Grambling greats rally to bolster school's athletic legacy
By Nick Deriso • nderiso @thenewsstar.com • July 14, 2008

RUSTON — They gathered, in person and on the phone, to talk about Grambling.

They left with a mandate: to push together for preservation and wider recognition of the legacy they helped build.
About 25 former GSU players met at the Holiday Inn here Saturday, with several participating by conference call, to found a new a group called Grambling Legends.

That included NFL Hall of Famers Willie Brown and Willie Davis, former Pro Bowl MVP James "Shack" Harris, College Football Hall of Fame coach Doug Porter, NBA Hall of Famer Willis Reed, ex-Super Bowl MVP Doug Williams and former NBA champion Larry Wright, among others.

"These days, it seems like the legacy at Grambling has been cast aside," Williams said. "The things that were built by guys like Eddie Robinson, Fred Hobdy, Collie J. and 'Prez' are getting lost in the shuffle."

Robinson coached GSU to a still-standing Division I mark of 408 wins on the football field, while Hobdy holds the state record for career wins. R.W.E. "Prez" Jones served as second school president and baseball coach, winning five league titles — including four in a row beginning in 1961.

Former sports information director Collie J. Nicholson helped retell the stories of their successes nationwide, and was critical to several initiatives in Grambling athletics — including the football team's first appearance at New York's Yankee Stadium, a signature trip to Toyko and the founding of the annual Bayou Classic game against Southern.

Grambling, Williams says, could use a little of the canny promotion so long associated with Nicholson, who passed away two years ago.

Nineteen Grambling products are in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame — 15 of them football players — but none has joined since 2006, when future Steelers and Bills great Frank Lewis was inducted.

Grambling hasn't had a former player named to the Southwestern Athletic Conference Hall of Fame in two years, either. The last was Everson Walls, who had a standout NFL career with the Cowboys, Giants and Browns.

"There are people who deserve to be in these halls of fame," Williams said. "We have to have a voice for those guys."

Lewis, Reed and Walls were part of an initial meeting to discuss the proposed group called by Harris and Williams.

"When you've got that kind of backing from all these trailblazers, all the rest of us have to do is fall in line and give them the support they need," Walls said. "We're just taking things in our own hands. It has been eating away at some people for quite some time."

There are to be three proposed levels for membership, which would include student athletes from any Grambling sport. GSU products who didn't play sports could possibly be welcomed as associate members.

Logos were discussed, as was a new Web site.

The gathering on hand Saturday included former Grambling products like Ezil Bibbs, Al Dennis, Henry Dyer, Harris, A. Lane Howell, Delles Howell, Essex Johnson, Porter (a former assistant under Robinson), Williams, Hershel West and others. Among those involved by conference call were Brown, Davis, Richard Stebbins, Herb Nelson, Robert Woods and Mike Williams.

"It was powerful," Williams said. "At the end of the day, there were a lot of guys who wanted to do this; it just needed to be initiated."

The group is described even now as a work in progress. But much was accomplished during their emotional get-together. Many wrote checks to help launch the group effort on Saturday night. Dues and any other donations were to be earmarked specifically for athletics.

Plans eventually call for creating a separate Grambling athletic hall of fame. Players are now inducted into a hybrid hall that also includes academic and administrative figures from the school's history — limiting the number of possible honorees.

"This would give recognition separately for those who might have been shortchanged throughout history for what they did as athletes," Walls said. "We're trying to make sure that we have one strong voice."

Board members for the new group were to include Brown, Davis, Harris, Reed, Williams, Wright, Walls and former women's basketball coach Pat Bibbs, winner of four championships over a 14-year tenure at Grambling.

"We've got some objectives, with the top one being fundraising," Williams said. "But we want to also provide a voice to speak for some of the guys that are not being heard. Recognition has escaped some of them, for whatever reason. I hope that the alumni will take note that we have rallied together, and know that they can too."

http://www.thenewsstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080714/SPORTS/807140320/1122/GSU