In today’s episode of This Hits Different, Shelby Cassesse tells the story of the return of youth football to legendary Graham Field in East Brady.
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The ‘boys are back’ playing football in East Brady
For years, East Brady's Graham Field was where local boys learned to love football, a community gathering place, and where Jim Kelly took some of his first snaps.
But these days....
“You’ll get a pickup game, a flag football (game) or guys chipping golf balls,” says East Brady youth football president Pete Douglas. “Not much has been done on it.”
When the local school district closed thirty years ago, the field eventually changed hands. The youth football program was forced to find a new home in Sugarcreek Park, but Douglas explains it never felt quite right.
“It just was tough,” he says. “It’s hard to get kids. It’s hard to get people to donate their time. At the park, we had to do a lot more work."
He says Graham Field hasn't had an organized football game played on it in nearly 20 years, but talks of that changing recently gained traction. Douglas went to borough president Barbara Mortimer.
“The team said, yes, we definitely want to come back,” she says. “It’s great to see Bulldog football again in East Brady, because Bulldog football, from the time I grew up, was always so important to the town."
Bringing the youth football program back to East Brady was a go. The whole town mobilized.
From donations to volunteers to support, it seemed like everyone had a hand in making sure the field was ready.
“It’s just great,” Douglas says. “We come here and practice. We’ve had families come down from town and watch practice, and offer to help. It’s just been really a good thing for the community and for our football program."
Some of that support came by way of the field's most famous player...
“Jim Kelly was home for River Fest,” says Douglas. “We let him know we were moving back and he was extremely excited. He gave us some donations.”
But that's not all. Kelly sent a message to all of the kids in the program ahead of their first game back Saturday.
“I played on the same field you are about to play your first game, when I played for the East Brady Bulldogs,” Kelly said in the video. ”And remember guys, once a Bulldog, always a Bulldog!”
To some communities, this wouldn't even make the radar.
But, to a town used to watching people leave, it's a breath of fresh air to celebrate the return of one of its most beloved ways to gather.
“Businesses kind of thrive in the summer time with all of the people here,” Mortimer says. “In the fall, that business dries up a little bit. For restaurants, stores, I think it’s going to be a big boom."
And there's no better sign of the excitement than driving through the small town, where it's not uncommon to see a paw print in the windows of local homes.
“We’ve all got paw prints in our windows, trying to lead the way to the field to welcome the kids back,” Mortimer added. “And I’ve seen some houses with orange and black balloons, just as a way of greeting the team as they come back to play and letting everyone know that the boys are back in town."