Members of Wheeling City Council have the opportunity for their easiest win of 2023 by naming the ballfields at Warwood's Garden Park in honor of pro football legend Chuck Howley. Council should waste no time in doing so, as Howley will be inducted on Aug. 5 into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
Local historian Sean Duffy and members of Howley's family made the request. "This is a rare honor," Duffy said of Howley's pending Pro Football Hall of Fame induction. "This will make him only the fourth West Virginian to be so honored. Warwood has a right to be proud of their hometown boy."
Howley -- a Wheeling native, Warwood High star and West Virginia University graduate -- was a five-time All-Pro linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys. He remains the only player from a losing team to be named most valuable player in a Super Bowl (Super Bowl V).
Also urging council to act was Sally Beatty, Howley's cousin, who noted "Chuck Howley Field at Garden Park should make us proud."
She also noted the Cowboys' organization is planning a documentary on Howley, part of which was filmed earlier this year in Warwood.
"If the Dallas Cowboys organization can honor Chuck Howley -- a Warwood boy -- I think it would be a shame if his own hometown wouldn't think of him as a great role model for the kids of Warwood, of Wheeling and beyond," she said.
This should be an easy one for council. Honor our hometown hero by naming the fields at Garden Park in his honor.