By Jerry Ratcliffe

Like most boys his age, growing up in the Pittsburgh area, Mike Eck grew up with a football in his hands. Dreams of playing college ball and beyond was a way of life.

Sharing that culture was the strong unions that surrounded Western Pennsylvania. Unfortunately for Eck and his teammates at Mt. Lebanon High School, those forces _ football and unions _ collided in 1980, threatening to crush those gridiron dreams.

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