James Conner and more: NFL players, personnel with Erie and northwestern Pa. ties
There's no question the Erie area overflows with football talent. From youth leagues to middle schools, high schools, colleges, amateurs and pros, northwestern Pennsylvania is a hotbed of gridiron standouts.
The NFL is the pinnacle of football, and several area players and coaches have reached those ranks.
The Erie Times-News sought to document as many former players, coaches and personnel with northwestern Pennsylvania ties who have contributed to the NFL's history before and throughout the Super Bowl era.
The research was done based on data available at pro-football-reference.com and the Times-News archives.
Readers who know of a former or current player with ties to northwestern Pennsylvania — defined as Erie, Crawford, Mercer, Venango, Forest and Warren counties — but isn't mentioned below can email sports@timesnews.com for potential inclusion in the future.
The list is massive, so it's been divided into several stories to be published on GoErie.com regularly until the final name is revealed.
The players include the following, listed in alphabetical order with last names starting with letters A through C:
Eddie Abramoski
Few experienced more anguish over the Buffalo Bills’ four straight Super Bowl losses in the early 1990s than this Erie native.
That’s because he was on their sideline for each of them.
Abramoski was the head athletic trainer from the franchise’s 1960 birth through its 1997 season. His name was added to the Bills’ Wall of Fame, which adorns the rim of Highmark Stadium, in 1999.
Abramoski was a Pendleton, New York, resident when he died in 2022 at age 88.
Oscar Carl “Ockie” Anderson
The Erie native competed as a tailback for Buffalo.
Not the Bills but the All-Americans, western New York’s original NFL franchise that existed from the league’s berth in 1920 through 1923.
Anderson, who graduated from the former Erie Central High School, also played for Colgate University in Hamilton, New York. He scored eight touchdowns for the All-Americans between 1920-22.
Anderson was a Buffalo resident when he died in 1962 at age 67.
Ronnie Anderson
The 49-year-old Cleveland native remains the last of three former players for Division III Allegheny College who defied the odds and appeared in an NFL game.
He also was the most prominent of those Gators.
Anderson, a receiver for the Meadville team in the mid-1990s, was signed to the practice squad for the 1997 Green Bay Packers, who were the reigning Super Bowl champions. However, he never made their active roster, which included their 31-24 loss to the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXXII.
Anderson did make the cut for the 1998 Arizona Cardinals and appeared in four of their games. His lone NFL reception was for eight yards.
Sigmund “Sig” Andrusking
The 1932 East graduate signed as an offensive guard for the 1937 Brooklyn Dodgers. He dressed for seven games and started once for the defunct franchise, which went 3-7-1 that year.
Andrusking, who played college football for the University of Detroit Mercy, died in 1994 at age 81.
Mike Archie
Worthy of trivia or not, the 1991 Sharon graduate was a freshman running back for Penn State University’s last season (1992) as an independent and a rookie for the Houston Oilers’ last season (1996) before the franchise moved to the Volunteer State and was renamed the Tennessee Titans.
Archie only played in seven games over his first two NFL seasons. He did appear in all 16 regular season games for the 1998 Titans, but only carried the ball seven times for 52 yards.
Fate was harsh for Archie, as he was placed on injured reserve for Tennessee’s entire 1999 season.
The same season the Titans were AFC champions and played the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXIV.
Archie was a member of the Mercer County Hall of Fame’s 2020 class.
Art Baker
The 86-year-old Academy graduate was a star running back for the Lions and then in college for Syracuse University, where he contributed to the Orange being crowned the 1959 NCAA Division I national champions.
One of his teammates that year was fellow back Ernie Davis, who went on to receive the 1961 Heisman Trophy.
Baker, who also was an NCAA wrestling champion for the Orange, was the Philadelphia Eagles’ first round pick in the 1961 NFL draft and the Buffalo Bills’ third round pin in that same year’s AFL draft. He opted to play closer to home for the Bills, where he ran for 507 yards and three touchdowns over the franchise’s second and third seasons of existence.
Baker’s greatest success as a pro occurred after he joined the Canadian Football League in 1963. He helped the Hamilton Tiger-Cats win the Grey Cup that year and again in 1965.
Baker, a 1989 Metro Erie Sports Hall of Fame inductee, retired from football after he suited up for the 1966 Calgary Stampeders.
Charlie Baumann
The 1985 Cathedral Prep graduate remains the greatest placekicker in Erie County history.
Baumann set various records during three seasons with the Ramblers and then at West Virginia University. He booted two field goals and an extra point when the Mountaineers lost to the University of Notre Dame 34-21 in the 1989 Fiesta Bowl, which determined the NCAA’s Division I national champion for 1988.
Baumann’s NFL career consisted of two games for the 1991 Miami Dolphins. He was cut, signed with the New England Patriots for another nine appearances that year and then their entire 1992 season.
A 48-yarder was the longest of 20 successful NFL field goals for Baumann, the chief financial officer for the Florida-based U.S. Medical Group since 2000.
Nate Byham
The 2006 Franklin graduate is locally remembered more for leading the Knights’ boys basketball team to that year’s championship in the PIAA Class 3A tournament. However, his football abilities are what got the attention of the University of Pittsburgh.
Byham played tight end for the Panthers and then as a reserve for the 2010 San Francisco 49ers and the 2012-13 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He recorded 11 catches for 83 yards and a touchdown over his brief career.
Byham recently completed his first season as the tight ends coach for Stanford University’s football team.
Mike Connell
Connell, 67, a Sharon graduate, kicked for the Tigers and then for the University of Cincinnati. He was a rare punter chosen in an NFL draft thanks to the San Francisco 49ers. They selected him during the 10th round in 1978.
Connell punted in each of their games as a rookie. The longest of his 96 attempts was 59 yards, with one blocked.
Connell was idle for the NFL’s 1981 season. He resurfaced as the regular punter for the 1980 and 1981 Washington Redskins.
James Conner
The 2013 McDowell graduate is expected to return for his eighth NFL season when the 2024 Arizona Cardinals open training camp. The former running back for the Trojans and the University of Pittsburgh only needed 13 games to surpass 1,000 rushing yards (1,040) for the first time this past season.
Conner, a 2017 Pittsburgh Steelers draft pick, has rushed for 4,876 yards and 51 touchdowns as a pro. He’s recorded another 10 TDs as a receiver.
More: Erie native James Conner puts up big performance for Cardinals in return to Pittsburgh
Jim Cope
Despite microscopic odds, there were two Venango County natives who competed for the 1976 Atlanta Falcons.
Franklin graduate Rolland “Bay” Lawrence was one and Cope, born in Oil City, was the other. The latter moved to the Pittsburgh area and graduated from South Allegheny High School.
Cope played linebacker at Ohio State and its iconic coach, Woody Hayes. The Cleveland Browns chose him in the fifth round of the 1975 NFL draft, but it wasn’t until the following year that he finally saw on-field action with the Falcons.
Cope made three tackles over six games. He died in 1998 at age 45.
Jim Corbett
The McDowell graduate starred for the Trojans and then as a tight end for the University of Pittsburgh in the mid-1970s. His final game with the Panthers was their 27-3 victory over the University of Georgia in the 1977 Sugar Bowl.
That win clinched the last of Pitt’s nine national championships.
The Cincinnati Bengals chose Corbett, 68, in the seventh round of the 1977 NFL draft. He recorded 25 catches for 376 yards and a touchdown before a severe knee injury during their 1980 season ended his career.
Corbett has performed missionary work with Glory to God Ministries for more than two decades. He told the Erie Times-News in a 2022 interview that, on reflection, he wouldn’t have played football because of its physical toll.
“And I’m a lot better off than half the guys I played with, who can hardly walk and don’t remember what airport they’re at,” Corbett said. “You get paid well (as an NFL player), and I get that. But there will be a price you’ll pay when you’re 65 years old.”
“I’m not blaming anybody because that’s the nature of the beast, but we weren’t made to do this sport.”
More: Super Bowl teams have fans in former and current Erie County residents
Cliff Crosby
The 1994 East graduate only competed in one game for the 1999 St. Louis Rams, and it wasn’t their victory in Super Bowl XXXIV.
The Rams, thanks to an open-field tackle by linebacker Mike Jones on the game’s last play, beat the Tennessee Titans 23-16.
However, St. Louis coach Dick Vermeil decided Crosby still deserved a Super Bowl ring despite his minute on-field contributions. He was a defensive back for those Rams, as he was for the Indianapolis Colts from 2001-03.
Crosby mostly appeared on special teams but did record five fumble recoveries and 74 tackles over those two seasons.
Crosby, 49, had his No. 25 East jersey retired at halftime of the 2014 Erie Lions Club Save-An-Eye Game. He currently works for The Trust, an NFL Players Association program that helps players transition to life after football.
More: Erie County football greats Crosby and Milne speak during Save-An-Eye banquet
Randy Crowder
The 1970 Farrell graduate and former Penn State defensive lineman played his entire NFL career for Florida franchises. He was drafted by the Miami Dolphins, then the two-time defending Super Bowl champions, in the sixth round of the 1974 NFL draft.
However, Crowder’s career was halted when he and teammate Don Reese were convicted of selling cocaine to an undercover police officer. Crowder was sentenced to a year in jail, was released in 1978 and then played three more seasons as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ nose tackle.
Crowder, 71, was still a 2010 Mercer County Hall of Fame inductee despite his conviction. He last worked in real estate in the Tampa area.
Next up: D through H
Check back soon on GoErie.com as the list of northwestern Pa. players/personnel who have connections to the NFL continues with last names starting with letters D through H.
Contact Mike Copper at mcopper@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNcopper.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie in NFL: Past, present personnel with northwest PA backgrounds
