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by Hal Lamar SBN All American weekend skull session an eye openerIf the black college grid superlatives honored as All Americans by the Sheridan Broadcasting Network on February 16 here in Atlanta had their ears open, they got a wealth of knowledge and advice from the Everson Walls, Doug Williams’, Rick Upchurches, Robert Brazilles and other current and former NFL stars about how to conduct themselves on and off the gridiron. The most penetrating testimony, I felt, during the two hour skull session came from David Jones, a former great for Delaware Sate and the NFL. He told the young brothers that he had life by a string but held the rope too tight.
Jones words were sobering but he was not alone with frank talk. Former Washington Redskin receiver Darnerien McCants gave the young brothers some history behind the “fad” of wearing pants below the waist exposing their underwear. “Did you know that came from the prison system” he said. “Remember brothers, image is everything.” Former Jackson State and NFL star Robert Brazille shared the plight of Jonathan Jones, a former Alabama A&M footballer who’s career was cut short due to a December 28 auto accident. He and two friends were on their way to the Liberty Bowl football game in Memphis when he swerved to avoid a stalled car on US highway 98 near the Mississippi-Tennessee line and crashed head-on with another vehicle. Notwithstanding his injuries which doctors said would have killed a weaker man, doctors were forced to remove an infected leg on January 10. That kind of trauma would have sunk a weaker man into hopeless depression. But his coach at A&M. Anthony Jones, said that is not the case with Jonathan. “ You cannot tell him he is never going to play college football again,” he told INSIDE. “Long before this kid made a name for himself on the gridiron, he made a name for himself as a great person.” A fund to help Jones has been started via RBC Centura Bank. Please join this reporter in donating what you can to the bank, care of Mrs. Shelia Allen, 2326 St Stephens Road, Mobile Alabama 36617. Meanwhile, good news, it appears. INSIDE called the University of South Alabama Medical Center in Mobile and we were told that he had been discharged. OVERHEARD AT THE BCAA WEEKEND: Jackson State’s Robert Brazille credits the late Walter Peyton with getting him a shot in the NFL. “Walter brought the media to Jackson, ”he remembered. “ If I wasn’t for him , many of us would never have made it to the next level. “….. The SBN All American team reminded many old timers (self included) of the Pittsburgh Courier All American team named annually since it debuted in the weekly paper in 1924. It was the brainstorm of crusading sportswriters Chet Washington and Wendell Smith. Bill Nunn, Junior took up the mantle in 1948 and for that he was deservedly saluted by SBN with a lifetime achievement award. His son, acclaimed actor Bill Nunn III, accepted …..Tuskegee junior defensive end Jarvis DeVaughn didn’t make the cut this year for the SBN All-American team but that didn’t stop his mother who called and lobbied SBN sports director Ty Miller. Miller was so impressed he invited Jarvis to be part of the SBN weekend. As junior he does have a shot at being named to the 2008 team THIS WEEKEND: The 100% Wrong Club is holding its annual all sports jamboree this weekend which will include a Friday night
kickoff party, Saturday breakfast for high school superlatives which will include their own skull session and a culminating dinner. At the latter, awards for superlatives will be doled out with the coveted Jake Gaither award the cherry topper. While club members have vehemently refused to disclose to this writer who this year’s recipient is (a process they have repeated the last 10 years I have bugged them about it) , I do know that the finalists include the offensive, defensive and MVPs of the four conferences (SWAC,MEAC,CIAA,SIAC). BLACK HISTORY: This year is the 70th anniversary of a grand football experiment. In 1938, several Chicago organizations attempted to establish an all star football team featuring graduating and graduated black college athletes against the NFL’s Chicago Bears. It was designed to provide the same kind of experiences to HBCU athletes their counterparts from the so called major schools got via their all star game that commenced in 1934 featuring a game against the NFL champ that year. That game lasted 42 years. The black college version lasted one. Though a noble effort, it was fraught with one problem after another. Despite heavy attention from the black press, only 19,000 attended the game at Chicago’s Soldier Field and Chicago beat the black all stars 51-0. Got an item or comment?
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