Maroons petition garners 10,000 signatures

The following was reported in today's issue of the Pottsville Republican and Herald:

After being online for nearly two months, the counter on David Fleming’s petition encouraging the NFL owners to give the Pottsville Maroons their 1925 championship title now has more than 10,000 signatures.

Fleming, author of “Breaker Boys: The NFL’s Greatest Team and the Stolen 1925 Championship,” said he had a feeling it would reach that number, after facing a “mob scene” at Bor-ders in Harrisburg on Saturday af-ternoon.

“There were 75 people waiting in line when I got there and the only thing that stopped the signing was they ran out of books,” Fleming said.

In an effort to continue to advertise “Breaker Boys” in the region and encourage people to log onto the Internet and sign the petition, Fleming, a writer for ESPN The Magazine from Davidson, N.C., returned to Pottsville on Wednesday and will be signing books at a series of events ending Tuesday.

He said his second promotional tour in the area for “Breaker Boys” is turning out to be much more successful than the first.

“It’s hard to ignore the proof. It’s doing exactly what we want,” he said.

Fleming said the daughter of Maroons Coach Dick Rauch, Alison Rauch Dudley, broke the news to him about the petition reaching the 10,000 mark at a book-signing at the Historical Society of Schuylkill County, Pottsville, on Saturday morning.

“That was initially my goal when we started the petition, and immediately when it just took off, I knew that we would hit it. To me that number is astronomical in this day and age. To get that many people is unheard of,” Fleming said.

Fleming started the petition Oct. 16, just after his first promotional tour for “Breaker Boys,” released Oct. 9. As of 11 p.m. Saturday, the petition gained 10,013 signatures.

Pottsville Mayor John D.W. Reiley said when he checked the counter Friday afternoon and saw the total was around 9,960, he said, “I figured it would go over this weekend. I think it’s great. It’s one threshold we want to get by now, and we’re going for 25,000. We’re going to keep going,” Reiley said.

Fleming said he’s hoping the show of support continues to build in the days leading up to Super Bowl XLII at Cardinals Staduim, Glendale, Ariz., where Fleming will present the petition to the NFL owners Feb. 3.

He’s not sure how many signatures the petition will ultimately collect.

“You know, I really don’t know. I’d hate to put a number on it, because if we don’t hit it, it will seem like we came up short. But I think everything on top of this is just gravy,” Fleming said.

The number of signatures accumulated at www.petitiononline.com/Maroons is close the number of books that have sold, “north of 10,000,” according to the book’s editor, Michael Solomon, New York.

“I signed 150 books today and I’d say at least 75 people mentioned signing the petition or spreading the word,” Fleming said.

Fleming said Lasting Legacy of Pottsville sold between 60 and 70 copies at the historical society Saturday morning.

Since this second promotional tour is turning into a success, ESPN Books might plan a third, Fleming said.