A new exhibit tracing Western Pennsylvania's outsized imprint on football history opens at the Pro Football Hall of Fame on November 20, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony set for 11 a.m. Tony Dorsett, the Hopewell Township native and former Pitt star, is expected to attend the opening.
The exhibit, called Western PA Proud! powered by Constellation, explores the region's impact on football from high school teams and universities to the professional ranks, going back to the late 1800s, according to WPXI. It digs into the origins of professional football in communities around Pittsburgh during the 1890s and early 1900s, along with Latrobe's early bid for a place in football's founding story.
A Region Built on Football Royalty
Jim Porter, president and CEO of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, said the display covers the game, its history and the people who shaped it, promising there will be something of interest for every football fan, the station reports. Porter also said Dorsett exemplifies the athletes and people of character raised in Western Pennsylvania who contributed to football, per the same account.
The numbers back up the region's reputation. High schools in Western Pennsylvania have produced 23 members elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, a total that includes six iconic quarterbacks: George Blanda, Jim Kelly, Dan Marino, Joe Montana, Joe Namath and Johnny Unitas. That concentration of talent is reflected nationally, too — an NFL Play Football breakdown found Pennsylvania has produced 40 Hall of Fame inductees, trailing only California's 41.
Aliquippa's Unmatched Trio
No single school captures the region's pull on the sport quite like Aliquippa High School, which boasts three Hall of Famers — Mike Ditka, Ty Law and Darrelle Revis — more than any other high school in the nation, the station notes. NFL Play Football separately confirmed Aliquippa as the only school in the country to have produced three Canton honorees.
The exhibit also features the Rooney family and the enduring legacy of the Pittsburgh Steelers, along with the University of Pittsburgh's 11 Pro Football Hall of Famers. Eight of those Pitt inductees were born and raised in Western Pennsylvania, the Hall's exhibit notes, underscoring how local the program's championship history really is.
Dorsett's Pitt Days on Display
Dorsett, who grew up in Hopewell Township northwest of Pittsburgh before starring at Pitt, will see his own college career memorialized among the artifacts. Displayed items include the Heisman Trophy and the national championship ring Dorsett won while playing for the Panthers, according to WPXI's report.
Latrobe's Place in a Contested Origin Story
The exhibit's nod to Latrobe's early Hall of Fame bid touches on a debate that has simmered for decades over where professional football truly began. CBS News Pittsburgh reports that the NFL in 1946 officially named Latrobe's John Brallier the first paid football player and the town itself the official birthplace of professional football. But other accounts complicate that claim: Pittsburgh Magazine identifies William “Pudge” Heffelfinger as the first player known to have been paid to play, receiving $500 for a game in 1892, years before Brallier's recognition. The Pro Football Researchers Association has drawn a similar distinction, noting that Brallier has been considered the first admitted pro, separate from Heffelfinger's status as the first player actually paid.
Pittsburgh Magazine frames the broader point as one of regional pride rather than a single disputed title, noting that professional football is part of the fabric of communities large, like Pittsburgh, and small, like Latrobe and countless others like it. That tension between competing claims to football's earliest days is itself part of the story the new Canton exhibit is built to tell.
The exhibit runs through April 5, 2027, at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, and viewing all elements of the display is included with regular admission tickets, WPXI reports.
