Great State Debate: Pennsylvania home to six HOF QBs

[JonLP24]

Explaining why Pennsylvania developed so many of the game's great quarterbacks is like explaining why Hollywood developed beautiful movie stars. They became synonymous with the time and place. For four decades after World War II, Pennsylvania churned out one QB after another like the bottling line at Iron City Beer, the iconic Pittsburgh brand.

Speaking of which, to say "Pennsylvania quarterbacks" in this context is generous to any town east of Johnstown. To find the best quarterbacks from the state, you could draw a line on the map within an hour of Pittsburgh in Western Pee-Ay. The coal mines and steel mills and railroads forged them all, the first- or second-generation sons of immigrants. You can hear Ellis Island in their names: Unitas and Blanda, Namath and Montana, Marino and Kelly.

"Even if the father didn't work in the steel mill, the grandfather did," said Ernie Accorsi, the retired New York Giants general manager who grew up in Hershey on the other side of the state. "They are products of coal and steel, products of their upbringing. It's no accident. There's a toughness to those people."

Forget what kind of arms they had, even if a Joe Namath pass whirred through the air as if it were on a zip line. Forget that Joe Montana could be more accurate while chased than most quarterbacks throwing against air. The reason six quarterbacks from Western Pa. reside in the Pro Football Hall of Fame is their leadership.

http://espn.go.com/high-school/football/great-state-debate/story/_/id/7481817/pennsylvania-home-six-hof-qbs

California may take the lead as state with most Hall of Fame QBs with current pros Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers from California. Interesting link where I found this article--

http://espn.go.com/high-school/football/great-state-debate/quarterbacks

You click the top first, Introduction, Current High School, Current College, Current Pro, and Hall of Fame. Then click one of the 5 states Alabama, California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas to find the QBs listed in whatever section you clicked on.

[Kingofalldems]

1. Also Lujack, Hanratty, Bulger and Hostetler

[joeybee12]

2. The quote could be right about it being a tough plcae so they're tough people..

But often people with talent try to get out of a tough place that probably doesn't hold much of a future...lots of these guys saw sports as their way out.