The Birth of the AP All-State Team

From the December 11, 1963 issue of the Warren Times Mirror:

First AP All-State Team

We often think of all-state teams as being meticulously thought-out and analyzed, but from Scott’s own admission, this wasn’t the case for the inaugural edition in 1939.  Scott’s recollection depicts him being told – during the season’s final game – that he should pick his own team for the AP.  Following discussions with football people at that Clearfield vs. Blythe Township game, Scott published a team that he acknowledges missed on one player: Pittston’s Charlie Trippi.  Give Scott credit for selecting players from across the commonwealth, though; virtually all corners of the state are represented.  Of course, Scott’s greatest accomplishment was beginning the AP All-State team in the first place.  The team was selected every year through 2008.

As an aside: Blythe Township won the game 12-0.  The school fielded a team until the end of the 1958 season and its high school students now attend Pottsville.

One more thing – the birthplace of the AP All-State team still stands, but it hasn’t hosted a high school football game since the mid-1970s.  It now serves as the grandstand for the Clearfield County Fair:

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The birthplace of the AP Pennsylvania All-State football team.

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