Professional players and enough college stars to stock a good-sized conference are all part of the rich history of Chicago Catholic League football. So are the dozens of coaches who devoted their professional lives to teaching youngsters the right way to play the game, on and off the field. Men like Tony Lawless, Jim Arneberg, Tom Winiecki, Lou Guida, Pat Cronin, Frank Maloney, Bob Naughton, Bob Foster, John Hoerster, Tom Mitchell and Frank Lenti, to name a few.

So, too, are the thousands of youngsters who may have lacked the size or the skill to play football beyond high school, but channeled the lessons they learned on Catholic League playing fields toward success in all walks of their personal and professional lives. The Catholic League might not produce the same sheer volume of talent as, say, the football hotbeds of Florida, Texas or Western Pennsylvania. But any college coach who signs a CCL player or any employer who hires one can be confident he’s getting a determined achiever who will work hard and finish the job while competing with honesty and integrity.

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