*** As seen in Tonawanda Sun’s T-NT Issue, Oct. 12, 2018 edition ***
If you’ve attended a North Tonawanda football game, you’ve likely met and talked with Frank Pallotta. Sitting at the top of the bleachers, sporting one of his many NT Football t-shirts and hats , the 82-year old brings a sense of old-school energy that puts him on a unique pedestal in the NT Athletics community.
“Just call me Mr. Lumberjack, that’s all,” he said in a booming voice. “I love the game of football and I love NT Football. I love the red-and-the-blue.”
While he is still remembered for his heroic game-winning extra-point attempt in the 1954 T-NT Classic – lifting the Lumberjacks to a 7-6 victory over the Tonawanda Warriors – Pallotta still won’t take sole credit for the victory.
The reason comes from what he learned from his coach, the late George Vetter – the winningest coach in NT Football history.
“There were no individuals,” the NTHS Class of 1955 graduate said. “Mr. Vetter would always tell you, ‘There’s no individuals. It’s all for one and one for all.’ And that’s the way it should be.”
“He’s just a tough, tough dude,” said his grandson Bob Brauer, who followed in his foot-steps and played for the Lumberjacks until graduating in 2016. “He’s a tough dude who’s been around.”
“He never stops,” Bob’s older brother, Mike, a NTHS 2013 graduate and former player, added. “He is always doing something or onto the next project.”
A lifelong NT resident, Pallotta was born in July of 1936 – just days before the start of the Summer Olympics in Berlin when Jesse Owens won four gold medals for the United States. The youngest of five children – two brothers, Angelo and Hugo, who both served in World War II and two sisters, Lena and Flavia – Pallotta was the son of blue-collar parents who came to the United States from Italy. His father worked at the Wurlitzer Company in North Tonawanda for 40 years while his mother stayed at home and raised them.
Pallotta first fell in love with NT Football in the late 1940s when he attended a game at the original Lumberyard – a gravel pit on Payne Avenue across from the former Lowry School, where the Lady Jacks softball team plays today.
“What I saw that night made me say, ‘I want to play football for North Tonawanda,’” Pallotta said.
Because the population of North Tonawanda was larger in the late 1940s to early 1950s, each neighborhood had their own backyard football team – which combined when all the students came together at Felton Grammar School for seventh grade.
“We would probably play (at Christiana Field) on a Saturday from 10:00 in the morning until the sun went down,” Pallotta recalled. “(We’d say) ‘Boy, I can’t wait until we are in high school so we can play football at NT and we can play for George Vetter.”
The first time Pallotta met Vetter – the fall of 1951 – was a rough start. Vetter wanted him to play guard. Pallotta disagreed and told assistant coach John Plewak he wanted to play fullback.
“In the single-wing formation, the fullback was the key guy,” Pallotta said. “The fullback basically 90 percent of the time got the snaps.”
After taking some varsity snaps as a freshman, Pallotta made his official varsity debut at fullback as a sophomore in 1952. It took until NT’s third game of the season for Pallotta to pick up the speed of the opposing defenses. Once he did, he had a solid career for the red-and-blue.
“I was one of those guys that said, ‘Beat me up a little bit and I’ll respond,’” he said.
The biggest memories from his high school career came during T-NT week – specifically the 1953 and 1954 seasons. Similar to the festivities at both NTHS and Tonawanda High School today, Pallotta said the school had bonfires and pep rallies too.
“It was wild, man, I’ll tell ya,” he laughed.
His junior year, 1953, the Lumberjacks lost to the Warriors, 14-13. The eventual deciding point came in the third quarter. After Pallotta’s two-yard score, the wind caused a high snap on the extra-point attempt, preventing Pallotta to kick, keeping the score at 7-6, Tonawanda. After a brief NT 13-7 lead in the fourth quarter, the Warriors came back, scored, and stopped NT’s offense on downs with 15 seconds remaining. The sting of the loss – which was also the final game of the season – carried over for an entire year.
“And that one year, we thought about it, us guys, and I’m sure, Mr. Vetter, the entire student body, everybody thought about (that game),” Pallotta said.
The 1954 T-NT Classic could be considered a tale of redemption for young Pallotta. On NT’s opening drive, Pallotta fumbled the ball – but what he did next is even more memorable.
“For some reason, I don’t know why, I went up to Mr. Vetter and I looked him right in the face and said, ‘I’ll make up for this,’” he explained.
He sure did as the 1954 clash is considered one of the best games in the rivalry’s 108-year history, thanks to his game-winning kick.
“I look back throughout my high school years and the memories of the T-NT game are probably the most dominant memories I have,” he said proudly.
Today, his teammate and life-long friend, Jerry Piorkowski, still recalls the way Pallotta dominated on the field for NT, especially during that season.
“He was like a tank,” the NTHS Class of 1956 graduate said. “He took football players down like a bulldozer. He wasn’t afraid of anything.”
Following graduation, Pallotta spent 20 years working a blue-collar job with the National Grinding Wheel Company before becoming a “self-made entrepreneur.” But more importantly, his connection with NT Football continued. From 1955 to approximately 1965, Pallotta held the down markers for both home and away games for the Lumberjacks – and continued his bond with Vetter until the coach’s death in 1983.
“I used to visit Mr. Vetter and his wife and we used to talk about football, life and the future,” he said. “(As a coach), he was a perfectionist. He was tough in practice, discipline, get it right. But he was also a good gentleman and a mild-mannered guy. When it came to the game of football, you better play it the way he wants you to play it.”
Vetter and Pallotta were inducted into the NT Football Hall of Fame together in 1973 – an honor that Pallotta still can’t believe happened. This season, Pallotta was on hand to honor his coach on two occasions – a ceremonial coin toss in the home opener against Kenmore East on Sept. 21 and reading a pre-game speech in Vetter’s honor before the home finale versus Williamsville East on Oct. 5.
“I tossed that coin because of George Vetter,” he said. “They named the stadium after him and I thought, ‘Well, I’ll represent George Vetter and toss that coin.’ It had nothing to do with me. It had everything to do with George Vetter, trust me.”
Today, Pallotta is seen as a trusted member of the NT Football Hall of Fame as president Paul Frys has relied on him in many situations.
“Where (former public-address announcer Dick) Grapes was the voice of the Hall of Fame, (Frank’s) the face of the Hall of Fame and that’s the way we want it,” Frys said. “He’s the ambassador.”
NT head coach Eric Jantzi first met Pallotta during the start of his first stint with the Lumberjacks in 2000. Today, he refers to Pallotta as a one-of-a-kind.
“He’s a diehard NT Football fan,” he said. “I think he’s certainly up there in the top echelon of people who are supporters of the program.”
Besides this, Pallotta enjoys spending time with his four children and his many grandchildren. The reason that Bob and Mike Brauer played football in high school was because they went to many NT Football games with their grandpa growing up. Bob remembered their first game together – NT’s 42-13 loss to St. Francis in the 2007 season opener.
“He would talk about teamwork a lot and that we should take that hard work and use it on the football field,” Bob said. “It was more of a night out with Grandpa. Some kids go out to dinner with their grandparents or go to the fair. Ours was the football game.”
Today, Pallotta still enjoys being a part of NT Football – by passing along the traditions of the program in any way he can.
“I try to explain to these kids that I’m one of their teammates along with my teammates,” he explained. “Everything is handed down to generation (to generation.) It is still trickling down.”
Story Ideas? Please email me at joekrausnt@gmail.com
Logs From The Lumberyard 