From players, coaches, officials and owners, the area has been well-represented in the NFL.

From players, coaches, officials and owners, the area has been well-represented in the NFL.
By JOHN BASSETTI
and JOHN KOVACH
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- The sport of football, whether at the high school, college or pro level, has been the centerpiece of the area's athletic tradition because of progressiveness and toughness, two area football veterans believe.
Those two factors have created a long tradition of successful football teams on the high school, college and semi-professional levels to help lay the groundwork for Youngstown's first indoor professional football team -- the Mahoning Valley Thunder -- which opens its first season tonight against the Tri-Cities (Wash.) Fever at 7:05 at the Chevrolet Centre.
For example, Carmen Julius of Campbell, a member of the first Youngstown College football team in 1938, said that progressive thinking by Howard Jones, who then was president of Youngstown College, brought football to the college.
"It was [Jones'] idea to start football at the school," said Julius, noting that Jones recruited Dwight "Dike" Beede to become the school's first football coach in 1938.
"Jones and Beede, who was the Geneva coach at the time, were good friends, and Jones asked Beede if he would come to Youngstown to coach the team."
Julius, a retired teacher and football coach, said Jones also had a good relationship with the Youngstown business community and industrialists, especially the leaders of the Youngstown Sheet & amp; Tube Co., "and they also wanted football at Youngstown, and they were influential in getting all of [the players] jobs at the A & amp;P Warehouse."
In fact, "They were all friends," said Julius. "There was a lot of money and influence there. [The team] got their support from the S & amp;T, and they helped to get us jobs."
Meanwhile, Don Bucci, who served as Cardinal Mooney's head coach for 34 years and led the Cardinals to four state championships, credits Youngstown's Steelworkers, blue-collar population and strong family ties for helping to create tough and disciplined people who fit right into the football mold.
"If you look throughout the country, you will see that the blue collar areas and counties and towns around the country really excelled in football more so than any other sport," said Bucci, who believes that's exactly what happened in Youngstown.
"It happened because of the people who worked in Youngstown. They were the Steelworkers and hard-working families, and they encouraged their kids to participate in sports, especially football.
"So football started out to be king going back to the [19]40s and '50s," added Bucci. "The hard-working families helped to develop hard-hitting football players. We have built a tradition because of the toughness of people of Youngstown."
Bucci also credits much of his success at Mooney to the fact that "parochial schools had a strong discipline and created an ideal situation on the football field. The students came from one discipline in the classroom to another discipline on the football field. Because of the disciplined atmosphere, it was much easier to coach these kids."
And Dick Angle, former Ursuline coach who now guides the Howland football team, called football "the great equalizer" because "football brought equality to the field. It made no difference if you were Catholic or Protestant. No one cared about what you were."
Deep roots
Football took root here first with The Rayen School, then later with South, in the early decades of the last century.
Sandlot competition helped sprout teams at other levels, including the Youngstown Patricians who started a semi-pro variety in the Mahoning Valley in 1914. The Patricians won the title of "World Champs" after beating the Washington Vigilants in 1915.
Legendary athlete and Olympian Jim Thorpe even played here in 1917 with the Canton Bulldogs.
Youngstown College first put a team on the field in 1938, then Youngstown University and Youngstown State continued the school's athletic growth.
That's the kind of individual apex reached by former Chaney High standout Frank Sinkwich, who went on to the University of Georgia and won college football's premiere award in 1942.
Sinkwich later played for the Detroit Lions and was the National Football League MVP in 1944.
Steve Belichick moved with his family from Monessen, Pa., to Struthers in 1924, when he was 5. With the Chicago Bears during the 1941-42 season, Belichick played shoulder-to-shoulder with Supreme Court associate Justice Byron White. His son is current New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick.
More Youngstown success
YSU has four national I-AA championships to its credit under Jim Tressel in 1991, 1993, 1994 and 1997.
Tressel was a 15-year coach at YSU before leaving for Ohio State in 2001. The Penguins also had several successful campaigns in NCAA Division II.
Following Sinkwich, there's no lack of acclaim with names like Boardman High's Bernie Kosar (Browns), Warren's Paul Warfield (Browns, Dolphins), Champion's Randy Gradishar (Broncos), Brookfield's Bobby Jones (Jets), Marcus Marek (Ohio State), East High's Jim Snowden (Redskins), Campbell's Bob Babich (Chargers), Sharon's Randy Holloway (Vikings), Chaney's Mike DeNiro who played at Alabama under Bear Bryant, Chaney quarterback Matt Cavanaugh (Patriots), North High's Sherman Smith (Seahawks), former YSU quarterback Ron Jaworski (Eagles), Girard's Mel Triplett (Giants), University of Michigan lineman Ed Muransky, Warren Western Reserve's Browner brothers -- including Joey and Ross (Bengals), Niles' Bo Rein (Ohio State), Warren Reserve's Korey Stringer (Vikings), YSU quarterback Cliff Stoudt (Steelers) and Warren Harding's Maurice Clarett (Broncos).
Hubbard's Anthony Smith (Steelers), Chaney's Brad Smith (Jets), Fitch's Jeff Wilkins (Rams), and Sharon's Marlin Jackson (Colts) currently play in the NFL.
Austintown's Mike Trgovac, an All-American noseman at Michigan, went on to coach in the NFL and has been the Carolina Panthers' defensive coordinator the past several years.
Penalty flag from Beede
YSU coach Dike Beede gave us the penalty flag, and home-grown Bob Stoops brought a collegiate national championship to the University of Oklahoma during the 2000 season.
In the pro ownership department, the San Francisco 49ers own five Super Bowl titles under Ed DeBartolo Jr., starting with Super Bowl XVI in the 1982 season. The 49ers added world championships in 1984, 1988, 1989 and 1994.
Chaney product Jerry Angelo is currently the Chicago Bears' general manager, and Ursuline High's Paul Maguire is a network and cable TV and radio broadcaster.
The Youngstown area has also contributed NFL officials Dick Creed and "Bud" Fiffick.
The Youngstown Hardhats' semi-pro existence in the 1970s had an impact in several ways.
One, it made the area rethink football's fall-only mentality.
By coming on the scene, the Hardhats were an impetus for private businesses and organizations seeking their share of the local football entertainment dollar.
Until then, it was the domain of schools and other public educational institutions.
Fast forward to 2007: The same trailblazing attempted by the Hardhats is what the Thunder is doing, but only in the spring and indoors, a luxury not available 30 years ago.