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Withers left mark on Altoona gridiron

Many of us were in awe when he was out on the gridiron. Some of us marveled at how he excelled from the Altoona Parochial League, through Roosevelt Junior High School and dominated on the field for the Altoona Mountain Lions. He led Altoona to the 1969 WPIAL championship game and was recognized by the Pennsylvania All-state football team, playing in the Big 33 Classic before moving onto West Virginia University. Fortunately, I personally am able to say that I was one of his teammates at both St. Mary’s Parochial Grade School and later at West Virginia. What an awesome ...

Eagles know talent offers no guarantees

By Rob Maaddi The Associated Press Vince Young’s infamous “Dream Team” declaration of the 2011 Philadelphia Eagles came to mind when general manager Howie Roseman added another playmaker to a loaded offense. How’s Jahan Dotson for a third receiver? The 2024 Eagles may have more talent than any team in franchise history, including the underachieving 2011 club and the Super Bowl champion 2017 squad. Jalen Hurts. Saquon Barkley. A.J. Brown. DeVonta Smith. Dallas Goedert. Now Dotson joins the mix after the Eagles acquired the 2022 first-round pick from Washington for draft ...

Heart for football still in Central PA

By Jordan Tracy For the Mirror I’m not going to lie to you, Central PA: I certainly miss it. For the past eight years, the summer winding down meant another season of District 5, 6 and 9 football for me at WTAJ. As I scroll through X and see all of the faces and names of football in the 814 preparing for a new season, it reminds me of how different it will be. The posts shift from weight room sessions, 7-on-7 recaps, and seniors announcing their commitments to the next level, to now season schedules and where you can get copies of the Mirror’s Blitz magazine. Typically ...

49ers, Aiyuk must find a way to work things out

By Rob Maaddi The Associated Press Matthew Judon wanted a new contract and ended up on a new team with a better chance of winning. Brandon Aiyuk isn’t in a similar situation. Aiyuk has been holding-in with the San Francisco 49ers, waiting for a lucrative deal or a trade. If the star wide receiver goes somewhere else — the Steelers appear to be the top option — his chances of winning a Super Bowl decrease. Judon, the four-time Pro Bowl edge rusher, was traded from New England to Atlanta on Wednesday. He went from a rebuilding team expected to finish last in the AFC East to ...

Cowboys trying to shake their image

Switching training camp sites from central Texas to the Pacific coast of California may not seem like an organizational move that would significantly impact a team’s chances of reaching the Super Bowl, but for the Dallas Cowboys, it is symbolic of a franchise that lost its edge long ago. The Cowboys won three Super Bowls while conducting training camp in Austin, Texas. Over the last 17 seasons, Dallas has trained in the comfortable ocean breezes of Oxnard, California and has yet to advance past the divisional round of the playoffs. The Dallas Super Bowl teams of the ’90s ...

NIL numbers adding up (too) quickly

By Bill Contz For the Mirror Having made a previous living knowing that the precise length of a holding penalty represents 45 precious feet of hard-to-occupy NFL turf, I tend to be a bit of a numbers geek. As such two recent, sit-up-and-take-notice NIL items had my full attention. Firstly, during Big Ten media days Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork revealed that “around $20 million” was allocated from collectives and brand affiliates to Buckeye football players in 2023. Quick math tells me that the 100 scholarship and non-scholarship gridders in Columbus each ...