AFA PRESS RELEASE: (November 10, 2000)
Media - contact Dave Burch at AFA National Office (877)624-4485 or (941)388-3510; e-mail amerfoot@aol.com (or) usafoot@aol.com
SCRANTON EAGLE’S DAVE LUNGER TO BE INDUCTED INTO THE AFA HALL of FAME
The American Football Association announced today that it has jumped the gun somewhat in their naming of an individual that the selection committee has approved for ‘induction’ into the AFA’s Semi-Pro Football Hall of Fame - Class of 2001.
Over the past 20 years, the AFA has singled out 336 - players, coaches, executives, officials, pioneers, trainers/equipment managers, media/historians and even some individuals in the international category -for their dedication and contributions to the semi-pro/minor league football level of the sport.
According to the AFA’s president Ron Real, the AFA normally holds the announcement of the coming year's enshrinees until after the first of each year. “In light of the fact that one of our class of 2001 inductees has been hospitalized with a very serious illness we feel comfortable in announcing Dave Lunger of the Scranton (PA)Eagles as one of our ‘Class of 2001’ AFA Hall of Famers”, said Real from the AFA’s national office in Sarasota, Florida.
Dave Lunger is not the only the reason the Scranton Eagles are considered to be one of the top teams in the country, as well as one of the most stable organizations, but he’s close to it. The Eagles would not exist today without Lunger’s tireless efforts. Since the early 1990's, Dave has made sure that everything got done businesswise for the team to give it a chance to succeed by filling the positions of president and general manager - at the same time. In 1992 he was instrumental in forming the committee made up of a board of directors that would guide the team. He was the key person in getting the Eagles incorporated as a nonprofit organization in Pennsylvania and helped orchestrate a movement for more community support.
Before Dave was officially involved in the Eagle organization, he was the team's #1 fan, not missing a single game from the early 1970's when the Lackawanna County Eagles played through the birth of the Scranton Eagles in 1982, until a serious illness prevented him from attending several
games late in the 1998 season. For 20 years, Dave and his wife Ruth, along with four daughters and their families, have supported the team in many ways, including personal financial contributions to the team. "Hey, that's my hobby," Dave would say about putting so much into the Eagles.
A high school player at Scranton Technical High School, Dave went on to play for the University of Alaska and then with US Army teams. Dave was a business owner of a service station in Scranton for nine years and then worked at General Dynamics in nearby Eynon, Pa. for 12 more years before a back injury forced him to retire in 1988.
With all his hard work, dedication and commitment, Dave Lunger is an example of what is right about semi-pro football these days not only in Scranton, Pennsylvania, but across the country as well. The Eagles gained national respect and admiration of their counterparts by winning AFA National Championships in 1984 and again in 1989.
The AFA and all of its 336 Hall of Fame Alumni welcome the Scranton Eagles Dave Lunger as a brother HOF member. The AFA will host their 21st annual Hall of Fame Induction Dinner in Canton, Ohio on Saturday, June 9, 2001 when Lunger and several other dedicated semi-pro footballers will be enshrined as the ‘Class of 2001’.
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AFA 20th Annual Hall of Fame Induction Video to place your order online today.
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AFA 20th Anniversary Year Book to obtain an order form.
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Empire Football
League Press Release February 11, 2001