Fralic Award committee close to choosing finalists

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Monday, November 1, 2021 | 5:09 PM

Purchase Photo Options

The great Bill Fralic would have been 59 on Halloween.

The hulking lineman who struck fear in opponents when he played at Penn Hills, Pitt and in the NFL left an indelible legacy that lives on through an award in his name.

For the third straight year, the William P. Fralic Foundation will honor the WPIAL’s top senior interior lineman with the Bill Fralic Award.

Nominees are coming in, and the award committee will soon narrow the list to six finalists, one from each classification.

The winner will be announced Dec. 4 during a pancake breakfast at the Longue Vue Club in Verona.

Organizers wanted the award to mirror the Outland Trophy, which recognizes the top lineman in the college game.

Logan Danielson of Thomas Jefferson was the inaugural winner of the Fralic Award two years ago, and Pine-Richland’s Miguel Jackson was the 2020 recipient through a virtual presentation.

“We continue to celebrate and honor Bill for his athletic contributions to Western PA but also his humanitarian efforts off the field,” said Dan Miller, a member of the Fralic Foundation’s board of trustees and a former classmate of Fralic. “His legacy lives on.”

Miller said Fralic continues to give back nearly three years after he died of cancer on Dec. 13, 2018 at age 56.

“We know the story of him providing accommodations for the Penn Hills 2018 state championship team,” Miller said. “He is now providing assistance for transportation costs for Penn Hills area youth athletes that will compete in the NFL Flag Bowl in Los Angeles prior to the Super Bowl (through the William P. Fralic Foundation).”

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.