A number of Shenandoah Pros received notoriety but none more than Frank Racis.
Racis, at 6-foot-200 lbs., was a tenacious lineman who played outstanding ball for the old Red Sox, the Shenandoah Pros, the Yellowjackets and the Shenandoah A. A.
Oldtimers will recall the A. A. team operated in the era of high priced football talent. On the Shenandoah Club in those days were such stars as Hinky Haines, Mike Palm, Bill Kenyon, Jack Flavin, and Whitey Thomas.
Many thought Racis fit well in this company but felt he was stepping out of his class when he linked up with the NFL's Pottsville Maroons in 1925.
It didn't take Racis long to prove he was as capable as Charley Berry, Herb and Russ Stein, Duke Osborne, Russ Hathaway, Barney Wentz, Jack Ernst, Frank Bucher, Dick Rauch and others.
Wentz, the Maroon's fullback, like Racis, was also from Shenandoah. Both were with Pottsville when it won the disputed NFL championship by beating the Chicago Cardinals, 21-7. The Maroons were deprived of the title because the Frankford Yellowjackets charged them with encroaching on their territory by playing and beating the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame, 9-7, in an exhibition game at Shibe Park, Philadelphia.
While with the Maroons, Racis was selected all-pro guard for two years by Collier's Weekly. A 60-minute performer, he played four games in one week without a substitute.
Wentz went on to attain fame in later years as the head football coach of Ashland High School.
