pro football's missing origin story
Gridiron Legacy follows the career of one of the game's early greats to bring pro football's backstory to light and solve the cold case that caused it to be forgotten.
the epic journey begins
The project was inspired by long-forgotten photographs, found in the author’s grandmother's basement in Pittsburgh after she passed away in 2007.
By following the career of Bob Shiring, one of the greatest pro players of the pre-NFL era and the author’s great-grandfather, through teams in Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio, you will discover the narrative of the many challenges experienced by those who launched the effort to establish what has become our country’s most popular sport.
The Book
gallery
Massillon Tigers Captain Bob Shiring
Canton Bulldogs Captain
Blondy Wallace
Blondy Wallace
1901 Homestead (PA) World Champions
1905 Program
Massillon Tigers, 1906
Canton Bulldogs, 1906
press
Interview by JON BOZEKA on News Talk 1480 WHBC
The Lost Story From The Infancy Of Professional Football.
PODCAST
Interview by DARIN HAYES on the PIGSKIN DISPATCH Podcast
The Massillon Tigers Professional Football Team and their History with Author Gregg Ficery
endorsements
Franco Harris
"It strikes me that no other book
on the history of pro football has been crafted in such detail and color as Gridiron Legacy. Given his family connection to one of the most prominent players of the era, Gregg’s collection of images from his great-grandfather’s pre-NFL career is unique. Further, his passion to dig deeper than ever before to discover and reconcile the truth of the unresolved accusations that stunted the game’s early growth is unmatched."
on the history of pro football has been crafted in such detail and color as Gridiron Legacy. Given his family connection to one of the most prominent players of the era, Gregg’s collection of images from his great-grandfather’s pre-NFL career is unique. Further, his passion to dig deeper than ever before to discover and reconcile the truth of the unresolved accusations that stunted the game’s early growth is unmatched."
Rocky Bleier
“Gridiron Legacy is unprecedented in providing pro football with its compelling birth story.”
The pre-NFL period of pro football is practically a lost era. It lasted nearly three decades after starting in the early 1890s in Pittsburgh, where I built my career as part of the Steelers dynasty in the 1970s. The world needs to know the game’s origin story, and the sport’s pioneers deserve recognition for their place in its history.
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Their story is fascinating and somehow still shrouded in a mystery that caused the first chapter to go missing. Gregg Ficery followed the trail of his great-grandfather’s career as one of the early greats to reveal a dramatic and profound tale and resolve the cold case that has kept the story in the dark for over a century. With its groundbreaking research and incredible never-before-published photos that Gregg inherited, Gridiron Legacy is unprecedented in providing pro football with its compelling birth story.
John “Frenchy” Fuqua
“About the Immaculate Reception, I will never tell. But about Gridiron Legacy, I will tell that this story is immaculate.”
About the author
