Your city's / region's football heritage

[pj3000]

Since we're in the heart of pro football playoff time, I was thinking about how large a role Western Pennsylvania has played in American football history.

Along with neighboring Eastern Ohio, the region is, without question, the crucible of American football, bringing together immigrant groups from all over to work in factories, mills, and mines and to beat the crap out of each other on the field.

The historical and current influence of the area on the sport is rather astounding, considering the numerous "firsts" and the number of highly-notable names from the overall region, anchored by largest cities Cleveland and Pittsburgh.

From Heisman to Brown to Shula to Noll to Ditka to Meyer, the Western PA/Eastern OH cradle of coaches is unparalleld. And the collection of players from this area of the country is staggering when one thinks of the best to play the game.

What cities/regions can claim impressive rosters of players and coaches as their own?

This list is FAR from exhaustive, and only includes players and coaches who are legitimately from the area (born and raised, raised/spent significant part of their lives with their families) and were significant standouts at the professional level, or in rare cases MAJOR standouts at college level.


Here's what I have for Western Pennsylvania:

KEY
^ denotes College Football Hall of Fame
# denotes Heisman Trophy winner
* denotes NFL Hall of Fame
@ denotes active player

OFFENSE

QB

• George Blanda, Youngwood *
• Marc Bulger, Pittsburgh
• Jim Kelly, East Brady *
• Dan Marino, Pittsburgh ^*
• Joe Montana, Monongahela *
• Joe Namath, Beaver Falls *
• Johnny Unitas, Pittsburgh *

RB

• James Conner, Erie @
• Ernie Davis, Uniontown ^#
• Tony Dorsett, Aliquippa ^#*
• Curtis Martin, Pittsburgh *
• Mercury Morris, Pittsburgh

TE

• Mike Ditka (Dyczko), Aliquippa ^*

OL

• Jim Covert, Conway *
• Russ Grimm, Scottdale *
• Bill Fralic, Penn Hills ^
• Mark Stepnoski, Erie

WR

• Fred Biletnikoff, Erie ^*
• Tyler Boyd, Clairton @
• Steve Breaston, North Braddock
• Brandon Marshall, Pittsburgh @

DEFENSE

DL

• Aaron Donald, Penn Hills @
• Sean Gilbert, Aliquippa
• Leon Hart, Turtle Creek #
• Jason Taylor, Pittsburgh *
• Randy White, Pittsburgh *

LB

• LaVarr Arrington, Pittsburgh
• Jack Ham, Johnstown ^*
• Sean Lee, Upper St. Clair @
• Joe Schmidt, Pittsburgh ^*

DB

• Ty Law, Aliquippa *
• Darelle Revis, Aliquippa
• Demond “Bob” Sanders, Erie

HC (min 1 full season; blue = won NFL Championship/Super Bowl)

• Joe Bugel, Munhall, Cardinals/Raiders
• Bud Carson, Freeport, Browns
• Bill Cowher, Crafton, Steelers *
• Mike Ditka, Aliquippa, Bears/Saints
• Aldo Donelli, Bridgeville, Steelers/Rams
• Frank Flichock, Redstone, Broncos
• Frank Gansz, Altoona, Chiefs
• Todd Haley, Upper St. Clair, Chiefs
• Jim Haslett, Ben Avon, Saints
• Chuck Knox, Sewickley, Rams/Bills/Seahawks
• Marvin Lewis, McDonald, Bengals
• Ted Marchibroda, Franklin, Colts/Ravens
• Ben McAdoo, Homer City, Giants
• Mike McCarthy, Pittsburgh, Packers/Cowboys
• Bill McPeak, New Castle, Redskins
• John Michelosen, Ambridge, Steelers
• Mike Nixon, Burgettstown, Redskins/Steelers
• Harry Robb, Pittsburgh, Bulldogs
• Joe Schmidt, Brentwood, Lions
• Marty Schottenheimer, McDonald, Browns/Chiefs/Redskins/Chargers
• Les Steckel, Whitehall, Vikings
• Elgie Tobin, Coal Center, Pros
• Jim Tomsula, Homestead, 49ers
• Joe Walton, Beaver Falls, Jets
• Dave Wannstedt, Baldwin, Bears/Dolphins

[homebucket]

The greatest QB of all time is from the Bay Area.

Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr.
Born: San Mateo, CA
High School: Serra High

Would Aaron Rodgers also count? Brady and Rodgers is a nice 1-2 punch.

Aaron Charles Rodgers
Born: Chico, CA
High School: Pleasant Valley
College: Cal

Further down the totem pole, we have:

Jared Thomas Goff
Born: Novato, CA
High School: Marin Catholic
College: Cal

[homebucket]

Best RB from the Bay Area is probably...

Marshawn Terrell Lynch
Born: Oakland, CA
High School: Oakland Tech
College: Cal

Followed by:

Maurice Christopher Jones-Drew
Born: Oakland, CA
High School: De La Salle

[homebucket]

WR we've got:

Davante Lavell Adams
Born: Redwood City, CA
High School: Palo Alto High
College: Fresno State

[homebucket]

On the offensive line, we've got the highest-paid offensive lineman in NFL history:

David Afrasiab Assad Bakhtiari
Born: San Mateo, CA
High School: Serra High

[homebucket]

For head coach, we've got some pretty big names. They weren't born in the Bay but they were raised here.

Inventor of the West Coast offense, and the most extensive coaching tree in NFL history, 3x Super Bowl champion:

William Ernest Walsh
Born: Los Angeles, CA
High School: Hayward High
College: San Jose State

One word. Madden.

John Earl Madden
Born: Austin, MN
High School: Jefferson High (Daly City)
College: San Mateo

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by homebucket

Best RB from the Bay Area is probably...

Marshawn Terrell Lynch
Born: Oakland, CA
High School: Oakland Tech
College: Cal

Followed by:

Maurice Christopher Jones-Drew
Born: Oakland, CA
High School: De La Salle

How about OJ Simpson ???

[ThePhun1]

Originally Posted by pj3000

How about OJ Simpson ???

We aren't highlighting most notorious criminals.

[pj3000]

^ Only recognizing his on-the-field accomplishments!

[Buckeye Native 001]

Roger Staubach played high school football in Cincinnati at one of the Catholic schools IIRC. I can't remember if it was Elder, Moeller or maybe St. Xavier? High school football is almost like a religion throughout the Tri-State.

Cincinnati also got Cleveland's sloppy seconds after Paul Brown got screwed over by Art Modell. Unfortunately, his passing stuck us with his asshole son and granddaughter. They're moving the Bengals to another city (San Antonio? San Diego? London?) as soon as the stadium lease renewal is up in 2026. I can't wait for them to leave.

Miami University is marginally within Cincinnati's orbit and has sometimes been called the cradle of coaches: Guys like Woody Hayes, Bo Schembechler and Ara Parsegian (sp?) and possibly a few others I'm forgetting.

[dave8721]

Since about 1980 or so: basically half the NFL. Recently though we send them all to schools out of state (Alabama getting Amari Cooper, Calvin Ridley...etc, Louisville getting Lamar Jackson, Georgia getting Sony Michele...etc). Amazing with all the players that come out of South Florida that local college teams have been so mediocre.

[SIGSEGV]

Wikipedia seems to have a list for Chicago, although not many people I've heard of.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...icago#Football

The ones I've heard of are:

Dick Butkus
Donovan McNabb
Pierre Thomas

I guess this doesn't include the 'burbs (Jimmy Garappolo is from Arlington Heights, for example).

[scruffytraveller]

This is an interesting forum.

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by dave8721

Since about 1980 or so: basically half the NFL. Recently though we send them all to schools out of state (Alabama getting Amari Cooper, Calvin Ridley...etc, Louisville getting Lamar Jackson, Georgia getting Sony Michele...etc). Amazing with all the players that come out of South Florida that local college teams have been so mediocre.

Yeah, South Florida has turned out a ridiculous number of pro players in the past 3 decades. Miami used to get ALL of them, which is a major reason why they were so damn good for a while.

College football has dramatically changed though, especially in the past 10 years. Football programs at large state universities are basically corporations. We're talking 9-figure revenues and 8-figure profits now.

[Buckeye Native 001]

I can't help but wonder if the Longhorns inability to keep talent local isn't the reason why they've struggled the last few seasons relative to other powerhouse college programs. Ohio State's benefitted tremendously from recruiting in Texas, as have Alabama and Oklahoma.

Then again, A&M has been alright and should've been in the playoffs this year over Ohio State and Notre Dame.

[pj3000]

Money begets winning begets more money begets more winning begets even more money begets even more winning...

This formula for success in college football is now more prominent that ever. It's only a short matter of time before the biggest programs break off totally from the NCAA and all notions of "student athlete" and "amateurism" in college football. The student athlete part has long been a farce, and the amateurism part is so ridiculous when we're talking about workers in an industry trading in hundreds of billions of dollars annually.

[xzmattzx]

I thought this thread would be about how football was woven into the cultural fabric of a region, meaning historic sites and all that kind of stuff. I was thinking it would be about things like the little office building that the Packers used to use in Downtown Green Bay, or the building in Canton where the NFL was founded, or the corner bar down the street from Bills Stadium that is practically a pilgrimage site for people attending games.

Here in Delaware, not many locals make it to the NFL. Pro Football Hall of Famer Randy White went to McKean High School. On another note, ESPN covered David Sills, who committed to USC when he was a QB here in 7th grade. He ended up going to West Virginia as a WR, and had a good college career.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by Buckeye Native 001

I can't help but wonder if the Longhorns inability to keep talent local isn't the reason why they've struggled the last few seasons relative to other powerhouse college programs. Ohio State's benefitted tremendously from recruiting in Texas, as have Alabama and Oklahoma.

Alabama gets more talent from TX than TX and A&M, and gets more talent from FL than FL, FL State and Miami.

Over the last 50 years, there has been a tremendous change in CFB talent hotbeds. It used to be OH & PA. Now it's basically FL, the deep South states (GA, MS, AL, LA), and TX.

But it doesn't seem that location matters that much. If you look at the roster of any major college program, it's clear the recruiting is now national. Even mediocre programs will have starters from California to the Northeast.

And it's clear the least football-oriented region of the U.S. is the Northeast. Many high schools don't even have football, and if they do, it's not very popular and in danger of being dropped. Lacrosse is usually perceived as the highest profile boys HS sport, then maybe soccer.

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

I thought this thread would be about how football was woven into the cultural fabric of a region, meaning historic sites and all that kind of stuff. I was thinking it would be about things like the little office building that the Packers used to use in Downtown Green Bay, or the building in Canton where the NFL was founded, or the corner bar down the street from Bills Stadium that is practically a pilgrimage site for people attending games.

Well, it pretty much is about that. Places with football strongly interwoven into the cultural fabric are going to produce the teams, players, coaches who become iconic figures in the sport. The landscape for all of this shifts over the decades, but the foundations still run deep throughout the nation.

The Pittsburgh region is probably the epicenter of American football, in terms of its history and "interwovenness" into the very cultural fabric, greatly appealing to the gritty blue collar and immigrant classes of the prime "steel" era for basically 100 years (1880s to 1980s). Even though the region is far different now, that's 100 years of football deeply ingrained into the very soul of the culture.

While Pittsburgh is known as the location where professional football has its origins, college football was highly prominent in the area as well. Many people would likely be surprised that Pitt has won 9 national championships, under legendary coaches Pop Warner (3 titles in the 1910s), Jock Sutherland (5 titles in the 1930s), and Johnny Majors (1 title in the 1970s). Not only Pitt, but Pittsburgh's other colleges were perennial national powers back in the day, with Duquense, Carnegie Tech, and Washington & Jefferson winning Orange, Sugar, and Rose Bowl games in the 1920s and 1930s. In the 1930s, there was a year when Pitt, Duquesne, Carnegie Tech, and W&J were all in major bowls and all won their games, with Pitt awarded the Nat'l Championship. Think about that for minute... one city with 4 of its teams in the major bowl games. That will NEVER happen again.

My great grandfather played for a few Pittsburgh area athletic club teams, and later the Canton Bulldogs, making between $50-$250 per game After one too many concussions, he gave it up and opened a bar, which he used to sponsor teams and started promoting games and boxing fights with a younger business partner... some guy named Art Rooney.

[pj3000]

Historical markers like these with a football forcus are throughout the region: