Pennsylvania High School Football History (A Deep Dive)

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EPISODE SUMMARY

This week I speak to the founder and primary contributor of PAFBHISTORY.COM, a website dedicated to the history of "The Keystone State's Game." Below are some of the topics we dive into:

• The origin and the vision of the site/project
• Dr. Roger Saylor records & ratings held by PSU --> The site's contributor has worked to find additional games prior to his starting point (1885)
• History of high school state champions in PA & history of the state playoffs. Began in 1988, a year too late for a potentially historic matchup between North Hills and Central Bucks West
• Regional power concentration & regional "flavor" across the state are being preserved by the long delay before a true state-wide championship. Opportunities to find cool history in communities across the state, not just in major cities
• Concept of each town/program having its own "microhistory" around HS football which feeds into a larger statewide narrative.
• The importance of Earle Mundell, Amber RB from the late 1940s
• Harrisburg Tech's dominant teams/national champions from 1915-1923
• A "Mt. Rushmore" of great dynasties in state history
• School consolidation & the disappearance of former powers (Braddock, John Harris, Blakely, etc.)
• Great dynasties in state history
• The current project to document every NFL draftee from a PA high school
• A shout out to Shayne Schafer for his contributions to the site and PA FB HS history (here is his Twitter)

CONTACT PAFBHISTORY.COM

Twitter: PA_FB_HISTORY

Website: PAFBHISTORY.COM

ABOUT PAFBHISTORY.COM

This site is dedicated to telling the history of high school football in Pennsylvania through stories of former players, past teams, historical rankings and other methods. Pennsylvania Football History is always looking for suggestions, photos, stories and anything else that helps illustrate the story of our state’s game. Please contact us at pafbhistory@gmail.com with any comments, questions or information. Thanks for reading!

THE FOOTBALL HISTORY DUDE BACKGROUND

The Football History Dude is a show dedicated to teaching NFL fans about the rich history of the game we all know and love. I’m your host, Arnie Chapman, and I’m just a regular dude that loves football and is a nerd when it comes to learning about history. I created this show to share the gridiron knowledge nuggets I gain from researching various topics about the history of the National Football League. Each episode I welcome you to climb aboard my DeLorean to travel back in time to explore the yesteryear of the gridiron, and yes, that’s a reference to the Back to the Future Movies.

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