Vandergrift brothers' Turkey Bowl spans 3 generations of family, friends

Between 50 and 60 years ago, three brothers decided to play football in their small Vandergrift backyard on Thanksgiving.

Pete Guerrera was 12 or 13; Michael Guerrera was 7; and Anthony Guerrera was 5. Now that they’re in their mid- to late 60s — or early 70s in Pete’s case — they’re not exactly sure how long ago the annual tradition got started.

This year, the red and green shirts for each team proclaimed the 60th year of the event.

While a backyard football game, or Turkey Bowl, may be a feature of many family Thanksgiving gatherings, there are likely few that have lasted as long as theirs.

“Life is a collection of memories, and the Turkey Bowls provide decades of them,” Pete Guerrera said. “And there is much to be thankful for, like the closeness of our family. In good or bad times, we are always there for each other and this Thanksgiving will be no different.”

It was just the three of them at the first game, with their three sisters as cheerleaders.

Over time, their Turkey Bowl grew to include more family, friends and neighbors, the boyfriends and husbands of their sisters, and their own children.

“We take anyone, everyone,” Pete Guerrera said.

Now, the game’s roster spans three generations, with grandchildren taking the field.

The game has become a holiday tradition, Michael Guerrera said. “It’s fun,” he said. “We always had a good time.”

The game moved from the backyard to the street, then to a place in Vandergrift that Pete Guerrera called “the cut” between Adams and Washington avenues. They’ve played at the junior high school.

In recent years, they’ve played in a field outside the YMCA down the road from the home of one of their sisters, Jeanne Guerrera. She doesn’t play.

“I cook,” she said. “I cook and clean.”

Traveling the farthest for this year’s Thanksgiving and football game were Jeanne’s son, Steve Dawson, and his wife, Caity, who came from Wisconsin.

Players ranged in age from 3-year-old Max Williams, Pete’s grandson from Columbus, Ohio, to the brothers’ cousin, Joe Szalanski, who is 79, lives in Vandergrift and wears a fez during the game.

At the start, Pete was playing football when he was in school, and was the one who suggested to his two brothers that they play on Thanksgiving.

“We decided we can do this,” he said, noting they didn’t have computer games to play. “That’s all we knew was sports and family.”

Over time, the game came to include those playing both high school and college football, and it got a bit more serious and a tad rougher.

While tag, not tackle, the game has produced its share of bumps, bruises and injuries, including a broken ankle, a torn ACL and a torn meniscus.

“Some of us want to win more than others,” Michael Guerrera said.

They played in any weather, even if one year was so cold they called it quits after each side scored just once, ending the game in a tie. “But we played,” Michael Guerrera said.

Asked if there was a referee for the game, Mike Guerrera said it’s an “Italian game.”

“Whatever you can get away with, you get away with,” Anthony Guerrera said.