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Sports Bring Pride to ‘Downtrodden’ Jeannette

The city of Jeannette, Pa., is back in the national spotlight again today. The New York Times, which has tracked Terrelle Pryor’s path to stardom, writes about the importance of sports in the city of 10,000, where my Dad grew up and my aunt and uncle still live.

Once known as glass city, when 70 percent of the world’s glass was made here, this town is probably better known now as the home to Terrelle Pryor, the No. 1 college football prospect, who signed a letter of intent on Wednesday to attend Ohio State.

Beyond that, though, this economically battered city of 10,000 is fairly unremarkable in southwestern Pennsylvania. Like many cities in the region, it has lost a third of its population, and Clay Avenue, its downtown, is a shadow of its former self.

“It’s just like any other normal industrial town built around one industry,” Mayor Michael Cafasso said. “When the glass plants closed, people left to find work elsewhere.”

As a result, Pryor could be considered one athlete who transcended his community’s circumstances. But Jeannette’s social fabric and volunteer ethic never faded even when the jobs did. Many adults have put in time with the city’s youth sports programs at some point, and sports have long filled residents with pride.

That is particularly true this school year, as Pryor and the Jeannette Jayhawks won state titles in football and basketball.

This is a great story about a city that prides itself on winning, even when the odds are stacked against it.