Inductees

Three- time Football Little All-American at Juniata College (1957, ’58 & ’59). leading scorer PA at the college Level (1957 & ’58); 312 points in four years at Juniat; single game rushing record, gaining 234 yards in 18 carries in a single game. Holds five Juniata scoring records.

Signed with LA Dodgers in1960; batted .301 in six years. Had to take an early retirement due to injury. Managed 12 years in the Dodgers Minor League with 860 wins, five Championship seasons; Manager of the Year four times in Florida State, Mideast and Northwest Leagues.

Coached football ten years, wrestling 34 years; baseball 32 years with 400 wins at Juniata and was Athletic Director (1977-1995).

Elected to Capital Area, Huntingdon County and Juniata College Halls of Fame.

NCAA Soccer All-American (1950); led Penn State to two NCAA Championships. Coached Fleetwood High School to two PIAA State Championships, 14 Conference titles, nine District Championships; two-time State and Conference Coach of the Year Honors. Had a 28 year career record of 512-99-48.

Took the Penn State baseball hitting title in sophomore year; earned six Varsity letters as a Nittany Lion. Spent six years in the Boston Red Sox system.

National Coach of the Year (1980); Inducted into National Soccer Hall of Fame (1997); was National Chairman of the NCSSA.

About This Inductee:

• Pittston Area High School-All State football
• Four-year starter at Penn State University
• Cotton Bowl MVP (1975), Outstanding Gator Bowl player (1976), Hula Bowl MVP
• Signed with NFL’s Miami Dolphins as wide receiver and punt returner
• Played in Super Bowls XVII and XIX; his touchdown in Super Bowl XVII
was second longest in Super Bowl history at that time (76 yards)
• Awarded Emmy for writing 1988 Olympic coverage for NBC
• Florida Sportscaster of the Year in 1998
• Inducted into PA Sports Hall of Fame in 2000

Only Lackawanna County athlete to play in both Super Bowl VII and Canada Grey Cup (1977); two years Washington Redskins, Houston and Green Bay. 1972 Redskins Super Bowl Team. Drafter by the Redskins
as All-Conference defensive end out of Arizona State. Defensive end with Ottawa in play-off win over Toronto; played with Calgary and Montreal before joining Ottawa in 1976.

Four sport All-Conference player at Dunmore High School

All-WPIAL, Big 33 and Parade All-American (MVP) out of Penn Hills High School. Four-year starter, All-East, All-American and Lombardi, Outland and Heisman Trophy finalist while with University of Pittsburgh. Selected to sportswriters’ “Best of the Last 25 Years” and Playboy All-Time All-American Team. A 1999 Inductee National Football Foundation Hall of Fame.

#1 NFL draft choice by the Atlanta Falcons; eight year All Pro Bowl, 1987 NFL Lineman of the Year.

About This Inductee:
• Wyoming Valley native
• 1890 with Baltimore Orioles, won 3 straight pennants
• Also played with Louisville, Brooklyn, Philadelphia and Detroit
• 1896 was top season, hitting .398, stealing 73
• Played in 1,285 games with 259 stolen bases, .314 career batting average
• Managed Detroit Tigers to 3 championships
• Elected to Cornell, St. Bonaventure Halls of Fame
• 1945 Elected to Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, NY
• Inducted into PA Sports Hall of Fame in 2000

Hughie Jennings was a star hitter and baserunner before becoming a standout manager in the big leagues. In the 1890s he blossomed as a great shortstop for the Baltimore Orioles, helping them win three straight pennants. A constant threat at the plate, his top season on the way to a .314 career batting average was 1896. That year, he hit .398, stole 73 bases and set a record in his specialty — being hit by pitched balls 49 times. After his playing days, he managed the Detroit Tigers to three championships. Jennings died in 1928 and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown in 1945.

Three time All-American at the University of Maryland and All-State High School performer. Outtland Trophy winner in (1952). Fourteen year NFL playing career, play a then NFL career 180 games with New York Giants and Cleveland Browns including eight title games. He had an All-Pro Year in 1964. Respected NFL Coach for 22 seasons. Inducted into the National College Foundation Hall of Fame (1993) and Polish American Hall of Fame in (1986)

NCAA 1-Meter and U.S. National 3-Meters Champion. Three time All-American at Ohio State, inductee into Ohio State and International Halls of Fame. Coached eight Olympic teams; producing divers who won five Gold. Three Silver and four Bronze medals. His divers also captured 13 World Championships, 14 Pan American Games and 135 U.S. National Gold Medals aand won 82 National Team Titles. He was named Coach of the Year 14 times.

Pittsburgh Pirates: Established Major League record for most relief appearances (1,050) and most innings pitched in relief (1,436.1), tied Major League record for most consecutive games won by a relief pitcher (3), established National League record for most career games pitched (1,050) and career games finished (638), established Pirate record for career saves (158). Presently is color analyst for Sports Channel on Philadelphia Phillies broadcast.

A 1950 Shamokin High School graduate, Don was a four-year letter winner and three-year two-way performer at Bloomsburg State on squads posting a 30-6 record. Conference champs 1951 – tie for first 1954. Don initiated varsity football at Exeter in 1959 and after suffering through a 3-21 record, had 18 winning seasons with undefeated championships in 1967 and 1970. Inducted into the Berks Chapter, Romanoski Chapter and the Pennsylvania Football Coaches Hall of Fame.

The Exeter School District in appreciation for his 39 years as a teacher, coach and administrator dedicated the district stadium in his name.

Reverend Daniel L. Towler, ED.D., “Deacon Dan”, a son of William and Evelyn Towler of Donora, Pennsylvania, Dan soon discovered that among his God-given talents was the ability to run with a football.

The sport helped provide him an education at Washington and Jefferson College. Then, while a four-time All-Pro for the Los Angeles Rams and still a student, his master’s degree from USC. When he reached that goal, although in his football prime, he walked away from the sport and heeded the call to the ministry.

Dan was a two-time All-State player at Donora High where he led that high school to Western Pennsylvania and titles in 1944 and 1945. Arguably the best high school team ever seen in our state. One publication ranked this team the #2 team in the nation after Texas High School team featuring Doak Walker and Bobby Layne.

At W & J (1948) his incredible 133 points in only eight games was the leading average-per-game (16.6) tally in the country and is still the top season total at W & J.

With the NFL Los Angeles Rams Dan gained 3493 yards rushing in six seasons, a Rams career mark that held up for over two decades. He led the NFL in rushing in 1952.

Dan was pastor at Lincoln Avenue United Methodist Church in Pasadena for a decade. In 1966, he became the campus minister and director of the Wesley Foundation at Cal State, Los Angeles. He went on to complete his doctorate at USC in 1969 and became Special Assistant to the President at Cal State, Los Angeles, a position he held for 19 years.

During that time, he was assigned to the University Development Office and began a program to establish support groups for the university and organized the Black Support Group and the Asian Support Group. He raised more than $200,000 in scholarship funds for the gifted, needy and minority students. He helped establish funding for athletics, including the Jogathon, the All University Fund Drive for Athletics, the Greenlee and Krinock Tennis Tournament, and men’s basketball. He also developed the Support Group Council.

Dan continues his ministry today at Cal State, Los Angeles, counseling and giving spiritual guidance to students who have problems and need guidance, or who simply need a campus friend.

Dan’s community service is broad in scope. He is a life member of the National Board of Trustees of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, past president of the NFL Alumni Los Angeles Chapter, a member of the L.A. Music Center Education Division, and member of the Tournament of Roses Committee in Pasadena, where he lives with his wife, Roslyn, They have a grown daughter, also named Roslyn.

Among the many honors bestowed on Dan are an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Washington and Jefferson; a Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Claremont School of Theology, where he has been a member of the Board of Trustees since 1975; an Outstanding Alumnus Award from USC; a Life Membership in Cal State Alumni and the university’s Distinguished Achievement Award in 1996; and outstanding service awards from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, the cities of Pasadena and Los Angeles, the National Caucus and the California Coalition of Black School Board Members, and the California Youth Homes.

He died August 1, 2001 at the age of 73.

Signed by the NY Yankees in 1950; played 12 years in Majors with St. Louis and Pittsburgh; Sporting News Rookie of the Year in 1955. Compiled a lifetime average of .267, with 91 home runs, 502 RBI’s, and garnered a Golden Glove in 1962; played in 1960 World Series with the Pirates.

Managed 13 years with Pittsburgh, Yankees, Houston and Montreal; coached nine years with Pittsburgh.

Golf professional 50+ years; head Professional at prestigious Oakmont Country Club (1947-’82. Leading money winner in 1953, defeating “Slammin” Sammy Snead for 1953 USGA title, and winning coveted Tam-O-Shanter. Played in 17 Master’s Tournaments; inducted into PGA, Mid-Atlantic PGA and American Golf Halls of Fame.

Member of 1947 Ryder Cup Team.