Pottsville

"He's just too caustic," said Kevin Welch, 59, of Pottsville, Pennsylvania, though he voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020.

“I was a busboy at the local hotel, played sports in little towns, football and wrestling, from Shikellamy to Shickshinny to Pottsville to Mount Carmel to Selinsgrove.”

“Once and for all we can rid our franchise of this curse by returning the 1925 championship to Pottsville, PA.”

So in early December, when the 9-2 Pottsville Maroons traveled from deep in the heart of Pennsylvania coal country to play the 9-1-1 Chicago Cardinals, it was generally regarded as a title game.

Pottsville, as recounted in David Fleming’s rollicking 2007 book “Breaker Boys,” featured a roster of colorful players, including college stars trying to earn some money and local coal miners looking to earn a little extra.