Because of its rich history with the common working man and the steel industry, Pittsburgh is a city that has become one of the nation's ambassadors of blue-collar America. Ties to Pittsburgh's workman past are still intact as some of the factories and steel mills that were so vital to the state and country during the Industrial Revolution remain erect, but the city has slowly begun to evolve into a booming metropolis since Andrew Carnegie founded U.S. Steel in 1901. Along with Pittsburgh's geographical changes, the city saw its appreciation for football increase in the process as the state's professional, collegiate and high school programs endured enormous success. As football's popularity and importance in Pennsylvania grew throughout the 20th century, Pittsburgh started to become more synonymous with the game as the city began to breed millions of fans and thousands of players through the state's dedication to the sport. Pittsburgh-area native Peggy Evans, who is among the many Pennsylvanians who was melded into a football fanatic as a child, took her passion for the sport and parlayed it into her life's endeavors as a realtor and professional football player.
"As a business owner, you always need to lead people and motivate them to do what their job entails, and by playing football you learn that," said Evans, a proud mother of two children and a devoted Philadelphia Eagles fan.
Evans, who grew up watching the Pittsburgh Steelers during her youth in Holiday Park, Pa. where she played "pick-up" football before graduating from Plum (Pa.) High School, went on to become a realty business owner before earning her degree from Juniata College (Huntingdon, Pa.), where she played basketball, volleyball, intramural football and became the country's Division III triple-jump champion in 1985.
Evans, who's been residing in suburban Philadelphia since 2006, worked in accounting, sales and marketing before assuming control of her own realty business. Before Evans got her realty career on track, her infatuation with the game came calling in 2003 after receiving word of a women's pro football team. Soon after hearing about the team, she became the starting wide receiver for the Philadelphia Liberty Belles (now the Delaware Griffins) of the Independent Women's Football League, playing her first down of football in 18 years since her intramural football days at Juniata.
"Football is all about heart and passion and competitiveness and having fun. I think everybody, both boys and girls, should give football a chance," Evans said.