National Football League - Remembering the stars of the NFL glory years: an inside look at the golden age of football

ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD

Lanham Boulder New York London

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Stewart, Wayne, 1953- author.

Title: Remembering the stars of the NFL glory years : an inside look at the golden age of football / Wayne Stewart.

Other titles: Remembering the Stars of the National Football League Glory Years

Description: First Atria Books Hardcover edition. | Lanham, Maryland : Rowman & Littlefield, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016054867 (print) | LCCN 2017004309 (ebook) | ISBN 9781442274235 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781442274242 (electronic)

Subjects: LCSH: National Football LeagueHistory20th century. | National Football LeagueBiography. | Football playersUnited StatesBiography. | Football playersUnited StatesAnecdotes. | FootballUnited StatesHistory20th centuryAnecdotes.

Classification: LCC GV955.5.N35 S73 2017 (print) | LCC GV955.5.N35 (ebook) | DDC 796.3320922 [B] dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016054867

TM The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Printed in the United States of America

To those closest to me

my wife Nancy, my sons and their spouses, Sean and Rachel, Scott and Katie, and to my grandson Nathan

Sincere and huge thanks go out to the following people: Stephen Russell, Mid Mon Valley All Sports Hall of Fame General Chairman; Ron Paglia, a longtime newsman and writer from Charleroi, Pennsylvania; Chad Unitas; Paige Unitas; John Ziemann, former deputy director of the Sports Legends and Babe Ruth Birthplace Museum and president of Baltimores Marching Ravens (formerly the Baltimore Colts Marching Band); Rich Erdelyi, Carnegie Mellon University football coach; Ron Main, chairman of the Larry Bruno Foundation at Carnegie Free Library of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania; Pete Fierle and Chris Schilling of the Pro Football Hall of Fame; and John Vorperean, host and executive producer, Beyond the Game.

A final thanks goes out to all of the people who gave up their time to do interviews with the author, with special appreciation extended to the former players and coaches who generously did repeated and/or lengthy interviews with the author: Chuck Mercein, Manny Fernandez, Gino Marchetti, Sam Havrilak, Fred Cox, Myron Pottios, Doug Crusan, George Belu, Bob Hyland, Tom Matte, Rick Volk, John Isenbarger, Lenny Moore, Mike Ditka, Chuck Bryant, Mike Lucci, Joe Walton, Andy Nelson, Bill Malinchak, and Raymond Berry. All of the quotes in the book, unless otherwise noted, are from interviews conducted by the author.

The genesis for this book is my roots in western Pennsylvania. I grew up in Donora, which is nestled in the Mon Valley area, not far from Pittsburgh. The town proclaims itself as The Home of Champions, and it has been a hotbed for a slew of marvelous athletes. Donora natives proudly point to the incredible fact that such a small townat its peak the population hit around fifteen thousandproduced two baseball Hall of Famers in Stan Musial and Ken Griffey Jr. Coincidentally, the two were born on the same date.

I happen to have graduated from the same high school class as another great athlete, a lifetime .296 major league hitter, Ken Griffey Sr., who became a member of the famed Big Red Machine Cincinnati Reds. Further, yet another native of the town, one of four to make it to the NFL, Deacon Dan Towler, led the league in rushing in 1952. He also averaged 6.8 yards per carry that season, which still puts him at number fifteen all-time in this department, even though he didnt lead the NFL in that categoryTobin Rote did (6.9).

At any rate, across the river from my hometown is Monessen, which produced, according to the pro football reference website, a staggering fourteen NFL players, despite having a population that peaked at roughly twenty thousand. Other neighboring towns such as Monongahela produced almost ten NFL players, including an excellent kicker, Fred Cox, and Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana. The noteworthy coincidence involving these two men is that they not only were raised in the same town, they also grew up on the same block, though years apart.

The list of men who played their high school ball in the Mon Valley area and then went on to play in an NFL title game, either in or before the era of Super Bowls, includes not only Cox and Montana, who together played in eight Super Bowls, but also Towler, Doug Crusan, Myron Pottios, Sam Havrilak, and Bert Rechichar.