On a soggy Saturday, Penn Hills celebrated a championship — and a life.
With a parade and rally, the community feted Big Red, the high school football team that won the state championship Dec. 7, while paying homage to a big man — Bill Fralic, the former Penn Hills, Pitt and NFL offensive lineman who died Thursday of cancer.
Players not even born when Mr. Fralic was flattening opponents during his All-Pro NFL career saluted him. They hoisted a sign on the back of one of the flatbed trucks that carried them along the parade route stating, “My heart is in Penn Hills, Bill Fralic, 79, 1962-2018.”
And when head coach Jon LeDonne took the stage in the high school auditorium, he brought with him Mr. Fralic’s No. 79 jersey, draping it over the podium.
“We’re here today celebrating a victory but also honoring a man that’s done so much for the Penn Hills community,” he said in an interview before speaking at the high school.
“Sad, sad news when we heard of the passing of Mr. Fralic yesterday, but he got to see the team win another state championship and we celebrate the team and honor him today.”
In his final days, Mr. Fralic opened one last hole for his alma mater, taking care of the hotel bill so that all 62 players and the coaching staff could spend the night before the championship game in Hershey.
Without the support, the team would have had to make the four-hour drive on game day.
“He did not want that for you. So he gave, as he always has, to help you all,” related superintendent Nancy Hines, who opened the auditorium rally with a moment of silence for Mr. Fralic.
“He didn’t want you to feel hardship or your families to feel hardship. But he also knew that the other team had an advantage because they lived very close to the playing site, right? They were going to be able to sleep in their beds that night before the game.”
But that’s far from the only time the player known for his pancake blocks helped to lift up his hometown.
Mr. Fralic donated and raised much of the money to build the high school’s $1 million Bill Fralic Athletic Center, which includes a weight room, locker room, training room and 50-yard practice field.
He also paid for sideline communications equipment, including headsets for coaches, and an after-school study table for the players, Mr. LeDonne said.
“Just a lot of financial support over the years for the Penn Hills school district community. Everything went into the youth of Penn Hills as they grew up and came through the football program. I mean, every varsity sport uses the indoor facility one way or another,” he said. “Just so much that he has done and never asked for any credit at all.”
Star quarterback Hollis Mathis never met Mr. Fralic but he knows the impact he has had in Penn Hills.
“This has almost turned into a celebration of his life for what he was able to do because a lot of this wouldn’t be possible without him. He’s provided us so much, he helped us out so much throughout the past,” he said.
Michael White, Penn Hills defensive line coach who played at Pitt, said Mr. Fralic was a big reason he attended the university. He called the lineman an icon and an mentor.
A 1981 Penn Hills graduate, Mr. Fralic won three WPIAL championships while playing for the football team. There were no state playoffs back in those days but he made sure he watched Dec. 7’s big triumph through an internet stream.
For Mr. White, Saturday’s parade and rally served not only as a celebration but as a way to cherish his memories of Mr. Fralic.
“He set the foundation so it’s all about him today for me personally,” he said. “He set the standard. The way we work, the way we go about it, it was chasing what he had already done.”
The state championship was the first for the football team since 1995. Dozens of fans and residents endured a cold rain to salute team members as they traversed the short parade route to the high school accompanied by fire trucks with sirens blaring, buses, and other vehicles.
Inside the auditorium, the boisterous celebration included a standing ovation for the team. Also honored were last year’s boys’ basketball squad, which won the WPIAL 6A championship, and the school’s Hometown High Q team.
State Sen. Jay Costa, whose district includes Penn Hills, presented a proclamation honoring the team and invited its members to join him for a day in Harrisburg.
Celebrating a championship and honoring one of the community’s favorite sons at the same time is “one of those days you don’t forget,” he said.
Also on hand were Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, who issued a proclamation declaring Saturday “Penn Hills High School Football Day” in the county, and U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb.
“It means a lot for the whole community, just restoring the tradition, a chance to celebrate all the hard work. It just means a lot for everyone,” said Corey Thomas, a wide receiver and safety for the team.
At one end of the stage, a table displayed the championship trophies. It’s where Mr. Fralic’s Penn Hills jersey ended up — a fitting resting spot for one of the school’s biggest champions.
Mark Belko: mbelko@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1262.
First Published: December 15, 2018, 11:30 p.m.
Updated: December 16, 2018, 1:14 a.m.