Jim Manning had good football, track careers at Uniontown
Uniontown High School football history is dotted with great brother acts. Some of the siblings who have starred for the Red Raiders are the Munsey brothers, the Stephens brothers, the McLees and the Hulls. Another first family of Uniontown football is the Mannings.
Jim Manning played for the Raiders in 1945 and 1946 and Ronnie Manning played for some great Uniontown teams in the early 1950s, including the undefeated 1952 squad. The baby of the family, John “Monk” Manning, played in the early 1960s and was on the undefeated 1962 WPIAL championship team.
Jim Manning was a standout in football and track for the Red Raiders in 1945, 1946 and 1947. He got married and had started a family, so he did not play for the Red Raiders in his senior season 1948.
“I did play as a freshman in 1945,” Jim Manning recalled. “I was pretty good and I made second string as a halfback. I played both ways, I was a defensive back. I did not go to Uniontown High School as a sophomore and junior, I attended the Vo-Tech school.”
One of the highlights for Manning in 1945 occurred in Uniontown’s 32-7 loss to Brownsville, when he scored the only touchdown for the Red Raiders. “In the Brownsville game, I also quick kicked 85 yards to get us out of the hole,” Manning remembered. “I was a very good punter.”
The 1945 Red Raiders, under the guidance of Gene Dugan, finished with a record of 2-6-2. Clarence Stark took over the head coaching reins and posted records of 2-6-1 in 1946 and 3-6-1 in 1947.
“We had some coaching uncertainty,” Manning said. “The coaching was a little better under Stark. We had players, but we didn’t develop like we should have. We had talent and were waiting for the right coach. That coach was Bill Power who came to Uniontown from Point Marion in 1948. We scrimmaged against Point Marion and they had a good team. I didn’t get to play for Power, but we had talent and he turned things around for Uniontown.”
Manning excelled in track. His events were the javelin, the broad jump and the high jump.
Manning married the former Audrey Clark in 1947 and didn’t play his senior year.
“I was out of school 27 years, but went back and got my GED high school diploma,” Manning stated.
Manning is proud of the legacy that he and his brothers left in area high school athletics.
“I am very proud of that,” Manning explained. “I didn’t get to see Ron play because I left in 1948 and I came down to see John play, but the score was so high they didn’t play him in the second half.
Manning wasn’t done with football, he played for the semi pro Meadville Zippers in 1948, 49 and 50 and with the Erie Lakers semi pro team for one year. His older brother, Wade, who was a track star at Charleroi, played football with Jim on the Zippers.
He went to Meadville in 1948 and worked for American Brake Shoe.
Bill Daddio was coaching at Allegheny and watched him play semi pro ball. Daddio later was an assistant football coach at Purdue University and the University of Notre Dame and a personnel director for the Philadelphia Eagles. He wrote a letter of recommendation to the Cleveland Browns.
“That is when I left American Brake Shoe,” Manning stated. “I went over to Cleveland, Blanton Collier was an assistant and I told him what position I played and told him I ran the 50 in five flat. He said we have lineman that run that fast, so I went back to Meadville. I had four children at the time and he didn’t want me to get hurt. I got rehired with American Brake Shoe.”
Manning worked at American Brake Shoe until 1965. He worked at Meadville Country Club until 1968 and then went to work at Pittsburgh Plate Glass until he retired in 1991.
He was married for 64 years to Audrey, who passed away in August. They had 10 children, five boys and five girls.
Manning, 83, has had a good life, but he often wonders about missed opportunities in his athletic career.
“Bill Daddio often told me we had guys on the team that couldn’t carry your shoes. I had family responsibilties and I honored my responsibilities. I played a little football and I got my high school degree.”