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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Tim Seip State
Rep. Neal Goodman |
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House adopts Seip-Goodman resolution
urging NFL to restore Maroons title
HARRISBURG, Dec. 10 – State Reps. Tim Seip, D-Schuylkill/Berks, and Neal Goodman, D-Schuylkill, secured unanimous House adoption Monday of their resolution that honors the 1925 Pottsville Maroons team and urges the National Football League to restore the Maroons’ championship title.
“We’re all here today because the Pottsville Maroons earned the 1925 NFL championship and it was wrongly taken from them. I am encouraged by all the support we are getting for restoring the Maroons’ title,“ Seip told the House.
Seip emphasized the economic impact of restoring the title.
“Tourism is the number-two industry in Pennsylvania. We have already witnessed an economic boom in the city of Pottsville and the surrounding areas. Many, many people have attended the recent ‘Breaker Boys’ book signings by David Fleming and other Maroons events. If we succeed in restoring the Maroons’ rightful title, tourism related to the Maroons’ legendary achievements will only increase.”
Goodman said, “Like my father always said, it is never too late to do the right thing. Even though there are 82 years in between, the NFL can do the right thing and make a lot of people in the county happy by returning what is rightfully theirs."
Goodman noted that Pottsville and many coal region communities were divided along ethnic lines in the 1920s, but Maroons fans came together on Sundays to root for the same team.
The resolution was co-sponsored by Reps. Keith McCall, D-Carbon, and David Argall, R-Schuylkill/Berks, and more than 30 other legislators from both parties.
Seip and Goodman were joined on the House floor by David Fleming, author of ESPN Books’ "Breaker Boys: The NFL's Greatest Team and the Stolen 1925 Championship." Fleming is coordinating an online petition urging the NFL to restore the Maroons’ title. The petition is available at www.petitiononline.com/Maroons. As of today, more than 10,000 people have signed the petition.
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Seip also recognized Tony Wood and Aaron Schimpf, who have established another Web site that is key to the title restoration effort, www.breakerboys1925.com.
The 1925 Maroons won both the national championship and an exhibition game against the collegian national champion Notre Dame team. The Maroons were stripped of their title by the NFL for participating in the exhibition game.
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