FROM MANNING'S ARM TO THE HALL OF FAME... THAT RECORD BREAKING FOOTBALL HAS BEEN ON QUITE A JOURNEY.
BUT DO YOU KNOW WHERE THAT JOURNEY STARTED? IN THIS WEEK'S KNOW OHIO, WE TAKE YOU TO THE BIRTHPLACE OF THE PIGSKIN... ADA, OHIO.
LOCATED IN NORTHWEST OHIO, THE SMALL TOWN OF ADA IS HOME TO THE WILSON FOOTBALL FACTORY.
EVERY BALL USED IN THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE - AND MOST COLLEGE AND HIGH SCHOOL GAMES - COMES FROM WILSON IN THIS TOWN OF JUST OVER 5-THOUSAND PEOPLE. THAT MEANS EVERY BALL THAT CROSSES INTO THE ENDZONE IS MADE RIGHT HERE IN OHIO.
WILSON BECAME THE OFFICIAL MANUFACTURER OF THE N-F-L GAME BALL IN 1941, AND THEY OPENED THE ADA PLANT IN 1955.
WITH ABOUT 120 EMPLOYEES, THE FACTORY MAKES MORE THAN 4-THOUSAND FOOTBALLS A DAY AND 7-HUNDRED THOUSAND FOOTBALLS A YEAR!
IT'S THE ONLY FACTORY DEDICATED TO JUST MAKING FOOTBALLS.... AND IT'S PEOPLE - NOT MACHINES - DOING 'ALL' THE WORK.
THE FOOTBALLS ARE MADE INDIVIDUALLY BY HAND... WORKERS CUT THE COW-HIDE PANELS AND SEW THEM INSIDE OUT BEFORE STEAMING THE PANELS TO MAKE THEM SOFT. FROM THERE, THE FOOTBALL IS CAREFULLY LACED UP JUST RIGHT SO IT CAN SPIN IN THE AIR.
AND THESE WORKERS KNOW WHAT THEY'RE DOING... EMPLOYEES AT THE WILSON FACTORY AVERAGE 23-YEARS OF EXPERIENCE!
BUT THATS NOT ALL... FOR EVERY SUPERBOWL, THE EMPLOYEES WORK EXTRA HARD TO MAKE SPECIAL FOOTBALLS WITH THE PARTICIPATING TEAM'S LOGO FOR THE BIG CHAMPIONSHIP GAME.
SO NEXT TIME YOU SEE A CRAZY CATCH BY A-J GREEN, AN INTERCEPTION BY JOE HADEN OR A GREAT PASS FROM PEYTON MANNING, REMEMBER THAT FOOTBALL STARTED IT'S JOURNEY RIGHT HERE IN OHIO.