Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Aug. 26, 1993, edition 2 / Page 3
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SportsReview AUGUST 1993 EDITOR ft PUBLISHER EmwtH. Pitt MOOUCTION STAFF WRfTERS .4. SJJSS Payton And Little Add Heritage to Hall of Fame Ob the mi tmlMd where Atlanta earned the honor of hosting the Heritage Bowl, the only college howl game for hictori eeOy Mncfc tent, two Uecfc collage football pioneers took Mr piece is pro football history. The New Year's Day football un, which turns to the grand edifice called the Georgia Dome to hope ftiBy beocmeapoiaaananthoma. is a mesa embryo hopant to grow Tin i ii Mia ? li ? 77"^^ ? rigr",*1 ? jpiwi^pmr* r?wWvTvi| lijcfc ic^cckss nrt pen o? wMfc umb oIkx collage football heritage was bom. Walter Payton and Larry Little entbody the epitome of champions and ware it not for pioneers Mho theee two, dto Jany Rice's and Oieg Lloyd's of the NFLwould not be nnhMBianeires today. Whan yon tafc about the heritage of Black Collage football, the conversation should never begin without the saantion of Payton or Little Bach mMMiail class, grace, and dignity and aadwted e trek to the Hall of Faine thet included every pot hole imaginable. In w holdouts, and Black ath ed as aaual, these two bed the iaaestinal ftmintds to pereavew and excel For that, we as African-Americans, are indebted. Little, one of the fiercest linemen in the history of the league, played for a prf? Man and coneecntive world champions. The pro football offensive lineman is probably the roosl ohacuie athlete in all of tpoila. There ase no statistics, such aa touchdowns or home rone, to validate the impact of an offensive Hnaman on tita snocass of a team, He newel, whan one is a part of the nhimasa ^perfection which has never been diylk seed ihsn there must be credance to contribution of every pert. Many former defensive linemen will attest to how valuable Link was. After hit career wu over, Link cue bock home to hdp e new generation. He did ad know whether he would have e dunce to coecfc en NFL caliber athlete at Bethune-Cookman. But he did know thee if * were not for the email private Bleck school founded by Maiy McOeod flelfcMns, he would not heve hed e chance to hooosno e ? eeeee in life. Whew tew wee no money tpd vwy fttfi ? chance of winning, he brought them e MEAC Championship in 1988 although they had to ehere it with their arch rivals Florida AAM end Delaware State. To thia day he still is giving back to Mack college football player*. When college football teaaon kicks off, hoU be on the ridfihnee at North Carolina CeeoaL h would be qd>e ccaaveadeat to take e job in the NFL as en essistani, eepedolly with his former teem the Miami Dolpbias, but he still hes choeen to stay wham he could give back. This is the Black college football heritage! Of course, the brightest star to ever shine once he ever stepped away from a Black college campus was a powerful young rawing beck who played at Jackson State. During Ins 16 years in the NFUPayagTs running style was a two lagged to His style, where the knees churned knocking him in the chest with each stride, brought thunder into pecks of would be techier*. The stuner step move, which froae every defensive player he faced et least once, was ever so sweet as well Those close to the game knew his sensor year of college that he wae more then just a good player. Some opens heve said tbel he wee the best pieyer in ool lege in 1975. However, Ohio Si's Archie Griffin, playing with hype end attention of the Kg Ten Conference, won the Heianon * Trophy but had e pro career which wes a bust. Meanwhile, Peyton's career ended with him ee the all time leading rusher in the history of the gome, 13 yeers of more then 1,000 yeida, 110 touchdowns, end finally e world chwnpicnship. He played awry down as if it was his vny hue end we* driven to make me sarrincrs to be dw beet. Now Peyton brings thet same level of intensity to die corporate Americe es the chief peittwi in St Louie's bid for en NFL expansion franchise. A* Peyton and Little have rightfully earned the rightful places in footbeQ history, their comribunons to African- Amerk en history laochJihbeyond e football field. They faced bonier* said broke through %feh class sad resilience that was unmatched. This is indeed the Block College footbeQ heritage! ? By Mark Gray n ehouM be oMreeoetf ? Emeet hTp*l PuSener, Bteok Ceeage ...... .. ^ _ PW, Put ?.q lee 103*. wamin tstsim HC. WW, PHOTO CREDITS: Qreg Jeneon, Med* Nash, Joe Oeniefc. en* I Taylor Works Magic with Pirates saying, "we changed attitudes and work ethics. You can not be a champion on Saturday unless you are a champi on Sunday through Friday.** Yea, it's a philosophy meets the gridiron, and yes, Plato, er, coach Taylor's philosophies are working just fine. Whatever it mm he really did last icason, whether ne Hypnotized Hampton s lootoaii p layers, trained tnem like Pavlov trained his dogs, or whether he just simply looted tne mates mo oenevng tney were a good toot ball team, Taylor got results. In one year, Hampton went from the have noes to the champions of the C1AA, under Taylor, then a rookie coach who no one expected anything close to a champi onship from. Rookie coaches, especially rookie coaches at Hamp tuu, ate sujjpueed tu be whipping boys, a game dm otfiei conference coaches can mark on their schedules as sure wins. Someone forgot to tell all thai to Taylor, whose team finished 6-0-1 in the QAA and 9-2*1 overall "Hard work and complete team determination paid off for us hyp year," Taylor said, "but now we must take our wotk ethic and attitudes to another level We will he the team to beat in '93 so we must work harder.** The Pirates return 16 stsrfers, and while that sounds quite promising for Taylor's young coaching staff, Hampton also lost four key players that represented 36 touchdowns. Running back Carlos Flecks (18 TDs), middle line backer Gareth Bonds (2) and split ends Sham Parker (6) and Terrence Warren (10) formed the nucleus of coach Taylor's surprising winner. Also gone are defensive end Steve Brannon (team-leading 17 sacks) snd linebacker Doug Wyim (60 tackles). "We Tost six great athletes that suited for us in *92, but we believe there is talent here to step up and take over where they left off,** Taylor said. Yes, of the 16 returning starters, Taylor believes the team's strong points are sn improved defense, a better offensive line snd sn improved quarterback. The offensive line is led by All-America offensive guard Emerson Martin, a 6-4 290-pound senior. He's joined by Jason Jones (6-5, 285 senior), Jon Hum (6-6, 2 7 5 junior). Rod Briggs (6-3, 285, sopho more) and Antonio Foag (6-2, 2 7 0 junior). So you can tee the Pirates have Divi sion I-type size. . should 'pro- Jo*Ta*or _ tccl junior quarterback Matt Montgomery well, and if history is any indication, a well-protected Montgomery is a dangerous Montgomery. In two yean, he's passed for 3,949 yards and 35 touchdowns while completing 265 of 557 passes. Last season alone, he threw for 2,000 yards and 25 touchdowns. On defense, Hampton's end, Chris Williams, a 6-3 265 pound senior returns after a banner junior campaign when he had 63 tackles and 13 sacks. Senior strong safety Darren Parker (52 tackles) and junior free safety Melvin Crawford (41 tackles, eight interceptions) join Williams to form what could be the league's best defensive unit. The question, really, as this*year begins, is who can stop Hampton? The Pirates have a powerful defense, a powerful offense and the apparent blessing of the other CIAA coaches, who voted Hampton to repeat as champi on this season. "We feel good about it (the preseason pick)," Taylor said. "Bui hrraiwr of what the coaches voied on. when we come there to play, I hope they remember how they voted. They should," Taylor laughs, "let us win." ? By LANGSTON WERTZ, JR. Vikings Coach Kelley Resigns Just three weeks before the 1993 football season was scheduled to begin, Elizabeth City State got a major shock. ry Vikings football coach Alvin Kelly resigned as an investigation of possible NCAA violations continued. The announcement in early August came from Elizabeth City Chancellor Jimmie Jenkins. "In recent months, certain events and allegations concerning the athletic program at Elizabeth City State University in the categories of coach-student irregulari ties, possible NCAA violations and unauthorized activi ties representing this university were brought to my attention," Jenkins said in a prepared statement Jenkins has appointed a committee to investigate the . allegations, but he declined to be more specific about them when he made the resignation announcement During the investigation, Kelly, who was also an assistant bas . ketball coach, submitted his letter of resig nation to ath letics director -Willie Shaw, Jenkins said. In addi tion, the uni versity decided not to renew the contract of Nelson Jen nings, coordi nator of the football pro gram, Jenkins said. AM* KeUey Please tee page A9
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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