PFRA CHAPTERS
The ninth annual conference of the Western New York Chapter of the Professional Football Researchers Association was held Saturday, April 26, in beautiful downtown Springville, New York. For those of you who might be unfamiliar, Springville is about 30 miles south of Buffalo and is best known as being the birthplace of legendary football coach Glenn “Pop” Warner. This year’s conference was a rousing success, with 35 football historians, reporters, authors, collectors, former players and average fans gathered for a weekend dedicated to their favorite sport.
We had representation from New York, Michigan, Ohio, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia, infusing the local economy as our out-of-town visitors patronized Springville’s hotels, restaurants, stores and fueling stations. Many of us gathered the night before the conference for dinner and drinks at Steelbound Brew Pub.
Our Saturday program featured several outstanding speakers. For the eighth straight year, PFRA President George Bozeka kicked things off with an informative State of the Association address. George also provided information about the upcoming national PFRA convention being held in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, later this year, along with an update on the PFRA’s latest installment in its “Great Teams in Pro Football History” book series. This year’s publication focuses on the 1964 Buffalo Bills.
Buffalo Bills legend and current Alumni President Jeff Nixon then spoke about his efforts toward expanding the Alumni’s visibility in the community and the many activities and events in which they are involved. Jeff also told some humorous stories about his playing days and answered several questions from the gallery. Jeff Miller presented Jeff with a check for $200 for the Bills Alumni Foundation. The money was collected from a raffle of donated items from the folks attending the conference.
Veteran Buffalo sportscaster Paul Peck spoke next. Paul has been involved in Buffalo broadcasting for nearly four full decades, covering every conceivable sport from high school to professional. He told stories about attending college at nearby Syracuse and his many years working at WIBV-TV, Buffalo’s CBS affiliate. Paul gave a spirited and sometimes raucous talk that included dozens of photos from his amazing career, which included working for several years alongside the legendary Van Miller. Paul currently calls the play-by-play for University at Buffalo football.
Washington Redskins historian Mike Richman came all the way from Potomac, Maryland, for the conference. Mike has authored several books on the history of the Redskins, his latest being a rave-reviewed biography of George Allen, the Hall-of-Fame coach of the Los Angeles Rams and Washington Redskins. He gave a detailed and lively presentation that included a number of photos from Allen’s fabled career, and corrected some common misconceptions people have about the notoriously strait-laced coach.
26 Shirts/BillsMafia founder Del Reid was invited to give an update on the latest activities of his charitable organization. Del is a frequent speaker at our conferences and a good friend of the chapter. 26 Shirts has recently moved into an expanded space to accommodate its ever-growing community footprint, started a terrific podcast, and was featured in a documentary titled “Behind Every Shirt: A Story” (which was, appropriately enough, 26 minutes long!).
John Steffenhagen was asked to provide an update on the forthcoming book, Leo Lyons, the Rochester Jeffersons and the Birth of the NFL, that he is writing with Jeff Miller. John is Leo’s great-grandson and the proud owner of the NFL co-founder’s enormous collection of artifacts and documents. He reports that the book is now in the proof stage and is expected to hit the bookshelves in July 2025.
Our friend Ken Crippen has been very busy, so he was invited to come and speak about the latest goings-on at the Football Learning Academy and his work as part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Blue Ribbon Selection Committee tasked with selecting contributors (non-players and coaches) for possible induction into the Hall. Ken provided some behind-the-scenes details about how candidates are nominated and debated, the odds of one making the cut, and some of the names that have been considered (including his personal favorites). It was a fascinating peek into the selection process!
Podcaster/historian Randy Snow, founder of “The World of Football” podcast, then took the podium for a visual presentation of his travelogue, “Have Grave, Will Travel.” The series chronicles Randy’s visits to graves of famous (and, occasionally, some not-so-famous) figures from football’s past, a brief story behind each character, and the usually humorous account of finding and traveling to each grave site. Among the markers and monuments Randy (usually accompanied by his son Adam) featured were those of George Halas, Willie Thrower, Joe Carr, Leon Hart, Fielding Yost, Bo Schembechler, Larry Wilson, Joe Guyon, Charles Follis, and Springville’s own Glenn “Pop” Warner.
Afterward, several of the attendees headed over to JD's Brew Pub for dinner and cocktails. All in all, it was another fun and successful conference with some new faces, old friends and terrific speakers. We expect to have a special program for next year’s gathering, which will mark the tenth anniversary for the WNY PFRA Chapter Conference. Stay tuned!
