Playing Through the Whistle
Steel, Football, and an American Town
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3.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
From a Sports Illustrated senior writer, “a richly detailed history of Aliquippa football . . . A remarkable story of urban struggle and athletic prowess” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).
In the early twentieth century, down the Ohio River from Pittsburgh, the Jones & Laughlin Steel Company built one of the largest mills in the world and a town to go with it. Aliquippa was a beacon and a melting pot, pulling in thousands of families from Europe and the Jim Crow South. The J&L mill, though dirty and dangerous, offered a chance at a better life. It produced the steel that built American cities and won World War II and even became something of a workers’ paradise. But then, in the 1980s, the steel industry cratered. The mill closed. Crime rose and crack hit big.
But another industry grew in Aliquippa. The town didn’t just make steel; it made elite football players, from Mike Ditka to Ty Law to Darrelle Revis. Few places churned out talent like Aliquippa, a town not far from the birthplace of professional football in western Pennsylvania. Despite its troubles—maybe even because of them—Aliquippa became legendary for producing football greatness. A masterpiece of narrative journalism, Playing Through the Whistle tells the remarkable story of Aliquippa and through it, the larger history of American industry, sports, and life. Like football, it will make you marvel, wince, cry, and cheer.
“Looks at the struggling steel town of Aliquippa, Pa., through the prism of its high school football team. The author understands the Rust Belt particulars of the region better than most political professionals.” —The Wall Street Journal
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Aliquippa High School, in far-western Pennsylvania, has consistently groomed football players for the NFL including Hall of Famer Mike Ditka, three-time Super Bowl Champion Ty Law, and All-Pro New York Jet Darrelle Revis and it claimed 16 Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League titles between 1952 and 2015. But, as longtime Sports Illustrated senior writer Price notes in this exhaustive history of Aliquippa's storied football program, basketball and baseball also enjoyed initial success at the school. Like many cities in the region during the 20th century, Aliquippa was a melting pot populated by factory families; in this case, the Jones & Laughlin Steel Company employed a good chunk of the town before falling on hard times and shutting down in 2000. But life in Aliquippa was always influenced by the city's blue-collar history and its high school's football program. Price (Pitching Around Fidel) takes his time detailing the rise of organized local labor unions and the role J&L played in shaping Aliquippa, and football remains on the sidelines for long stretches. When he does focus on the game, the author provides memorable characterizations of cocky English-teacher-turned-football-coach Mike Zmijanac in the 1970s and star defensive lineman Jeff Baldwin in the '80s. Despite straying from the field, though, a more thorough account of any high school athletic program in the country would be tough to find.
