University.
Van Cleve became one of the earliest known people paid to play football when he, Ollie Rafferty, and Peter Wright signed contracts with the Allegheny Athletic Association for $50 per game for the entire 1893 season. Only Pudge Heffelfinger and Sport Donnelly are known to have been professionals earlier.[2]
Van Cleve again played for Allegheny in 1894. During a game against the Pittsburgh Athletic Club. Allegheny's quarterback, A. S. Valentine, was thrown out of the game after coming to the aid of Van Cleve during a fight against Pittsburgh's Joe Trees. After several appeals, Valentine left the field reportedly "crying like a baby" by the local media.[3] During the 1895 season, Allegheny did not field a team after learning the club was under investigation by the Amateur Athletic Union for secretly paying its players. As a result, Van Cleve played for the upstart Duquesne Country and Athletic Club.[4]
Van Cleve played end for the Pittsburgh Athletic Club in 1896.[5] He began the following season coaching and captaining a team from Sewickley, Pennsylvania.[6] [7] The Pittsburgh Post reported that he would not rejoin the Pittsburgh Athletic Club in 1897, noting manager Bob Hamilton's statement that no paid player would be on the team;[8] however, after a new manager took over for Hamilton during the season, Van Cleve was brought back.[7] [9]
Prior to his professional career, Van Cleve played college football at Lehigh University, where he studied electrical engineering. On October 15, 1892, Van Cleve scored Lehigh's only touchdown in a loss against the Orange Athletic Club.[10] He would play for Lehigh five days later during a 50–0 loss to the Princeton Tigers.[11] Van Cleve also played lacrosse and was a member of Lehigh's 1893 national championship team.[12] He was president of the school's "Starvation Club".[13]
Van Cleve served as the head football coach at Pittsburgh Catholic College of the Holy Ghost—later renamed Duquesne University—in 1898. He also played for the team as an end.[14] [15] According to the Pittsburgh Post, he was the lightest man on the team.[16]