- Moe Factz with Adam Curry for December 30th 2022, Episode number 88 - "Business Decision"
- ----
- Waving goodbye to 2022 and welcoming the new year with fresh factz!!!
- I'm Adam Curry coming to you from the heart of The Texas Hill Country and it's time once again to spin the wheel of Topics from here to Northern Virginia, please say hello to my friend on the other end: Mr. Moe Factz
- Description
- Adam and Moe take on race in professional football
- Chapter Architect: Dreb Scott
- Associate Executive Producers
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- ShowNotes
- Jerry Jones was a curious kid at 14. It's time for him to agitate for more than money.
- Jerry Jones was 14, a few weeks shy of his 15th birthday.
- Jones was just a ''curious'' kid, he says.
- You know who else at age 14 was trying to be just a kid?
- Google him if you need a reminder.
- Tamir Rice was 12, playing with a replica toy gun outside a recreation center.
- Trayvon Martin was 17, eating Skittles and walking home.
- All got the death sentence from angry reactionary people while being kids.
- Jones' curiosity didn't turn deadly at North Little Rock High School on Sept. 9, 1957 when six Black kids simply tried to enroll in school and attend classes.
- They were blocked from entering the building by an angry mob of white students, some yelling racial epitaphs.
- Jones, seen in a republished photo that has gained national attention, was there in the background, being curious, he said.
- He says didn't know what was going on or what might happen.
- But we knew what could have happened. We don't need 65 years of reflection to figure that one out.
- The memories of the trauma of the Jim Crow south and civil rights movement are too vivid.
- My dad, now 85, was 20 years old at the time, entering his senior year at Prairie View A&M after starting college at 16 and one year before beginning a teaching career at Greer School, an all-Black school in El Campo, Texas.
- Full integration was still more than a decade away in Texas.
- So it doesn't take too much reflection or introspection to understand the climate and environment surrounding that fateful day at North Little Rock High School.
- For reference, the incident at North Little Rock came at the same time a seminal moment in the desegregation movement occurred across town at Little Rock Central High School.
- Seven days earlier, on Sept. 2, Arkansas Gov. Orval E. Faubus summoned the Arkansas National Guard to prevent integration at Little Rock Central.
- After being blocked by the state national guard to open the school year, the now famous Little Rock Nine briefly broke the color barrier in Arkansas when they walked into class, escorted by the Little Rock Police Department on Sept. 23, through an angry mob of some 1,000 white protesters gathered outside.
- Rioting ensued and the nine Black students were removed.
- President Eisenhower intervened the following day, sending in 1,200 members of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and placed them in charge of the 10,000 National Guardsmen on duty.
- Escorted by the troops, the Little Rock Nine attended their first full day of classes on Sept. 25.
- The group experienced routine harassment and even violence throughout the rest of the school year.
- One student, Melba Pattillo Beals, was kicked, beaten and had acid thrown in her face. Another, Gloria Ray, was pushed down a flight of stairs.
- Minnijean Brown was expelled from Central High School in February 1958 for retaliating against the attacks.
- Thankfully, there was no violent incidents that day at North Little Rock. But the emotional scars made an indelible impact on the six Black kids who were turned away by an angry mob.
- Jones says he got his butt kicked by his football coach who told him to stay away but was left no worse for wear.
- His curiosity was satisfied. That Jones refuses to offer regret or contrition about being present, even with the benefit of hindsight, is disappointing.
- But 65 years later, that incident has no bearing on how Jones does his business as owner of the Cowboys.
- It was simply a moment in time.
- Kick his butt for his initial stance on players kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality against people of color.
- He did evolve from demanding that ''my players will stand with their toes on the line'' in 2017 to asking for grace.
- ''What I do want to show and want us all to be a part of is a word called 'grace','' Jones said in 2020. ''Grace. Not only grace in our actions, but grace in our understanding, where they're coming from. I want our players to understand the perception and where they're coming from regarding the flag and the sensitivity there and the many memories there. And I want our fans to understand I want where our players are coming from there. They do not feel like they're dishonoring the flag. I'm going to have grace. I've had grace.
- ''This is a very serious matter. We've asked for the platform. As I mentioned earlier, we have the platform. We're going to show grace. I'm going to show grace, and I'd like to show that kind of grace in a sensitive matter that comes up. Everybody's genuine here; I'm giving everybody the benefit of the doubt relative to any decisions that I make.''
- If you are going to examine Jones' history, include it all.
- It is also notable that his daughter, Charlotte, chose to attend the aforementioned and now fully diverse Little Rock Central for high school while her two brothers attended Catholic High School for Boys.
- And while the Cowboys are one of 13 NFL teams to have never hired a Black head coach, they do employ one of the most diverse coaching staffs in the league.
- Of the Cowboys' 29 assistants on the 2022 staff, 15 are minorities, including the entire strength and conditioning staff which is the only one in the NFL made up of entirely Black coaches. It is the largest percentage of Black coaches in franchise history.
- And well before making Dak Prescott the richest player in franchise history, Jones drafted Quincy Carter to be the team's quarterback well before the current rise of the Black quarterback.
- Carter was taken in the second round of in 2001, making him just the 12th Black quarterback in NFL history to be taken in the first two rounds of the NFL Draft.
- And Will McClay runs the team's scouting department as vice president of player personnel.
- Jones was not trying to be a change maker; he was doing what he thought was best for the Cowboys.
- That's how he operates, he says.
- It's always business first.
- That's who he is and he makes no apologies for that. He also makes no apologies for standing in the background of a mob denying other kids looking for a better life at North Little Rock 65 years ago.
- That's no longer good enough. Nor is it noble.
- Jones, who routinely talks about the platform he has with the Cowboys and the responsibility that comes with it, can and should do more when it comes to the league's racial awakening as it relates to the lack of Black coaches. He has that type of platform, power and influence in the NFL.
- It's time for a curious kid, who tacitly blocked school entry in 1957, to be an agitator for more than just money and attention and push the door open for change.
- Review: History Comics: Rosa Parks & Claudette Colvin - Civil Rights Heroes - Graphic Policy
- Review: History Comics: Rosa Parks & Claudette Colvin '' Civil Rights Heroes
- Learn about the little taught story of Claudette Colvin and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a side of history that's relatively unknown.
- Story: Tracey BaptisteArt: Shauna J. Grant
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- The Little Rock Nine | National Museum of African American History and Culture
- In 1954 the United States Supreme Court ruled that segregated schools were illegal. The case, Brown v. The Board of Education, has become iconic for Americans because it marked the formal beginning of the end of segregation.
- But the gears of change grind slowly. It wasn't until September 1957 when nine teens would become symbols, much like the landmark decision we know as Brown v. The Board of Education, of all that was in store for our nation in the years to come.
- The "Little Rock Nine," as the nine teens came to be known, were to be the first African American students to enter Little Rock's Central High School. Three years earlier, following the Supreme Court ruling, the Little Rock school board pledged to voluntarily desegregate its schools. This idea was explosive for the community and, like much of the South, it was fraught with anger and bitterness.
- On September 2, 1957 the night prior to what was to be the teens' first day in Central High classrooms, Arkansas governor Orval Faubus ordered the state's National Guard to block their entrance. Faubus said it was for the safety of the nine students.
- On September 4, just 24 hours after a federal judge ordered the Little Rock Nine to begin attending Central High immediately, a belligerent mob, along with the National Guard, again prevented the teens from entering the school.
- Sixteen days later a federal judge ordered the National Guard removed. Once again on September 23, the Little Rock Nine attempted to enter the school. Though escorted by Little Rock police into a side door, another angry crowd gathered and tried to rush into Central High. Fearing for the lives of the nine students, school officials sent the teens home. They did, however, manage to attend classes for about three hours.
- Finally, 52 years ago today, on September 25, 1957, following a plea from Little Rock's mayor, Woodrow Mann, President Dwight Eisenhower federalized the National Guard and sent U.S. Army troops to the scene. Personally guarded by soldiers from the National Guard soldiers and the Army's 101st Airborne, the Little Rock Nine began regular class attendance at Central High.
- However, their ordeal was far from over. Each day the nine teens were harassed, jeered, and threatened by many of the white students as they took small steps into deeper, more turbulent waters. That spring, on May 27, 1958, Ernest Green became the first African American graduated from Central High.
- Try to imagine the torrent of emotions that ran through those young men and women. Imagine the courage they had to muster each day. Try to picture the white students who jeered and harassed them. Imagine also what it would have been like to be a white student or teacher who supported the Little Rock Nine.
- The task of a great museum is to not merely revisit historic events, but rather to help stir our minds and souls. African American history is vital to understanding America's history. Our nation's epic stories should be presented in a way that enables us when viewing an exhibition to be immersed in the moment, to be able to feel some of the emotion of the event and, perhaps, see it from a new or different perspective. We hope the visitor experience will open the door to conversation and understanding.
- The Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture will be far more than a collection of objects. The Museum will be a powerful, positive force in the national discussion about race and the important role African Americans have played in the American story '-- a museum that will make all Americans proud.
- Lonnie BunchFounding Director
- Jerry Jones has never hired a Black head coach. He could lead change. - Washington Post
- On the first day of classes at North Little Rock High, a crew-cut sophomore named Jerral Wayne Jones found his spot among a phalanx of White boys who stood at the front entrance and blocked the path of six Black students attempting to desegregate the school.
- Black OutThis football season, The Washington Post is examining the NFL's decades-long failure to equitably promote Black coaches to top jobs despite the multibillion-dollar league being fueled by Black players.
- In a photograph taken at the scene, Jones could be seen standing a few yards from where the six Black students were being jostled and repelled with snarling racial slurs by ringleaders of the mob. At one point, a Black student named Richard Lindsey recalled, someone in the crowd put a hand on the back of his neck. A voice behind him said, ''I want to see how a nigger feels.'' The ruffian hostility succeeded in turning away the would-be new enrollees.
- The confrontation occurred 65 years ago, on Sept. 9, 1957, during the same month that a higher-profile integration effort was taking place at Little Rock Central High in the capital city a few miles away. The story of the Little Rock Nine, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower dispatched federal troops to escort the trailblazing Black students past the spitting hordes, is regarded as a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement. It overshadowed the ugly events unfolding contemporaneously at Jones's high school on the other side of the Arkansas River '-- an episode mostly lost to history, though not entirely.
- White students at Arkansas' North Little Rock High blocked the doors of the school Sept. 9, 1957, denying access to six Black students. (William P. Straeter/AP)Jerry Jones was in the crowd that morning.The photograph, taken by William P. Straeter of the Associated Press, shows a young Jones wearing a striped shirt, craning for a better view, ''looking like a little burrhead,'' as he said in a recent interview with The Washington Post, acknowledging his presence on the steps that day. He was one month from turning 15. He had been bulking up by lifting weights and going through two-a-days since August, trying to make the school's football B-team. The coach, Jim Albright, had warned there might be trouble and said he ''didn't want to see any of you knot-heads near the front of that school tomorrow.''
- That directive did not deter Jones. He showed up near the conflict's epicenter, stationed on the top landing near the school's double-leaf entry doors, a face in a rear row of the human bulwark intent on keeping people out because of the color of their skin.
- Jones said he was there only to watch, not participate. ''I don't know that I or anybody anticipated or had a background of knowing '... what was involved. It was more a curious thing,'' he said.
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- But Straeter's photographs indicate Jones had to scurry around the North Little Rock Six to reach the top of the stairs before the Black students completed their walk up to the schoolhouse door. And while Jones offered a common explanation of the confrontation '-- that it was the work of older white supremacists '-- most of those surrounding the six young Black men were teenagers.
- This view, taken from near the doors of North Little Rock High, showed White students rushing to stop six Black students from attempting to attend the first day of classes. (William P. Straeter/AP)Jerry Jones is now 80 years old, and his face is among the most recognizable in the country. The boy from North Little Rock owns the Dallas Cowboys. ''The Cowboys are America,'' Jones said when he bought the team in 1989, and there is no denying that they are the most popular and lucrative sports franchise in the country, surpassing the New York Yankees. Nothing on television draws higher ratings than NFL games, and no team draws more viewers than the Cowboys.
- With a soft Arkansas drawl that delivers every word as a sweet and succulent morsel, Jones is the singular star of Texas-size glitz. It is no accident that his football palace is popularly known as ''Jerry World.'' He is an all-hands-on owner who serves as his own general manager and appears in the locker room amid a press swarm after games. But he is more than that. The status of his team and his personality '-- an irrepressible showman with a self-image as large as his $11-plus billion net worth '-- have made him arguably the most influential figure in the NFL. He's sometimes referred to as a shadow commissioner more powerful than Roger Goodell, who holds that title. He has not been shy about exerting his clout as a financial and cultural virtuoso working to shape the league more in his image.
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- That leads to the issues of race and power and the plight of Black coaches in a game in which a preponderance of players are Black yet there are only three Black full-time head coaches. If the NFL is to improve its woeful record on the hiring, promotion and nourishment of Black coaches, Jones could lead the way.
- His record in key appointments has been deficient. In his 33 years as owner, Jones has had eight head coaches, all White. During that time, just two of the team's offensive or defensive coordinators, the steppingstones to head coaching positions, have been Black, including none since 2008. Maurice Carthon, who was offensive coordinator under Bill Parcells in 2003 and 2004, said he had a good relationship with Jones '-- both grew up in Arkansas '-- but he never sensed he had a realistic shot at the top job with him. Or with any other owner. ''I can't say that I was close at any time,'' Carthon said. ''I think all of them are failing.'' Carthon retired in 2012 after coaching stints with seven teams.
- Jones, who serves as his own general manager, is as hands-on of an owner as there is in the NFL. (Gus Ruelas/AP)Cowboys fans haven't seen a Super Bowl victory since the 1995 season '-- and Dallas has managed just four postseason wins since then. (Michael Ainsworth/AP) LEFT: Jones, who serves as his own general manager, is as hands-on of an owner as there is in the NFL. (Gus Ruelas/AP) RIGHT: Cowboys fans haven't seen a Super Bowl victory since the 1995 season '-- and Dallas has managed just four postseason wins since then. (Michael Ainsworth/AP)
- ''What frustrates me most, he is in such a position and such a leader [that] if he would take a stronger stance, he could be the force of change. He could be that guy that pushes the NFL in another direction,'' said Dale Hansen, a retired Dallas sportscaster known for his sharp critiques of the Cowboys' owner. If Jones announced he was hiring a Black head coach ''and the rest of you better get in line,'' Hansen added: ''I think there are a half a dozen NFL teams that would follow that lead. '... He's had the opportunity not only to change the Dallas Cowboys but the NFL and America.''
- Jones does not entirely reject that assessment. His media people point to improvements in the team's hiring record '-- an all-Black strength and conditioning unit that helps make the coaching staff more than 50 percent Black and a Black vice president of player personnel '-- along with several Cowboys-sponsored programs to train minority coaches from high school on up. But in a recent interview Jones acknowledged that he and the league had not done enough. When asked whether he believed he had the singular ability to change things, he responded: ''I do. What I'm saying is, I understand that.''
- [Perspective: Jerry Jones is the Cowboys' biggest star, and don't you forget it]
- Black men who have worked for Jones felt free to discuss his strengths and blind spots without fear of retribution, a sign that he was open to critiques and willing to listen. They said he has evolved. He puts it differently, saying the issue has gained intensity '-- with him and throughout the league. Now, he says, when it comes to diversity, ''I want to be the first in line.''
- Why Jones hasn't been first in line so far, what he has done or has not done, how he views the dilemma that Black coaches confront in the NFL '-- those questions are the focus of this story, an examination of the forces that shaped the Cowboys' owner and his perspectives on race, from the cultural effects of his youth in Jim Crow Arkansas to his rise to power in the confederacy of pro football plutocrats and his actions as an NFL owner. It is based on archival documents and more than 35 interviews with coaches, former players, front-office veterans and labor negotiators, along with Black and White contemporaries from his formative years in Arkansas.
- Jones's responses to questions about that seminal event 6½ decades ago fit a pattern that revealed itself again in his dealings with the issue of Black coaches. He is an enthralling storyteller but also a master of deflection, so absorbed in his own success story that he tends to filibuster and evade when questions get too close to a racial reckoning.
- The steps of North Little Rock High. (Will Newton for The Washington Post)In that respect, Jones sees only what he wants to see. What he wanted to see looking back on that long-ago September day was a picaresque tale of a ''mischievous'' young Jerry, not the trauma of North Little Rock's Black community. Deflecting questions about the nastiness of the treatment of the North Little Rock Six, he said his main concern was whether he would get in trouble. ''I frankly was worried about my coach kicking my butt for doing exactly the thing they told us not to do,'' Jones said, adding that he ''had no advance notice'' that there would be photographers on the scene who could document his presence.
- He did not see what Black people in his community saw. The Black effigy hanging from a lamppost near the schoolhouse steps the next morning. The posse of cuffed-jeans students who belted out ''Dixie'' as Black students passed by on the way to their segregated school across town. The 12-foot wood-and-tar-paper cross that flickered on a hillside within sight of the football team as it warmed up for its home opener. And, two months later, the swarm of White boys who descended from the high school steps, shouted ''Let's get her!'' and pelted Willie Russell Cole, a 58-year-old Black maid, with icy snowballs and smeared her face in the snow as she tried to walk home.
- Jones bought the Cowboys in 1989 and rapidly became the NFL's most influential owner. (Tyler Kaufman/AP)The circle of cronyismJerry Jones squints at his own self-made glare. He shades his eyes at the floor-to-ceiling glass windows of the Star, the $1.5 billion complex that lurches out of the dun hills north of Dallas. Jones likes to talk about ''seeing around corners,'' his phrase for the foresight that led him to buy empty tracts of cud-chewed prairie in Frisco, Tex., for $5,000 an acre and build a shimmering sprawl of business parks on it, stretching out toward the aptly named village of Prosper. But at the moment, Jones can't see a damn thing. The sun blazes off the glass and renders everything in the room backlit. Jones turns his ice-tray-blue eyes away and asks an aide to draw a curtain against the glinting reflection of his empire.
- He sits at the head of a sleek marble conference table, which becomes the recipient of his knuckles when he wants to make a point. ''My point is '...'' he will say, punctuating his loquacity with sharp raps. Mostly, Jones's point is this: Success in the NFL is hard, and anyone who wants it must do what Jones believes he did '-- play the hero of his own life. He's the grandson of sharecroppers who made a living by ''beating it out of the ground,'' as he once put it, yet he somehow built a fortune. Jones is certain that everyone else can play the hero of their lives, too, if they want something as bad as he wanted the Cowboys.
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- ''My whole point is '... to those guys that want a head coaching job, now, you got to do some inordinate stuff here, folks,'' Jones says. ''This stuff doesn't just drop on you.''
- Though the room is now moderately lit, it's apparent that there is something Jones either can't or won't perceive: Black coaches in the NFL are straining to succeed, but they aren't getting a return on their efforts. A Washington Post investigation found that the Black men who became NFL head coaches in the past decade, on average, spent more than nine years longer than their White counterparts in mid-level assistant jobs. And when they do get the job, they are likely to be fired more quickly. Jones's own hiring record is proof of this.
- The Cowboys have won just four playoff games since the 1996 season, yet Jones has elevated a succession of often-unremarkable White men, frequently based on personal relationships. Among them was Jason Garrett, the son of a longtime Cowboys scout, who lasted 10 years with a winning percentage that hovered around .500.
- Jason Garrett coached the Cowboys for 10 years before he was fired after the 2019 season. (Ron Jenkins/AP)''It's not the X's and O's. It's not the Jimmys and Joes. It's who you know,'' Jones admits freely.
- That Jones is willing to confront his record amid the NFL's public race reckoning, which includes a class-action lawsuit filed by Brian Flores that alleges a pattern of racial discrimination, makes him an exception. Of 32 requests issued by The Post to speak with NFL ownership, only Jones agreed to meet for an in-depth conversation. The subject is important to him, he says, because as a seer-around-corners he is a believer in diversity. ''It's the smart way to the future, okay?'' he says. Also, it plays into his financials. ''Goes right along with it,'' he acknowledges. Jones has spent decades building ''America's team'' from a quaint slogan into an interlocking business with sponsors such as Ford, which sells ''America's truck,'' and Bank of America, which shares office space at the Star '-- and they don't want to sell only to White America.
- ''We get up and go to bed at night asking people to look at us,'' Jones observes. '' 'Don't turn away. Wait a minute; you're not paying attention. Look at us.' That's what we do.''
- [Before he fought for Black coaches, Brian Flores fought for his own place in football]
- With great attention, he acknowledges, comes great obligation '-- but also exposure. When Michael Sam was preparing to become the first openly gay player to enter the NFL draft in 2014, a closeted former player asked to meet with owners to discuss homophobia. Pointing straight at Jones, the ex-player said, ''This issue would go away if Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys will draft him.'' Jones responded by publicly declaring Sam's sexuality ''shouldn't be an issue,'' and he was prepared to draft him but was beaten to it by the St. Louis Rams. When Sam was cut in training camp, the Cowboys picked him up. Jones's point is, no other team is perceived as having such power to sway public sentiment on issues of bigotry. ''The Dallas Cowboys '-- not anybody else,'' Jones says.
- Over 2½ hours, Jones mixes plain-spoken country with theatricality. ''Part Atticus Finch and part P.T. Barnum,'' said an executive who has dealt with him. He meets hard questions with courtesy, and at one point he implores, ''Don't make me come across as trite, please.'' But neither will he give entirely satisfying answers. Sometimes he tells stories that end with persuasive, table-rapping declarations. At other times he meanders on disarmingly into jibber-jabber. It's not that Jones has lost his point, the executive noted. ''That's a Jerry shtick to get out of having to deal with an adverse fact. Everybody should not kid themselves. He's a smart MF.''
- Now 80, Jones has owned the Cowboys for more than three decades and is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. (Andy Jacobsohn for The Washington Post)But Jones shoots straight about the fact that the Rooney Rule, the NFL's attempt to engineer diversity by mandating minority candidate interviews, doesn't capture how owners make hires. The first head coach Jones hired was his former roommate at the University of Arkansas, Jimmy Johnson, with whom he had won a national championship on an all-White team in 1964. Five years later, he replaced Johnson with another Arkansas buddy with no pro experience, Barry Switzer. The closest Jones came to hiring a Black head coach was another good friend, he says: Dennis Green in 2002. He had gotten to know Green while working together on the NFL's competition committee, and he wanted Green because he regularly made the playoffs, not to strike a blow for race relations. '' 'One for diversity' never crossed my mind,'' Jones says. He passed on Green when Parcells agreed to take the job.
- The point is: ''I didn't hire Jimmy through an interview. Did I? I didn't hire Barry Switzer through an interview, okay? And I didn't want Denny through an interview at the time. But I knew 'em,'' Jones says.
- [Corporate America loves the Rooney Rule. It has failed the NFL.]
- The question, as Jones sees it, is how to escort Black coaches into the circle of cronyism so they don't have to be interviewed. Jones insists the most avid candidates will find a way in. In May, he spoke at the NFL's first Accelerator program, at which 62 minority coaches and executives were invited to mingle with owners. Jones cited his Black vice president of personnel, Will McClay, who started out as a scout more than 20 years ago and caught Jones's eye by showing up at the graduation ceremony of one of his grandkids.
- Jones's vice president of player personnel, Will McClay, worked his way up from a scouting role. (Keith Birmingham/Pasadena Star-News/Getty Images)''It's not, you sit and wait on the phone to ring. That is not the way it works,'' Jones said. ''The guys that I have seen that have gotten the most out of putting the cowboy hat on and being in the NFL have also been the same guys that are looking around the corner to kind of find every edge they can.''
- Jones did not endear himself to his Accelerator listeners with another story about his determination to find any edge. As Jones told it, he was a 30-year-old wildcatter in oil and gas desperate to win the business of a Houston oil company. On a visit to the chief executive's office, he noticed golf memorabilia. He called his old football coach from Arkansas, Frank Broyles, who was a member at Augusta National Golf Club.
- ''Coach, can I get you to go to Augusta and play golf with somebody?'' Jones asked.
- ''My goodness, Jerry, it has got to be important,'' Broyles replied.
- ''It's probably the most important thing since I quit playing for you,'' Jones said. ''If I could get these people to work with me '...''
- ''Well, I'll do that for you,'' Broyles said.
- Jones told the executive he was all set to play at Augusta National '-- and not only that but Broyles would go 36 holes with him. ''You're kidding me,'' the guy said. A couple of weeks later, he summoned Jones back to his office. ''Jerry, you're going to think we're going to do business with you because I got to play the Masters course. And you're probably right,'' the executive told him.
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- Jones paused in his storytelling for emphasis, then continued in the voice of his oil mark. '' 'But let me tell you the real reason. In my mind, anybody that resourceful, anybody who's wanting it that bad, bad enough to get my butt on Augusta, will pay their bills and not embarrass me with my company. I'm going to go with you. Good job.' ''
- The story landed hard. Jones seemed clueless that invoking a backdoor oil deal at a rich man's private club in the Deep South, notorious for not admitting its first Black member until 1990, was less than useful advice to the men sitting in front of him.
- ''It was not good,'' recalled someone who was in the audience. ''It was very much a 'be grateful you're in the NFL and have this opportunity' tone. '... I don't know any White guys who let me bring my friends to the Masters on a random whim. I don't have that type of access.''
- Asked how he imagined that story sounded to a mid-level Black coach whose network does not include White members of Augusta National '-- and who has met an implacable resistance that NFL owners will not name '-- Jones falls quiet.
- In many ways, Jones is the NFL owners' representative man. He is 80. Twelve owners were born in the 1940s or earlier. Collectively, the owners' average age is 70. Generationally, most grew up in the era of segregation. Socially, most of them continue to move in circles that are just as racially segregated today. They share the certainty bred by great wealth; they have been right more often than not in commerce and therefore don't take kindly to being told how to think or conduct their business.
- But at this moment, Jones is trying to think. After nearly 20 seconds, he says gently: ''We are not born equal. Anybody that says we're equal, well, you're wrong. '... Some of us can talk it better than others. Some of us were better quarterbacks in college. '... You got to figure your angle out. Lay awake, figuring it out. If you want it as bad '-- remember, you're trying to get something that's almost impossible to get, one of these jobs '-- you somehow got to figure the angle out. And that'll separate the ones that can.''
- A policeman stopped a group of North Little Rock High students singing ''Dixie'' in September 1957. (AP)A town with racial tensionAn essential way to understand Jerry Jones on issues of race is through the place from which he came. There is more to it than that day when he stood at the schoolhouse door.
- Jones said he always felt at ease interacting with people of color, even though he operated in all-White environments as a student and a football player in Arkansas and even though that racial bubble continued as he went on to make his fortune in insurance and oil before buying the Cowboys. ''Very comfortable in my own skin doing what I do'' is how he put it, and he attributed that sensibility to the fact that he had been around Black people so much outside of school during his younger days. The extent to which that was true reflected the contradictory ways Southern Whites dealt with racial relationships.
- By the time Jones bought the Cowboys, his father, John Watson Jones, known to the world as Pat, was a wealthy insurance executive in the Missouri Ozarks, where he also operated the nation's largest exotic animal park and bopped around his property in a Cadillac convertible with longhorns on the hood. But for most of Jerry's youth, Pat and his wife, Arminta, owned a grocery in the Rose City neighborhood of North Little Rock near the main highway leading to Memphis. The family at first lived in apartment No. 1 above Pat's Super Market, which sold everything from Christmas trees to ammo for duck hunters who stopped on their way down to the hunting lodges near Stuttgart.
- [The Black girl who defied segregation, inspiring MLK and Jackie Robinson]
- The store also was an entertainment bazaar with Pat, a diminutive dandy who stood 5-foot-6, often dressing up as a Wild West cowboy and sashaying down the aisles with six-shooters strapped to his holster, and with a legendary radio personality nicknamed ''Brother Hal'' setting up shop in the middle of the store, spinning country and western records. Although Pat was not religious, he claimed he had converted to Seventh-day Adventism so he could get a religious exemption to keep his store open on Sundays, when other groceries were closed by blue laws.
- The son's personality and views on money, work and race all derived from Pat. ''Everybody who sees Jerry now, who sees his success as a salesman, every bit of that came from Papa Pat,'' said Don Caple, Jones's lifelong pal, whose father ran a tractor company next to the supermarket. ''As good as Jerry is, he isn't half the showman and marketing sales guy that his dad was.''
- Unlike most establishments in the area, Pat's Super Market was integrated. Black customers were not forced to enter through a back door. One of Jerry's early jobs was handing out shopping circulars in Dixie Addition, a Black neighborhood a mile away. He came to know ''every plank on every porch in the entire Afro-American village,'' walking the unpaved tree streets '-- Plum and Cherry and Laurel '-- that flooded when it rained, water seeping into ramshackle houses where old newspapers filled cracks in the walls and there was no indoor plumbing. Jones said he ''got familiar with the faces of all the people'' and from that experience '-- and from watching his father deal with customers '-- gained empathy for the human condition of all races.
- Jerry Jones's parents owned a grocery store, Pat's Super Market, in North Little Rock. (Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History at the University of Arkansas)The father's affinity for working people led him to run for public office, seeking a seat in the Arkansas legislature months after the events at North Little Rock High. In his campaign literature, he presented himself as a populist promising to help ''every working man and woman. Carpenters, Railroad Men, Grocery Clerks '...'' Yet Pat Jones did not break from the prevailing attitude when it came to the desegregation issue roiling the community. Selling food to Black people was one thing; attending school with them was another. ''I stand for states' rights,'' he declared during the campaign. States' rights served as shorthand for segregation.
- When Jerry Jones is asked about this, he first responds by saying the question implies that states' rights are a bad thing. Then he deflects the issue by placing it in the context of his desire for independence as an owner. ''I'm a states' rights guy in the NFL,'' he says. ''I just believe the club should have the power,'' not the league office. Finally, after recounting a madcap adventure in which he tried to place an oversize ''Pat Jones for State Representative'' sign on a sawed-off butane tank floating in the middle of the Arkansas River (it sank), he notes that his father was hurt after he lost the race, undone by Black constituents who failed to vote for him. ''He thought he had been a great brother. For the populists. But particularly minorities.''
- If Pat Jones's positions on civil rights were uneven, those of his father, Jerry's grandfather, were clear and documented. Joe Israel Jones was a cotton farmer who oversaw fields at Bredlow Corner near the town of England, about 30 miles southeast of Little Rock. Pat was one of eight children reared in the family's dogtrot house in the cotton patch.
- The region was a center of white supremacy. A large political rally there in February 1956 drew Klansmen from throughout the Deep South, including leaders of the Arkansas branch of the White Citizens' Council. Its Little Rock offshoot was the Capital Citizens' Council, which played a key role in inciting virulent protest of desegregation at the high schools. Its local leader, furniture store owner Amis Guthridge, asserted that integration was a communist plot ''founded in Moscow '... to mongrelize the White race in America.''
- [Why free speech makes it difficult to prosecute white supremacy in America]
- In the archives at Little Rock City Hall, there is a manila envelope that contains a membership roll listing 514 dues-paying members of the Capital Citizens' Council. Included on that list are the grandparents of Jerry Jones '-- ''Mr. and Mrs. Joe Jones, Route 1, England.''
- During his interview with The Post, Jerry Jones says he had no idea that his grandfather belonged to the citizens' council, then tells a story about how, 10 years after he bought the Cowboys, a newspaper in his grandfather's hometown proclaimed Joe I. Jones and his family ''the hardest workers in all of the county.'' The facts are not mutually exclusive.
- He also says his father as a boy often ate at the homes of Black workers. ''My grandmother '... would point to a house and say, 'Pat, when he was a little older than you, he'd be down there eating side meat.' '' The taste for soul food ran in the family. Jerry recalls that his mother would fix a dinner of ''soft chitlins, turnip greens, cornbread and all of the soul kind food you could think of'' made from food past its sell-by date.
- Bredlow Corner, near England, Ark., was the home of Jones's grandparents. (Will Newton for The Washington Post)England is about 30 miles southeast of Little Rock. (Will Newton for The Washington Post) LEFT: Bredlow Corner, near England, Ark., was the home of Jones's grandparents. (Will Newton for The Washington Post) RIGHT: England is about 30 miles southeast of Little Rock. (Will Newton for The Washington Post)
- Jerry spent his childhood summers working in the family's cotton fields, providing water to workers. ''Me and maybe a cousin would be the only White people out there,'' he said. In a 2010 oral history with the University of Arkansas, Jones recalled that once, when a Black cotton-picker ''was a little sassy,'' Jerry and the cousin poured an ice bucket over his head, then ''ran like we have never run before in our lives.''
- Mischief is a common motif in Jones's memories. He remembers how he and two Black playmates, Billy and Kenny, would hide between Pat's Super Market and the Caple Tractor Co. next door and hurl rotten cabbages at cars heading down East Broadway. His buddy Don Caple recalled them tossing a baseball around with Johnny Smith, whose mother cleaned a nearby church. ''Then one day Johnny didn't come by anymore,'' Caple said. The implication was, at a certain age, Black and White kids stopped playing like that.
- [Examining a racial slur entrenched in American vernacular that is more prevalent than ever]
- Mike Gilliam, a contemporary from Dixie Addition who also passed out circulars for Pat's Super Market and attended Scipio A. Jones High, the all-Black school in town, said he played interracial pickup tackle football games in an open field next to the KC Baking Company. The White team would include Jones and Caple and their buddy Billy Joe Moody. There was ''never any racial tension in those games,'' Gilliam said.
- Those games were an exception to the racial tension in town. L.T. Terry, who lived in the Black enclave of Dark Hollow, recalled how White teenagers ''would come riding down the streets'' at night and throw eggs and soap at the Black kids. Terry kept a stash of rocks hidden nearby to retaliate, calling them alley biscuits. He also remembered how police officers would park in the middle of the street outside a club, saunter inside, yank the jukebox plug from the wall and ''use the n-word loud and clear'' as they ordered everyone out. Scipio Jones alumni Carolyn Myrie and Matlrus Neely recalled how Black teenagers could go to the Rialto Theater on Tuesdays, restricted to the balcony, but were required to use the bathroom across the street at the ramshackle older Princess, which smelled of urine. They retaliated by throwing popcorn down on the White kids.
- Jones was all smiles after meeting with NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle in April 1989. (Mark Lennihan/AP)A conspicuous blank spotJones was 23 when he first tried to buy a football team. He was straight out of Arkansas, his face still a hard triangle of youth, working for his father selling insurance ''on a thousand-dollar-a-month draw,'' he said as if that were poor. It left him flat bored. He missed the keenness that football gave him. When the nascent American Football League, which had its inaugural season in 1960, convened an event in Houston, he saw a chance to pair moneymaking with passion. He hung around the hotel lobby glad-handing rich guys such as Joe Robbie, founder of the Miami Dolphins, and oilman Lamar Hunt of the Kansas City Chiefs. ''I just lived and breathed, somehow, some way, that happening,'' Jones said.
- In 1966, when Barron Hilton put the San Diego Chargers up for sale with an asking price of $5.8 million, Jones mustered a bid. Somehow he put together a million-dollar line of credit. ''I didn't have it. Okay?'' he said. Yet he was granted an option to buy the team. Then he went to talk to his father. ''He was so mad at me, he could kill me,'' Jones said. The AFL was a huge gamble, still struggling for profitability, and the debt would be crushing, Pat insisted.
- ''Son, you had a great experience in college. Get it out of your head,'' Pat said. ''You got to go to work. You got to get in business. You can't be like this, Jerry.''
- ''Well, Dad, it's my life's dream,'' Jones replied.
- ''You're not old enough to have a life's dream,'' Pat fired back. ''Get your head on right. You're just hopeless.''
- Jones surrendered. But he didn't quit pining to get into football, and his drive to buy a team initially put him in debt, as his father predicted. He speculated in real estate, trying to make a quick strike. But he got behind on the loans. One day he flew into Love Field in Dallas and went to the rental car desk. When he handed over his credit card, the rental agent cut it in half.
- ''Man, you need to learn how to pay your bills,'' the agent said.
- Jones's point is, when it comes to meeting a seemingly impassable obstacle: ''I have felt it. '... This is a tough get.''
- But one man's ''tough get'' is another man's soft landing. Through it all, Jones had access '-- to lines of credit, C-suites and golf courses. And to politicians, who, when his wildcatting oil and gas wells came in, granted him a sweet deal to provide energy to the state of Arkansas at a locked-in price. And so, in 1989 Jones became that brash rich 'un who bought the Cowboys for a then-record $140 million.
- That is not to say it was easy. It took every penny he had, and he borrowed plenty more. As he often recites, he paid top dollar for a decrepit asset that had finished 3-13 in 1988 and was bleeding a million dollars per month. ''When I bought this team, it wasn't to find a place to make money,'' he said. ''I had a little, and I gave it all '... to get to be a part of football.''
- Jones and Deion Sanders joined forces in 1995. (Doug Mills/AP)It was a scary-big bet, and over the next five years he would at times choke on the pressure. In 1995, he had a chance to sign extraordinary polymath-athlete Deion Sanders, but it would require a $13 million signing bonus '-- almost as much as the down payment he made for the team. ''I had a real tough time with it,'' Jones said. He flew to Arkansas to think it over. He revisited his old neighborhood, walked the streets where he had grown up. He asked himself, ''Have I lost my compass here?'' But then he told himself: ''That was then. This is now. Going for it.'' He got back on the plane, flew back to Dallas and cut the check. Sanders helped the Cowboys to their third Super Bowl title in four years.
- Mid-anecdote, Jones's throat closes, and he ducks his head and begins to cry over the difficulty of his NFL journey. ''I've got one thing to say about all this: This is human stuff,'' he says. Tears spill out of those melting-ice-tray eyes. The crying puzzles him so much that he admits he has consulted experts about it.
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- ''I've asked doctors, 'What's going on here?' '' he says. '' 'How can this be?' I'll do it making a speech, or I'll do it talking like this. And they said, 'Well, you've had a real emotional experience.' ''
- If it's true, as Jones says, that ''the Cowboys are America,'' then Jones himself is America, too. He has a consuming preoccupation with expansion. Some NFL owners are good at making money. Jones is good at finding new vistas. He goes to the next horizon, and the rest of the league invariably follows. He made the Cowboys the first team to actively market to women, the first to monetize training camp as an entertainment event. In 2005, he altered big-event architecture with his colossus vision for AT&T Stadium when it opened four years later: part arena, part luxury conference center, part mall and part art gallery.
- Massive AT&T Stadium was another new horizon that Jones pursued. (Donna McWilliam/AP)But league executives say there was one issue Jones never pressed or even expressed much of an opinion on: race. Before and after the Rooney Rule was instituted in 2003, the league regularly discussed its embarrassing minority hiring record. Jones seemed uninterested. ''Other things have been more important,'' one longtime former team executive said. ''Being powerful '-- that's what is important to him.''
- It's a conspicuous blank spot, given Jones's longtime place on the NFL's labor committee. He has been a lead negotiator with the players in collective bargaining and therefore should be attuned to the concerns and grievances of the Black men who have composed roughly 60 to 70 percent of the league's workforce.
- Those who have sat across the bargaining table from Jones describe him as alternately domineering, diplomatic and folksy '-- and occasionally patronizing. In one instance, Jones began to explain mortgages to the players in the room. ''The simplest financial things like they were 9 years old,'' recalled one person familiar with the bargaining sessions. In response, a Black player pointedly mentioned that he had been talking to Warren Buffett because he was a major investor with him.
- ''He has a history of being quite dismissive and arrogant towards players in bargaining, but I can't honestly say it's completely race-driven because I've seen it with the Black players and White players,'' the person said. ''He's sort of an equal opportunity condescender.''
- Jones's main interest in collective bargaining was always the same '-- maximum growth. ''He has no opinion other than money,'' said Domonique Foxworth, a former president of the players union who is now an ESPN commentator. But this actually made him easier to negotiate with than some owners. ''Jerry is usually the quickest person to get to the deal point,'' said a person familiar with league affairs. ''If Jerry thinks that the deal should be done, he's the one that tells the other owners, 'Sit back down.' ''
- When talks get hot, Jones will break the tension with a homespun joke. ''This negotiation's got me lower than a crippled cricket,'' he said during tense labor talks in 2011, breaking up the room. When matters threatened to stall over a single line, Jones moved matters along by cracking, ''Now we're just circumcising a mosquito.''
- Jones's skill as a negotiator finally led him to a public gesture on behalf of racial justice '-- though a hedging one. In 2016, he was a hard-liner against Colin Kaepernick's political demonstrations. The San Francisco 49ers quarterback was alienating the audience, Jones believed, by taking a knee during the national anthem to protest police brutality. According to someone who discussed matters with him, ''Jerry's bottom line was always: 'It's bad for our business; it's distracting America from football.' '' Jones decreed that his players would stand for the flag, ''toe on the line,'' or be benched.
- [Perspective: This is why Colin Kaepernick took a knee]
- But then President Donald Trump blew up the issue and threatened to divide Jones from his team. At a 2017 event, Trump targeted NFL owners, declaring that if a player refused to stand for the anthem, the owners should fire ''that son of a bitch.'' Defiant players launched a wave of protests in response. It became apparent that a number of Cowboys intended similar action during a nationally televised game.
- Jones moved carefully. He consulted various coaches and players. But the deepest conversation he had was with McClay, his longtime player personnel adviser, whose father had served as a Marine in Vietnam. McClay firmly believed the players had the right to protest. He decided he had to give Jones his frank opinion. McClay had been reared in Houston, where his father had come home from the war only to find that as a Black man he couldn't get a home loan. McClay said he knew his family and friends would ask him ''what conversation I had with somebody in a position of power.''
- He told Jones that no good could come from forcing strong-willed young Black men into compliance. ''You can't dictate,'' he said. To his relief, Jones listened without resentment. ''I wouldn't have been doing him any justice if I just said whatever I thought he wanted me to say,'' McClay recalled. '''... And however he took it, he took it.''
- Jones arrived at a compromise. He convened a team meeting and suggested that the Cowboys make a unified gesture '-- and he would join them. ''Do you guys think I have your back?'' he asked. ''Your best interests?''
- Jones could ask the question without flinching. He believes he has genuine long-term relationships with the men on his roster. He keeps what he calls ''a late line'' in his home, a dedicated phone on which they can reach him in emergencies. He has a reputation for aiding players in legal trouble; among other instances, he stood by former offensive lineman Nate Newton as he served federal prison time on drug trafficking charges. ''I get right in the middle of it,'' Jones says. ''I do. I get in the middle of the players.''
- One of Jones's closest player-friends is Emmitt Smith, the Hall of Fame running back. Smith was a rookie with the Cowboys in 1990 when he approached Jones with a request: ''Could I come and just sit on your couch and listen to you work? '... Because when I'm done running, I want to be a business guy,'' Smith said.
- Jones and running back Emmitt Smith forged a close relationship. (Amy Sancetta/AP)The request spoke straight to Jones's hustling heart. He left a standing order with his secretary that Smith was welcome in his office. ''From that point on, I had an open door. '... Jerry was always open to sharing his world or his information if the person was willing to ask the right question,'' Smith said. Jones and Smith, who has become an entrepreneur, would eventually do deals together. Occasionally, Jones took Smith along on business trips. They would chat about the drive that helped Jones build his fortune. ''I'd walk across Texas for five dollars,'' Jones confided to Smith.
- It was with this history in mind that Jones met with his team over the anthem controversy. He promised he would have his players' backs ''long after you quit catching passes or toting the ball.'' Then Jones did what he does best: He struck a deal.
- ''So I'm going to ask this,'' he said. ''I will kneel with you in solidarity. Stand with me at the flag.''
- Jones locked arms with his players and took a knee with them before the national anthem ahead of a game in September 2017. (Matt York/AP)On the field that Monday night, Jones locked arms with his players and took a knee. The Cowboys then rose as the anthem struck up. It pleased almost no one. Boos were interspersed with the notes that came from the loudspeakers. Watching on TV, some players and executives viewed this less as an act of solidarity than as a piece of classic Jones business exigency.
- ''That's just Jerry reaching the deal point, right?'' one said.
- ['Trump can't divide this': Cowboys, along with owner Jerry Jones, kneel before anthem in Arizona]
- Whatever the motive, in the seasons since, Jones's language on player protest has softened. At his preseason news conference in 2020, he talked about finding a position of ''grace'' on the issue. ''I'd hope that our fans '-- and I think they will '-- understand that our players have issues that they need help on,'' Jones said during his weekly local radio spot on Dallas radio station 105.3 the Fan. ''They need help from the majority of America.''
- To McClay, they were important statements, given whom they came from. ''He is the unspoken mouthpiece for the league,'' McClay said. ''When something needs to get done, they go to Jerry. For someone of his power and strength within the league to say, 'Hey, we need to look at this,' that's a positive change. '... So whatever the motives or ulterior motives, he did it.''
- Richard Lindsey was one of the North Little Rock Six. (Will Newton for The Washington Post)Whatever happens, do not respondMilitary Heights, Tie Plant, Dixie Addition, Dark Hollow '-- those were the Black neighborhoods in the North Little Rock of Jerry Jones's youth. They were scattered pockets around the city, all in swampy lowlands. Many families settled there to work in the rail yards, and the children were funneled to Scipio A. Jones, where their schoolbooks were tattered rejects from North Little Rock High. Starting in ninth grade, they were required to buy outdated books that had names and often slurs scrawled inside. Many could not afford the books and went without.
- There were no school buses. The students took city buses, forced to sit in the back, or walked. Those who lived in Military Heights walked directly past North Little Rock High. Harold Gene Smith, who lived four blocks away, had to trek two-plus miles to reach Scipio Jones. He often made the journey on his Union No. 5 roller skates.
- Smith was one of the North Little Rock Six, along with Richard Lindsey, Eugene Hall, Gerald Persons, Frank Henderson and William Henderson. They all lived in Military Heights and had good grades. On the first day of school in their senior year, they assembled at Smith's home at 415 West 22nd St. for the most trying morning of their young lives.
- After his experience outside North Little Rock High, Lindsey was different. ''Instead of being a loudmouthed dummy, I changed,'' he said. (Will Newton for The Washington Post)Lindsey came in his Sunday shoes. He was there because an aunt had told him to go. Persons was coaxed into being there by his older sister. Smith, whose father was a successful Black businessman, agreed with his dad that this was something that had to be done. Four ministers from the African Methodist Episcopal Church were there to lead them.
- The plan was that they would walk up 22nd Street, turn left up the long rise to the school's front entrance, step inside and attend classes. Reports of the plan had been circulating around town. A hostile crowd would await them. They were instructed on how to walk. Straight line. Don't look down. Keep looking up as you walk. Whatever happens, do not respond.
- [Analysis: America is more diverse than ever '-- but still segregated]
- The procession began before 8 a.m. and was uneventful at first. ''And then about three blocks from school '... the White people came out of nowhere,'' Lindsey recalled. ''Finally we got to the opening where you walk into the school, and that's when they seemed to come from all four sides'' and the name-calling began.
- ''This is not your school!''
- Eight steps to the first landing, they stopped for a moment. That's when someone reached out and touched Lindsey's neck.
- But they walked on, 30 feet to the next set of steps. ''And the crowd got larger '... and you couldn't see over their heads anymore and they were all over the place and all you could do was walk,'' Lindsey recalled. Eleven stairs to the second landing, then the crowd encircled them. Ten more stairs to the final landing but no farther. Between them and the front door stood 10 or 12 toughs, the ringleaders. Shouts, pushes, shoves. A retreat through the crowd, back toward the street.
- Soon they turned around to try again. Up the rise once more, the crowd surging. A few dozen boys rushed past them to get near the entrance and form the human bulwark. Smith saw only anger in the eyes surrounding him. ''So [we] just stood there,'' Lindsey said, ''and they kept the name-calling and they kept all the other stuff going. And we waited.''
- Straeter photographed the scene. There, in the upper right of his frame, stood Jerry Jones.
- More pushing and shoving from the toughs sent them back down the stairs. The desegregation effort was over. North Little Rock High would not integrate for almost a decade. Richard Lindsey was transformed by the trauma of that day. ''Instead of being a loudmouthed dummy, I changed,'' he said. He became quieter, more studious. Anger burned inside him for a time but gradually faded to determination. He, like all of the North Little Rock Six, he said, would go on to college. Some of them would go into business, some into the military. Frank Henderson, a sergeant in the Army's infantry, was killed in Vietnam in 1967. Lindsey would eventually take over his family's restaurant business.
- Lindsey did not know Jones then or any of the White boys who stood between him and the school that day. But later, while working at his uncle's restaurant, Lindsey's Barbecue, the most popular ribs joint in town, he would see Jones and exchange pleasantries with him at the counter. By then he had heard through the Black grapevine that Jones had been in the crowd on that traumatic September morning. But he never brought it up.
- The North Little Rock Six never made it into the school, and it was years before it integrated. (Bettman Archive)'Why didn't you do more?'Now and then during the interview, Jones speaks with regret as he recalls the segregated society in which he lived. He remembers sitting on a city bus, virtually empty up front where he was, as Black passengers crammed in near the back. ''I'll be very candid with you,'' he said. ''I've often asked: 'Why didn't you do more? Why didn't you get up and have them come up on the bus and sit rather than standing back there? Why didn't you do more?' ''
- Perhaps Will McClay can offer an answer. When he was 7, riding his bike near his home in Houston, he was approached by a White girl who asked: ''Where's your tail? My parents said you all had tails.'' McClay went to his parents, distraught. ''And my mom, who had hoses turned on her, and my dad, who went to Vietnam and came back and couldn't get a house, '... told me that the best way for people to learn is for you to show them and give them an example.''
- What Jerry Jones needed to hear '-- and seemed willing to hear, McClay said '-- were examples of what it was like to be a Black coach trying to succeed in the NFL: ''He's never been told that he had a tail.''
- correctionA previous version of this story mistakenly said Frank Henderson was a sergeant in the Marines. He was a sergeant in the Army's infantry.
- About this storyAdditional reporting by Emily Giambalvo and Clara Ence Morse. Editing by Matt Vita and Steven Ginsberg. Copy editing by Michael Petre. Photo editing by Toni L. Sandys. Design and development by Brianna Schroer and Joe Fox. Design editing by Virginia Singarayar. Project management by Wendy Galietta.
- Stanford marshmallow experiment - Wikipedia
- Study on delayed gratification by psychologist Walter Mischel
- The Stanford marshmallow experiment was a study on delayed gratification in 1972 led by psychologist Walter Mischel, a professor at Stanford University.[1] In this study, a child was offered a choice between one small but immediate reward, or two small rewards if they waited for a period of time. During this time, the researcher left the room for about 15 minutes and then returned. The reward was either a marshmallow or pretzel stick, depending on the child's preference. In follow-up studies, the researchers found that children who were able to wait longer for the preferred rewards tended to have better life outcomes, as measured by SAT scores,[2] educational attainment,[3] body mass index (BMI),[4] and other life measures.[5] A replication attempt with a sample from a more diverse population, over 10 times larger than the original study, showed only half the effect of the original study. The replication suggested that economic background, rather than willpower, explained the other half.[6][7] The predictive power of the marshmallow test was challenged in a 2020 study.[8][9]
- Original Stanford experiment [ edit ] The first experiment in delayed gratification was conducted by Walter Mischel and Ebbe B. Ebbesen at Stanford University in 1970.[10] The purpose of the study was to understand when the control of delayed gratification, the ability to wait to obtain something that one wants, that develops in children. Most of the research conducted during that time was done with delayed rewards in areas such as time perspective and the delay of rewards,[11] resistance to temptation,[12] and psychological disturbances.[13] Not many studies had been conducted in the area of human social behavior. The authors hypothesized that an increased salience of a reward would in turn increase the amount of time children would be able to delay gratification (or wait). Since the rewards were presented in front of them, children were reminded of why they were waiting. The attention on the reward (that was right in front of them) was supposed to make them wait longer (for the larger reward).
- The children were led into a room, empty of distractions, where a treat of their choice (either two animal cookies or five pretzel sticks) were placed on a table.[1] The researchers let the children know they could eat the treat, but if they waited 15 minutes without giving in to the temptation, they would be rewarded with a second treat.[1] Mischel and Ebbesen observed, "(some children) covered their eyes with their hands, rested their heads on their arms, and found other similar techniques for averting their eyes from the reward objects. Many seemed to try to reduce the frustration of delay of reward by generating their own diversions: they talked to themselves, sang, invented games with their hands and feet, and even tried to fall asleep while waiting - as one successfully did."[1]
- Participants [ edit ] There were 32 children who were used as participants in this experiment consisting of 16 boys and 16 girls. The participants attended the Bing Nursery School of Stanford University. The children ranged in age from three years and six months, to five years and eight months. The median age was four years and six months. Three subjects were disqualified from the experiment because they were unable to understand the instructions and choices given by the experimenters.
- Detailed procedure [ edit ] The procedures were conducted by two experimenters. There was an opaque cake tin presented on a table in the experimental room. Under the cake tin, there were five pretzels and two animal cookies. There were two chairs in front of the table; on one chair was an empty cardboard box. Near the chair with the empty cardboard box, there were four battery operated toys on the floor. The experimenter pointed out the four toys before the child could play with the toys. The experimenter asked the child to sit in the chair and then demonstrated each toy briefly, and in a friendly manner said they would play with the toys later on. Then the experimenter placed each toy in the cardboard box and out of sight of the child. The experimenter explained to the child that he needed to leave the room, and if the child ate the pretzel, the experimenter would return to the room. These instructions were repeated until the child seemed to understand them completely. The experimenter left the room and waited for the child to eat the pretzel '' they repeated this procedure four times.
- Then the experimenter returned to the experimental room and opened the cake tin to reveal two sets of rewards (in the form of edibles): five pretzels and two animal crackers. The experimenter asked the child which of the two they preferred. Once the child chose, the experimenter explained that the child could either continue to wait for the more preferred reward until the experimenter returned, or the child could stop waiting by bringing back the experimenter. If the child stopped waiting then the child would receive the less preferred reward and forgo the more preferred one.
- Depending on the condition and the child's choice of preferred reward, the experimenter picked up the cake tin and along with it either nothing, one of the rewards, or both. The experimenter returned either as soon as the child signaled him to do so or after 15 minutes.[10]
- Results [ edit ] The results indicated the exact opposite of what was originally predicted. Instead of the rewards serving as a cue to attend to possible delayed rewards, the rewards themselves served to increase the children's frustration and ultimately decreased the delay of gratification. The results seemed to indicate that not thinking about a reward enhances the ability to delay gratification, rather than focusing attention on the future reward.[1]
- Stanford marshmallow experiment [ edit ] Purpose [ edit ] The following study, conducted by Mischel, Ebbesen, and Zeiss (1972), is generally recognized as the Stanford marshmallow experiment due to its use of marshmallows as a preferred reward item.[14] Building on information obtained in previous research regarding self-control, Mischel et al hypothesized that any activity that distracts a participant from the reward they are anticipating will increase the time of delay gratification. It was expected that overt activities, internal cognitions, and fantasies would help in this self-distraction. Through such distraction it was also hypothesized that the subject would be able to take the frustrative nature of the situation and convert it into one psychologically less aversive. To test their expectations, the researchers contrived three settings under which to test participants; an overt activity, a covert activity, or no activity at all.
- They predicted that under the overt and covert activities that delay of gratification should increase, while under the no activity setting it would decrease. To assess the children's ability to understand the instructions they were given, the experiment asked them three comprehension questions; "Can you tell me, which do you get to eat if you wait for me to come back by myself?", "But if you want to, how can you make me come back?", and "If you ring the bell and bring me back, then which do you get?" Three distinct experiments were conducted under multiple differing conditions.
- Experiment 1 participants [ edit ] The participants consisted of 50 children (25 boys and 25 girls) from the Bing Nursery School at Stanford University. They ranged in age from 3 years 6 months to 5 years 6 months. The mean age was 4 years 6 months. Six subjects were eliminated because they failed to comprehend the instructions given by the experimenters.
- Experiment 1 procedures [ edit ] The procedures were conducted by one male and one female experimenter. During the test conditions the male experimenter conducted his session with 3 male and 2 female participants, while the female experimenter conducted her session with 3 female and 2 male participants. The small room where the tests were conducted contained a table equipped with a barrier between the experimenter and the child. On the table, behind the barrier, was a slinky toy along with an opaque cake tin that held a small marshmallow and pretzel stick. Next to the table equipped with the barrier there was another table that contained a box of battery- and hand-operated toys, which were visible to the child. Against one wall of the small room there was a chair, another table, and a desk bell.
- In experiment 1 the children were tested under the conditions of (1) waiting for delayed reward with an external distractor (toy), (2) waiting for delayed reward with an internal distractor (ideation), (3) waiting for a delayed reward (no distractor), (4) external distractor (toy) without delay-of-reward waiting contingency, and (5) internal distractor (ideation) without delay of reward contingency.
- Experiment 2 participants [ edit ] The participants consisted of 32 children from the Bing Nursery School of Stanford University. They ranged in age from 3 years 9 months to 5 years 3 months. The mean age was 4 years and 9 months. Six of the subjects were eliminated from the study because they failed to comprehend the instructions or because they ate one of the reward objects while waiting for the experimenter.
- Experiment 2 procedures [ edit ] Experiment 2 focused on how the substantive content of cognitions can affect subsequent delay behavior. The conditions in Experiment 2 were the same as in Experiment 1, with the exception that after the three comprehension questions were asked of the children the experimenter suggested ideas to think about while they were waiting. These suggestions are referred to as "think food rewards" instructions in the study. They were intended to induce in the subject various types of ideation during the delay-of-gratification period.
- Experiment 3 participants [ edit ] The participants consisted of 16 children (11 boys and 5 girls). They ranged in age from 3 years 5 months to 5 years 6 months. The mean age was 4 years 6 months.
- Experiment 3 procedures [ edit ] In experiment 3 all of the conditions and procedures were the same as in experiment 1 and experiment 2, except that the reward items were not visible to the children while they waited. In the previous experiments both of the reward objects were directly available to the children while they waited in the delay period. To achieve this change in condition the children were told that the food items needed to be kept fresh. The marshmallow and pretzel stick were then placed under the opaque cake tin and put under the table out of sight of the child. In this experiment the same "think food rewards" were given to the children as in experiment 2.
- Overall results [ edit ] The three separate experiments demonstrate a number of significant findings. The effective delay of gratification depends heavily on the cognitive avoidance or suppression of the reward objects while waiting for them to be delivered. Additionally, when the children thought about the absent rewards, it was just as difficult to delay gratification as when the reward items were directly in front of them. Conversely, when the children in the experiment waited for the reward and it was not visibly present, they were able to wait longer and attain the preferred reward. The Stanford marshmallow experiment is important because it demonstrated that effective delay is not achieved by merely thinking about something other than what we want, but rather, it depends on suppressive and avoidance mechanisms that reduce frustration.
- The frustration of waiting for a desired reward is demonstrated nicely by the authors when describing the behavior of the children. "They made up quiet songs...hid their head in their arms, pounded the floor with their feet, fiddled playfully and teasingly with the signal bell, verbalized the contingency...prayed to the ceiling, and so on. In one dramatically effective self-distraction technique, after obviously experiencing much agitation, a little girl rested her head, sat limply, relaxed herself, and proceeded to fall sound asleep."
- Follow-up studies [ edit ] In follow-up studies, Mischel found unexpected correlations between the results of the marshmallow experiment and the success of the children many years later.[5] The first follow-up study, in 1988, showed that "preschool children who delayed gratification longer in the self-imposed delay paradigm, were described more than 10 years later by their parents as adolescents who were significantly more competent."[15]
- A second follow-up study, in 1990, showed that the ability to delay gratification also correlated with higher SAT scores.[5]
- A 2006 paper to which Mischel contributed reports a similar experiment, this time relating ability to delay in order to receive a cookie (at age 4) and reaction time on a go/no go task.[16]
- A 2011 brain imaging study of a sample from the original Stanford participants when they reached mid-life showed key differences between those with high delay times and those with low delay times in two areas: the prefrontal cortex (more active in high delayers) and the ventral striatum, (more active in low delayers) when they were trying to control their responses to alluring temptations.[17]
- A 2012 study at the University of Rochester (with a smaller N= 28) altered the experiment by dividing children into two groups: one group was given a broken promise before the marshmallow test was conducted (the unreliable tester group), and the second group had a fulfilled promise before their marshmallow test (the reliable tester group). The reliable tester group waited up to four times longer (12 min) than the unreliable tester group for the second marshmallow to appear.[18][19] The authors argue that this calls into question the original interpretation of self-control as the critical factor in children's performance, since self-control should predict ability to wait, not strategic waiting when it makes sense. Prior to the marshmallow experiment at Stanford, Walter Mischel had shown that the child's belief that the promised delayed rewards would actually be delivered is an important determinant of the choice to delay, but his later experiments did not take this factor into account or control for individual variation in beliefs about reliability when reporting correlations with life successes.[20][21][22][23]
- In the studies Mischel and his colleagues conducted at Stanford University,[1][10] in order to establish trust that the experimenter would return, at the beginning of the "marshmallow test" children first engaged in a game in which they summoned the experimenter back by ringing a bell; the actual waiting portion of the experiment did not start until after the children clearly understood that the experimenter would keep the promise. Participants of the original studies at the Bing School at Stanford University appeared to have no doubt that they would receive a reward after waiting and chose to wait for the more desirable reward. However, Mischel's earlier studies showed there are many other situations in which children cannot be certain that they would receive the delayed outcome.[20][21][22][23] In such situations, waiting for delayed rewards may not be an adaptive response.
- Watts, Duncan and Quan's 2018 conceptual replication[24] yielded mostly statistically insignificant correlations with behavioral problems but a significant correlation with achievement tests at age 15. These effects were lower than in the original experiment and reduced further when controlling for early cognitive ability and behavior, family background, and home environment.
- A 2020 study at University of California showed that a reputation plays significant role in the experiment.[25]
- In findings presented in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B in 2021, Marine Biological Laboratory, researchers described cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) that were able to pass an adapted version of the marshmallow test. Cephalopods engage in "future-oriented foraging" and the nine-month-old cuttlefish in the experiments were able to tolerate delays of 50 to 130 seconds, comparable to the performances of chimpanzees and crows. Individuals that had better self-control also demonstrated greater cognition in learning tests.[26][27]
- References [ edit ] ^ a b c d e f Mischel, Walter; Ebbesen, Ebbe B. (1970). "Attention in delay of gratification". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 16 (2): 329''337. doi:10.1037/h0029815. S2CID 53464175. ^ Mischel, W; Shoda, Y; Rodriguez, M. (26 May 1989). "Delay of gratification in children". Science. 244 (4907): 933''938. Bibcode:1989Sci...244..933M. doi:10.1126/science.2658056. PMID 2658056. S2CID 37847196. ^ Ayduk, Ozlem N.; Mendoza-Denton, Rodolfo; Mischel, Walter; Downey, Geraldine; Peake, Philip K.; Rodriguez, Monica L. (2000). "Regulating the interpersonal self: Strategic self-regulation for coping with rejection sensitivity". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 79 (5): 776''792. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.334.5423 . doi:10.1037/0022-3514.79.5.776. PMID 11079241. S2CID 6345213. ^ Schlam, Tanya R.; Wilson, Nicole L.; Shoda, Yuichi; Mischel, Walter; Ayduk, Ozlem (2013). "Preschoolers' delay of gratification predicts their body mass 30 years later". The Journal of Pediatrics. 162 (1): 90''93. doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2012.06.049. PMC 3504645 . PMID 22906511. ^ a b c Shoda, Yuichi; Mischel, Walter; Peake, Philip K. (1990). "Predicting adolescent cognitive and self-regulatory competencies from preschool delay of gratification: Identifying diagnostic conditions". Developmental Psychology. 26 (6): 978''986. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.26.6.978. ^ Calarco, Jessica McCrory (2018-06-01). "Why Rich Kids Are So Good at the Marshmallow Test". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 2018-10-02 . Retrieved 2018-10-03 . ^ Jason, Collins (31 May 2018). "The marshmallow test held up OK '' Jason Collins blog". The marshmallow test held up OK. Archived from the original on 30 April 2019 . Retrieved 28 July 2019 . ^ Benjamin, Daniel J.; Laibson, David; Mischel, Walter; Peake, Philip K.; Shoda, Yuichi; Wellsjo, Alexandra Steiny; Wilson, Nicole L. (November 2020). "Predicting mid-life capital formation with pre-school delay of gratification and life-course measures of self-regulation". Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization. 179: 743''756. doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2019.08.016. PMC 7792663 . PMID 33424063. ^ "New Study Disavows Marshmallow Test's Predictive Powers". 24 February 2021. ^ a b c Mischel, Walter; Ebbesen, Ebbe B. (1970). "Attention in delay of gratification". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 16 (2): 329''337. doi:10.1037/h0029815. S2CID 53464175. ^ Klineberg, Stephen L. (1968). "Future time perspective and the preference for delayed reward". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 8 (3, Pt.1): 253''257. doi:10.1037/h0025581. PMID 5645229. ^ Mischel, Walter; Gilligan, Carol (1964). "Delay of gratification, motivation for the prohibited gratification, and responses to temptation". The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology. 69 (4): 411''417. doi:10.1037/h0048918. hdl:2027.42/146992 . PMID 14213305. ^ Shybut, John (1968). "Delay of gratification and severity of psychological disturbances among hospitalized psychiatric patients". Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 32 (4): 462''468. doi:10.1037/h0026106. PMID 5666148. ^ Mischel, Walter; Ebbesen, Ebbe B.; Raskoff Zeiss, Antonette (1972). "Cognitive and attentional mechanisms in delay of gratification". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 21 (2): 204''218. doi:10.1037/h0032198. PMID 5010404. ^ Mischel, Walter; Shoda, Yuichi; Peake, Philip K. (1988). "The nature of adolescent competencies predicted by preschool delay of gratification". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 54 (4): 687''696. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.54.4.687. PMID 3367285. ^ Eigsti, Inge-Marie; Zayas, Vivian; Mischel, Walter; Shoda, Yuichi; Ayduk, Ozlem; Dadlani, Mamta B.; Davidson, Matthew C.; Aber, J. Lawrence; Casey, B.J. (June 2006). "Predicting Cognitive Control From Preschool to Late Adolescence and Young Adulthood". Psychological Science. 17 (6): 478''484. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01732.x. PMID 16771797. S2CID 4508299. ^ Casey, B. J.; Somerville, Leah H.; Gotlib, Ian H.; Ayduk, Ozlem; Franklin, Nicholas T.; Askren, Mary K.; Jonides, John; Berman, Marc G.; Wilson, Nicole L.; Teslovich, Theresa; Glover, Gary; Zayas, Vivian; Mischel, Walter; Shoda, Yuichi (2011). "Behavioral and neural correlates of delay of gratification 40 years later". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 108 (36): 14998''15003. Bibcode:2011PNAS..10814998C. doi:10.1073/pnas.1108561108 . PMC 3169162 . PMID 21876169. For a lay summary, see Weill Cornell Medical College (2011). "Marshmallow test points to biological basis for delayed gratification". sciencedaily.com. ^ "Marshmallow Test Revisited". University of Rochester. October 11, 2012. Archived from the original on October 17, 2012 . Retrieved October 17, 2012 . ^ Kidd, Celeste; Palmeri, Holly; Aslin, Richard N. (January 2013). "Rational snacking: Young children's decision-making on the marshmallow task is moderated by beliefs about environmental reliability". Cognition. 126 (1): 109''114. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2012.08.004. PMC 3730121 . PMID 23063236. ^ a b Mischel, Walter (July 1961). "Father-absence and delay of gratification". The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology. 63 (1): 116''124. doi:10.1037/h0046877. PMID 14474528. ^ a b Mischel, Walter (1966). "Theory and research on the antecedents of self-imposed delay of reward". In B. A. Maher (ed.). Progress in Experimental Personality Research. New York: Academic Press. pp. 85''131. OCLC 101985028. ^ a b Mischel, Walter; Staub, Ervin (1965). "Effects of expectancy on working and waiting for larger rewards". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 2 (5): 625''633. doi:10.1037/h0022677. PMID 5838761. ^ a b Mischel, Walter; Grusec, Joan (1967). "Waiting for rewards and punishments: Effects of time and probability on choice". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 5 (1): 24''31. doi:10.1037/h0024180. PMID 6031227. ^ Watts, Tyler W.; Duncan, Greg J.; Quan, Haonan (2018). "Revisiting the Marshmallow Test: A Conceptual Replication Investigating Links Between Early Delay of Gratification and Later Outcomes". Psychological Science. 29 (7): 1159''1177. doi:10.1177/0956797618761661. PMC 6050075 . PMID 29799765. ^ Inga Kiderra (September 9, 2020). "The marshmallow test revisited". Medical Express. ^ Ouellette, Jennifer (March 3, 2021). "Cuttlefish can pass the marshmallow test". Ars Technica. ^ Schnell, Alexandra K.; Boeckle, Markus; Rivera, Micaela; Clayton, Nicola S.; Hanlon, Roger T. (10 March 2021). "Cuttlefish exert self-control in a delay of gratification task". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 288 (1946): 20203161. doi:10.1098/rspb.2020.3161 . PMC 7935110 . PMID 33653135. External links [ edit ] "Joachim de Posada says, Don't eat the marshmallow yet". Ted Talk. Bronson, Po; Merryman, Ashley (July 14, 2017) [2010]. "Just Let Them Eat the Marshmallow". Daily Beast. Critical of the accuracy of claims about the long-term effects of the marshmallow test
- Urban Dictionary: gal
- An awesome person who was well-known in her city before leaving for an exotic place. She laughs easily and makes other people smile. Although a little shy at first, once you get to know a gal, you're really happy that you did.
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- Get the Gal mug.A Gal is someone who is a great friend. She is very crazy but so fun to be around. A Gal usually has long brown curly hair and is very tall. She loves to run around and look stupid, but she doesnt care what people think. Thats what makes her an amazing, one of a kind person. She does odd things like drink bacon flavored soda and runs down the halls with her
- hands in the air. A Gal will make you laugh even if your really sad. A Gal usually has the nickname
- Galoosh, or Galikens. Everyone needs to be friends with a Gal.
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- Get the Gal mug.Gal is a word used as racist noun to denigrate
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- Get the Gal mug.This acronym stands for 'Get A Life'. Usually used when you think someone leads a
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- Get the GAL mug.<some guy> 1 15 +
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- Bear Bryant - Wikipedia
- American football coach (1913''1983)
- Bear BryantBryant in 1977
- Born ( 1913-09-11 ) September 11, 1913Moro Bottom, Arkansas, U.S.DiedJanuary 26, 1983 (1983-01-26) (aged 69)Tuscaloosa, Alabama, U.S.1933''1935AlabamaPosition(s)End1936Union (TN) (assistant)1936''1940Alabama (assistant)1940''1941Vanderbilt (assistant)1942Georgia Pre-Flight (assistant)1944North Carolina Pre-Flight (defensive assistant)1945Maryland1946''1953Kentucky1954''1957Texas A&M1958''1982Alabama1954''1957Texas A&M1958''1983AlabamaOverall323''85''17Bowls20''12''26 National (1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978, 1979)14 SEC (1950, 1961, 1964''1966, 1971''1975, 1977''1979, 1981)1 SWC (1956)3 AFCA Coach of the Year (1961, 1971, 1973)12 SEC Coach of the Year (1950, 1959, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1977''1979, 1981)College Football Hall of FameInducted in 1986 (profile)Paul William "Bear" Bryant (September 11, 1913 '' January 26, 1983) was an American college football player and coach. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, and best known as the head coach of the University of Alabama football team. During his 25-year tenure as Alabama's head coach, he amassed six national championships and thirteen conference championships. Upon his retirement in 1982, he held the record for the most wins (323) as a head coach in collegiate football history. The Paul W. Bryant Museum, Paul W. Bryant Hall, Paul W. Bryant Drive, and Bryant''Denny Stadium are all named in his honor at the University of Alabama. He was also known for his trademark black and white houndstooth hat, even though he normally wore a plaid one, deep voice, casually leaning up against the goal post during pre-game warmups, and holding his rolled-up game plan while on the sidelines. Before arriving at Alabama, Bryant was head football coach at the University of Maryland, the University of Kentucky, and Texas A&M University.
- Early life [ edit ] Bryant was the 11th of 12 children who were born to Wilson Monroe Bryant and Ida Kilgore Bryant in Moro Bottom, Cleveland County, Arkansas.[1]:'6' His nickname stemmed from his having agreed to wrestle a captive bear during a carnival promotion when he was 13 years old.[2] His mother wanted him to be a minister, but Bryant told her "Coaching is a lot like preaching".He attended Fordyce High School, where 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) tall Bryant, who as an adult would eventually stand 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m), began playing on the school's football team as an eighth grader. During his senior season, Bryant played offensive line and defensive end, and the team won the 1930 Arkansas state football championship.
- College playing career [ edit ] Bryant accepted a scholarship to play for the University of Alabama in 1931. Since he elected to leave high school before completing his diploma, Bryant had to enroll in a Tuscaloosa high school to finish his education during the fall semester while he practiced with the college team. Bryant played end for the Crimson Tide and was a participant on the school's 1934 national championship team. Bryant was the self-described "other end" during his playing years with the team, playing opposite the big star, Don Hutson, who later became a star in the National Football League and a Pro Football Hall of Famer. Bryant himself was second team All-Southeastern Conference in 1934, and was third team all conference in both 1933 and 1935. Bryant played with a partially broken leg in a 1935 game against Tennessee.[2] Bryant was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity, and as a senior, he married Mary Harmon, which he kept a secret since Alabama did not allow active players to be married.[2]
- Bryant was selected in the fourth round by the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1936 NFL Draft, but never played professional football.
- Coaching career [ edit ] Assistant and North Carolina Pre-Flight [ edit ] After graduating from the University of Alabama in 1936, Bryant took a coaching job under A. B. Hollingsworth at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, but he left that position when offered an assistant coaching position under Frank Thomas at the University of Alabama. Over the next four years, the team compiled a 29''5''3 record. In 1940, he left Alabama to become an assistant at Vanderbilt University under Henry Russell Sanders. During their 1940 season, Bryant served as head coach of the Commodores for their 7''7 tie against Kentucky as Sanders was recovering from an appendectomy.[3] After the 1941 season, Bryant was offered the head coaching job at the University of Arkansas. However, Pearl Harbor was bombed soon thereafter, and Bryant declined the position to join the United States Navy. In 1942 he served as an assistant coach with the Georgia Pre-Flight Skycrackers.[4]
- Bryant then served off North Africa, on the United States Army Transport SS Uraguay, seeing no combat action. On 12 February 1943 in the North Atlantic the oil tanker USS Salamonie suffered a steering fault and accidentally rammed the SS Uruguay amidships. The tanker's bow made a 70-foot (21 m) hole in Uruguay's hull and penetrated her, killing 13 soldiers and injuring 50. The Uruguay's crew contained the damage by building a temporary bulkhead and three days later she reached Bermuda. President Franklin D. Roosevelt decorated Uruguay's Captain, Albert Spaulding, with the Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal for saving many lives, his ship and her cargo.[5][circular reference ]
- He was later granted an honorable discharge to train recruits and coach the North Carolina Navy Pre-Flight football team.[6] One of the players he coached for the Navy was the future Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Otto Graham. While in the navy, Bryant attained the rank of lieutenant commander.[1]:'94'
- Maryland [ edit ] Bryant as Maryland head coach in 1945
- In 1945, 32-year-old Bryant met Washington Redskins owner George Marshall at a cocktail party hosted by the Chicago Tribune, and mentioned that he had turned down offers to be an assistant coach at Alabama and Georgia Tech because he was intent on becoming a head coach. Marshall put him in contact with Harry Clifton "Curley" Byrd, the president and former football coach of the University of Maryland.[7]
- After meeting with Byrd the next day, Bryant received the job as head coach of the Maryland Terrapins. In his only season at Maryland, Bryant led the team to a 6''2''1 record. However, Bryant and Byrd came into conflict. In the most prominent incident, while Bryant was on vacation, Byrd brought back a player that was suspended by Bryant for not following the team rules. After the 1945 season, Bryant left Maryland to take over as head coach at the University of Kentucky.[8]
- Kentucky [ edit ] Bryant coached at Kentucky for eight seasons. Under Bryant, Kentucky made its first bowl appearance in 1947 and won its first Southeastern Conference title in 1950. The 1950 Kentucky Wildcats football team finished with a school best 11''1 record and concluded the season with a victory over Bud Wilkinson's top-ranked Oklahoma Sooners in the Sugar Bowl. The final AP poll was released before bowl games in that era, so Kentucky ended the regular season ranked #7. But several other contemporaneous polls, as well as the Sagarin Ratings System applied retrospectively, declared Bryant's 1950 Wildcats to be the national champions, but neither the NCAA nor College Football Data Warehouse recognizes this claim.[9][10] Bryant also led Kentucky to appearances in the Great Lakes Bowl, Orange Bowl, and Cotton Bowl Classic. Kentucky's final AP poll rankings under Bryant included #11 in 1949, #7 in 1950, #15 in 1951, #20 in 1952, and #16 in 1953. The 1950 season was Kentucky's highest rank until it finished #6 in the final 1977 AP Poll.
- Though he led Kentucky's football program to its greatest achievement, Bryant resigned after the 1953 season because he felt that Adolph Rupp's basketball team would always be the school's primary sport.[11] Years after leaving Lexington, Bryant had a better relationship with Rupp. For instance, Bryant was Alabama's athletic director in 1969 and called Rupp to ask if he had any recommendations for Alabama's new basketball coach. Rupp recommended C. M. Newton, a former backup player at Kentucky in the late 1940s. Newton went on to lead the Crimson Tide to three straight SEC titles.[12]
- Texas A&M [ edit ] In 1954, Bryant accepted the head coaching job at Texas A&M University. He also served as athletic director while at Texas A&M.[2]
- The Aggies suffered through a grueling 1''9 season in 1954, which began with the infamous training camp in Junction, Texas. The "survivors" were given the name "Junction Boys". Two years later, Bryant led the 1956 Texas A&M Aggies football team to the Southwest Conference championship with a 34''21 victory over the Texas Longhorns at Austin. The following year, Bryant's star back John David Crow won the Heisman Trophy, and the 1957 Aggies were in title contention until they lost to the #20 Rice Owls in Houston, amid rumors that Alabama would be going after Bryant.[citation needed ]
- Again, as at Kentucky, Bryant attempted to integrate the Texas A&M squad. "We'll be the last football team in the Southwest Conference to integrate", he was told by a Texas A&M official. "Well", Bryant replied, "then that's where we're going to finish in football."[13]
- At the close of the 1957 season, having compiled an overall 25''14''2 record at Texas A&M, Bryant returned to Tuscaloosa to take the head coaching position, succeeding Jennings B. Whitworth, as well as the athletic director job at Alabama.[2]
- Alabama [ edit ] When asked why he returned to his alma mater, Bryant replied, "Mama called. And when Mama calls, you just have to come runnin'." Bryant's first spring practice back at Alabama was much like what happened at Junction. Some of Bryant's assistants thought it was even more difficult, as dozens of players quit the team. After winning a combined four games in the three years before Bryant's arrival (including Alabama's only winless season on the field in modern times), the Tide went 5''4''1 in Bryant's first season.[14] The next year, in 1959, Alabama beat Auburn and appeared in the inaugural Liberty Bowl, the first time the Crimson Tide had beaten Auburn or appeared in a bowl game in six years. In 1961, with quarterback Pat Trammell and football greats Lee Roy Jordan and Billy Neighbors, Alabama went 11''0 and defeated Arkansas 10''3 in the Sugar Bowl to claim the national championship.
- The next three years (1962''1964) featured Joe Namath at quarterback and were among Bryant's finest. The 1962 season ended with a 17''0 victory in the Orange Bowl over Bud Wilkinson's Oklahoma Sooners. The 1963 season ended with a 12''7 victory over Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl, which was the first game between the two Southeastern Conference neighbors in almost 20 years, and only the second in 30 years. In 1964, the Tide won another national championship, but lost 21''17 to Texas in the Orange Bowl, in the first nationally televised college game in color. The Tide ended up sharing the 1964 national title with Arkansas, as the Razorbacks won the Cotton Bowl Classic, and had beaten Texas in Austin. Before 1968, the AP and UPI polls gave out their championships before the bowl games. The AP ceased this practice before the 1968 season, but the UPI continued until 1973. The 1965 Crimson Tide repeated as champions after defeating Nebraska, 39''28, in the Orange Bowl. Coming off back-to-back national championship seasons, Bryant's 1966 Alabama team went undefeated in, beating a strong Nebraska team, 34''7, in the Sugar Bowl. However, Alabama finished third in the nation behind Michigan State and champions Notre Dame, who had previously played to a 10''10 tie in a late regular season game. In a biography of Bryant written by Allen Barra, the author suggests that the major polling services refused to elect Alabama as national champion for a third straight year because of Alabama Governor George Wallace's recent stand against integration[15]
- The 1967 Alabama team was billed as another national championship contender with star quarterback Kenny Stabler returning, but they stumbled out of the gate and tied Florida State, 37''37, at Legion Field. Alabama finished the year at 8''2''1, losing 20''16 in the Cotton Bowl Classic to Texas A&M, coached by former Bryant player and assistant coach Gene Stallings. In 1968, Bryant again could not match his previous successes, as the team went 8''3, losing to the Missouri, 35''10, in the Gator Bowl.
- The 1969 and 1970 teams finished 6''5 and 6''5''1 respectively. After these disappointing efforts, many began to wonder if the 57-year-old Bryant was washed up. He himself began feeling the same way and considered either retiring from coaching or leaving college football for the National Football League (NFL).
- For years, Bryant was accused of racism[16] for refusing to recruit black players. (He had tried to do so at Kentucky in the late 40s but was denied by then University President, Herman Donovan[17]). Bryant said that the prevailing social climate and the overwhelming presence of noted segregationist George Wallace in Alabama, first as governor and then as a presidential candidate, did not let him do this. He finally was able to convince the administration to allow him to do so, leading to the recruitment of Wilbur Jackson as Alabama's first black scholarship player who was recruited in 1969 and signed in the Spring of 1970. Junior-college transfer John Mitchell became the first black player for Alabama in 1971 because freshmen, thus Jackson, were not eligible to play at that time. They would both be a credit to the University by their conduct and play, thus widening the door and warming the welcome for many more to follow. By 1973, one-third of the team's starters were black, and Mitchell became the Tide's first black coach that season.[18][19][20][21]In 1971, Bryant began engineering a comeback. This included abandoning Alabama's old power offense for the relatively new wishbone formation. Darrell Royal, the Texas football coach whose assistant, Emory Bellard virtually invented the wishbone, taught Bryant its basics, but Bryant developed successful variations of the wishbone that Royal had never used.[citation needed ] The change helped make the remainder of the decade a successful one for the Crimson Tide.
- The 1971 Alabama Crimson Tide football team went undefeated in the regular season and rose to #2 in the AP Poll, but were dominated by top-ranked Nebraska in the Orange Bowl.
- Bryant's 1973 squad split national championships with Notre Dame, who defeated Alabama, 24''23, in the Sugar Bowl. The UPI thereafter moved its final poll until after the bowl games.
- The 1978 Alabama Crimson Tide football team split the national title with USC despite losing to the Trojans in September. The Trojans would lose later in the year to three-loss Arizona State and drop to number 3. At the end of the year, number 2 Alabama would beat undefeated and top-ranked Penn State in the Sugar Bowl, with the famous late-game goal line stand to preserve the victory.
- Bryant won his sixth and final national title in 1979 after a 24''9 Sugar Bowl victory over Arkansas.
- Bryant coached at Alabama for 25 years, winning six national titles (1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978, and 1979) and thirteen SEC championships. Bryant's win over in-state rival Auburn, coached by former Bryant assistant Pat Dye on November 28, 1981, was Bryant's 315th as a head coach, which was the most of any head coach at that time. His all-time record as a coach was 323''85''17.
- Personal life and death [ edit ] Bryant was a heavy smoker and drinker for most of his life, and his health began to decline in the late 1970s. He collapsed due to a cardiac episode in 1977 and decided to enter alcohol rehab, but resumed drinking after only a few months of sobriety. Bryant experienced a mild stroke in 1980 that weakened the left side of his body and another cardiac episode in 1981 and was taking a battery of medications in his final years.
- Shortly before his death, Bryant met with evangelist Robert Schuller on a plane flight and the two talked extensively about religion, which apparently made an impression on the coach, who felt considerable guilt over his mistreatment of the Junction Boys and hiding his smoking and drinking habits from his mother.
- After a sixth-place SEC finish in the 1982 season that included losses to LSU and Tennessee, each for the first time since 1970, Bryant, who had turned 69 that September, announced his retirement, stating, "This is my school, my alma mater. I love it and I love my players. But in my opinion, they deserved better coaching than they have been getting from me this year." His final loss was to Auburn in Bo Jackson's freshman season. His last game was a 21''15 victory in the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tennessee, over the University of Illinois. After the game, Bryant was asked what he planned to do now that he was retired. He replied, "Probably croak in a week."[22]
- Four weeks after making that comment, and just one day after passing a routine medical checkup, on January 25, 1983, Bryant checked into Druid City Hospital in Tuscaloosa after experiencing chest pain. A day later, when being prepared for an electrocardiogram, he died after suffering a massive heart attack.
- His personal physician, Dr. William Hill, said that he was amazed that Bryant had been able to coach Alabama to two national championships in what would be the last five years of his life, given the poor state of his health. First news of Bryant's death came from Bert Bank (WTBC Radio Tuscaloosa) and on the NBC Radio Network (anchored by Stan Martyn and reported by Stewart Stogel).[23] On his hand at the time of his death was the only piece of jewelry he ever wore, a gold ring inscribed "Junction Boys".[24] He is interred at Birmingham's Elmwood Cemetery. A month after his death, Bryant was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award, by President Ronald Reagan.[25] A moment of silence was held before Super Bowl XVII, played four days after Bryant's death.
- Defamation suit [ edit ] In 1962, Bryant filed a libel suit against The Saturday Evening Post for printing an article by Furman Bisher ("College Football Is Going Berserk") that charged him with encouraging his players to engage in brutality in a 1961 game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.[26] Six months later, the magazine published "The Story of a College Football Fix" that charged Bryant and Georgia Bulldogs athletic director and ex-coach Wally Butts with conspiring to fix their 1962 game together in Alabama's favor.[27] Butts also sued Curtis Publishing Co. for libel.[28] The case was decided in Butts' favor in the US District Court of Northern Georgia in August 1963, but Curtis Publishing appealed to the Supreme Court. As a result of Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts 388 U.S. 130 (1967),[29] Curtis Publishing was ordered to pay $3,060,000 in damages to Butts. The case is considered a landmark case because it established conditions under which a news organization can be held liable for defamation of a "public figure". Bryant reached a separate out-of-court settlement on both of his cases for $300,000 against Curtis Publishing in January 1964.
- Honors and awards [ edit ] Inducted into Omicron Delta Kappa at the University of Kentucky in 194912-time Southeastern Conference Coach of the YearOn October 7, 1988 the Paul W. Bryant Museum opened to the public. The museum chronicles the history of sports at The University of Alabama.The portion of 10th Street which runs through the University of Alabama campus was renamed Paul W. Bryant Drive.Three-time National Coach of the Year in 1961, 1971, and 1973.[1]:'517' The national coach of the year award was subsequently named the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award in his honor.In 1975, Alabama's Denny Stadium was renamed Bryant''Denny Stadium in his honor. Bryant would coach the final seven years of his tenure at the stadium, and is thus one of only four men in Division I-A/FBS to have coached in a stadium named after him. The others are Shug Jordan at Auburn, Bill Snyder at Kansas State and LaVell Edwards at BYU.Was named Head Coach of Sports Illustrated's NCAA Football All-Century Team.[30]He received 1.5 votes for the Democratic Party Presidential nomination at the extremely contentious 1968 Democratic ConventionIn 1979, Bryant received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. His Golden Plate was presented by Awards Council member Tom Landry.[31]In February 1983, Bryant was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Ronald Reagan.Bryant was honored with a U.S. postage stamp in 1996.Country singer Roger Hallmark recorded a tribute song in his honor.[32]Charles Ghigna wrote a poem that appeared in the Birmingham-Post Herald in 1983 as a tribute to Bryant.Super Bowl XVII was dedicated to Bryant. A moment of silence was held in his memory during the pregame ceremonies. Some of his former Alabama players were on the rosters of both teams, including Miami Dolphins nose tackle Bob Baumhower and running back Tony Nathan, and Washington Redskins running back Wilbur Jackson. Also, at the end of Leslie Easterbrook's performance of the National Anthem, several planes from Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama did the traditional missing-man formation over the Rose Bowl in his memory.The extinct shark Cretalamna bryanti was named after Bryant and his family in 2018, due to their contributions to the University of Alabama and McWane Science Center where the type material is held.[33]Legacy [ edit ] Many of Bryant's former players and assistant coaches went on to become head coaches at the collegiate level and in the National Football League. Danny Ford (Clemson, 1981), Howard Schnellenberger (Miami of Florida, 1983), and Gene Stallings (Alabama, 1992), one of the Junction Boys, all won national championships as head coaches for NCAA programs while Joey Jones, Mike Riley, and David Cutcliffe are active head coaches in the NCAA. Charles McClendon, Jerry Claiborne, Sylvester Croom, Jim Owens, Jackie Sherrill, Bill Battle, Bud Moore and Pat Dye were also notable NCAA head coaches.[34] Croom was the SEC's first African-American head coach at Mississippi State from 2004 through 2008.
- Super Bowl LV winning NFL head coach Bruce Arians was a running backs coach under Bryant in 1981''82.[35] Arians also served as a successful head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, leading them to just their second ever appearance in the NFC Championship Game in 2015.[36]
- Ozzie Newsome, who played for Bryant at Alabama from 1974 to 1977, played professional football for the Cleveland Browns for 13 seasons (1978-1990), and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1999. Newsome was the general manager of the Cleveland Browns-Baltimore Ravens from 1996 through 2018. Newsome was the GM of the Ravens' Super Bowl XXXV championship team in 2000, and their Super Bowl XLVII championship team in 2012.
- Jack Pardee, one of the Junction Boys, played linebacker in the NFL for 16 seasons with the Los Angeles Rams and Washington Redskins, was a college head coach at the University of Houston, and an NFL head coach with Chicago, Washington, and Houston.
- Bryant was portrayed by Gary Busey in the 1984 film The Bear, by Sonny Shroyer in the 1994 film Forrest Gump, Tom Berenger in the 2002 film The Junction Boys, and Jon Voight in the 2015 film Woodlawn.
- In a 1980 interview with Time magazine, Bryant admitted that he had been too hard on the Junction Boys and "If I were one of their players, I probably would have quit too."
- Head coaching record [ edit ] In his 38 seasons as a head coach, Bryant had 37 winning seasons and participated in a total of 29 postseason bowl games, including 24 consecutively at Alabama. He won 15 bowl games, including eight Sugar Bowls. Bryant still holds the records as the youngest college football head coach to win 300 games and compile 30 winning seasons.
- See also [ edit ] The Bear Bryant ShowList of presidents of the American Football Coaches AssociationList of college football coaches with 200 winsReferences [ edit ] ^ a b c Barra, Allen (2005). The Last Coach: The Life of Paul "Bear" Bryant . W.W. Norton & Company. ISBN 9780393059823. ^ a b c d e "Bear Bryant 'simply the best there ever was' ". ESPN.go.com. March 21, 2007. ^ Dunnavant, Keith (2005). Coach: The Life of Paul "Bear" Bryant. Macmillan. p. 53. ISBN 978-0-3123-4876-2. ^ "Bowl bid for Tide hinges on Pre-Flight tilt result". The Tuscaloosa News. November 27, 1942. p. 7 . Retrieved January 22, 2012 . ^ "SS California (1927)". ^ Tomberlin, Jason (October 21, 2009). "Bear Bryant in Chapel Hill". North Carolina Miscellany. UNC University Libraries . Retrieved January 15, 2012 . ^ Browning, Al (2001). I Remember Paul "Bear" Bryant . Cumberland House Publishing. pp. 100''101. ISBN 1-58182-159-X. ^ Phillips, B. J. (September 29, 1980). "Football's Supercoach". Time. Archived from the original on July 4, 2011 . Retrieved April 2, 2016 . ^ "FBS Football". NCAA.com. ^ "Recognized National Championships by Year". cfbdatawarehouse.com. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011 . Retrieved November 5, 2017 . ^ "ESPN Classic - Bear Bryant 'simply the best there ever was' ". www.espn.com. ^ Recognizable Class - Published in Kentucky Alumnus ^ Barra, Allen (Winter 2006). "Bear Bryant's Biggest Score". American Legacy: 58''64. Archived from the original on May 19, 2010. ^ "Bear's '58 team reunites, recalls Tide's turning point to success". ^ Barra, Allen (2005). The Last Coach: A Life of Paul "Bear" Bryant . ISBN 9780393059823. ^ Doyle, Andrew (March 1996). "Bear Bryant: Symbol for an Embattled South". Colby Quarterly. 32 (1): 80, 83 . Retrieved March 31, 2017 . ^ Miller, Patrick (2002). The Sporting World of the Modern South. University of Illinois Press. p. 272. ^ Durso, Joseph (January 27, 1983). "Bear Bryant Is Dead at 69; Won a Record 323 Games". The New York Times . Retrieved March 16, 2015 . ^ Harwell, Hoyt (June 6, 1983). "Bryant and blacks: Both had to wait". The Huntsville Times. Huntsville, Alabama. Archived from the original on February 13, 2015 . Retrieved March 16, 2015 . ^ Barra, Allen (November 15, 2013). "The Integration of College Football Didn't Happen in One Game". The Atlantic . Retrieved March 16, 2015 . ^ Puma, Mike. "Bear Bryant 'simply the best there ever was' ". SportsCentury. ESPN . Retrieved March 16, 2015 . ^ Callahan, Tom (February 7, 1983). "Tears Fall on Alabama". Time (subscription required). Archived from the original on December 5, 2008 . Retrieved July 23, 2012 . ^ Bear Bryant: 25 Years techography.com. Retrieved on October 17, 2008. ^ "ESPN Classic '' Goal-line stand propels Bryant's Tide to title". go.com. ^ Reagan, Ronald (February 23, 1983). "Remarks at the Presentation Ceremony for the Presidential Medal of Freedom" . Retrieved July 23, 2012 . ^ Bisher, Furman (October 20, 1962). "College Football is Going Berserk" (PDF) . The Saturday Evening Post . Retrieved May 27, 2013 . ^ Graham, Frank Jr. (March 23, 1963). "The Story of a College Football Fix" (PDF) . The Saturday Evening Post . Retrieved May 27, 2013 . ^ "Paul Bryant Facts". yourdictionary.com . Retrieved May 27, 2013 . ^ 388 U.S. 130 (1967) ^ Maisel, Ivan (August 16, 1999). "SI's NCAA Football All-Century Team". Sports Illustrated. ISSN 0038-822X . Retrieved November 15, 2007 . ^ "Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement". www.achievement.org. American Academy of Achievement. ^ "al.com: Alabama Football". al.com. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. ^ Ebersole, J.A.; Ehret, D.J. (2018). "A new species of Cretalamna sensu stricto (Lamniformes, Otodontidae) from the Late Cretaceous (Santonian-Campanian) of Alabama, USA". PeerJ. 6: e4229. doi:10.7717/peerj.4229. PMC 5764036 . PMID 29333348. ^ Weisband, Brett (March 30, 2015). "Bear Bryant's coaching tree". Saturday Down South. ^ "Bruce Arians tells story of time he stood up to Bear Bryant at Alabama". May 23, 2018. ^ "Bruce Arians didn't see Cardinals' blowout in NFC title game coming 'in a million years' ". July 19, 2016. ^ Meyers, Jeff (November 29, 1966). "Notre Dame is No. 1 in final UPI balloting". Reading Eagle . Retrieved June 5, 2021 . Further reading [ edit ] Keith Dunnavant, Coach: The Life of Paul "Bear" Bryant (New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 2005).Paul W. Bryant with John Underwood, Bear: The Hard Life and Good Times of Alabama's Coach Bryant (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1974).Mickey Herskowitz, The Legend of Bear Bryant, (Austin, Texas: Eakin Press, 1993).Jim Dent, The Junction Boys: How Ten Days in Hell with Bear Bryant Forged a Championship Team (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999).Tom Stoddard, Turnaround: Bear Bryant's First Year at Alabama (Montgomery, Alabama: Black Belt Press, 2000).Randy Roberts and Ed Krzemienski, Rising Tide: Bear Bryant, Joe Namath, and Dixie's Last Quarter (New York: Twelve, Hachette Book Group, 2013).James Kirby, Fumble: Bear Bryant, Wally Butts, and the Great College Football Scandal (New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanavich, 1986).Albert Figone, Cheating the Spread: Gamblers, Point Shavers and Game Fixers in College Football and Basketball (University of Illinois Press, 2012).Furman Bisher, "College Football is Going Berserk: A Game Ruled by Brute Force Needs a Housecleaning", Saturday Evening Post, October 20, 1962.Frank Graham, Jr. "The Story of a College Football Fix", Saturday Evening Post, March 23, 1963.John David Briley. 2006. Career in Crisis : Paul "Bear" Bryant And the 1971 Season of Change. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press.External links [ edit ] Paul W. Bryant MuseumBear Bryant at the College Football Hall of FameBear Bryant at Find a Grave"Paul 'Bear' Bryant" Archived June 21, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, Encyclopedia of AlabamaDigitized speeches and photographs of Coach Bryant from the University Libraries Division of Special Collections, The University of AlabamaLinks to related articles
- Jimmy Snyder (sports commentator) - Wikipedia
- American horse racing announcer & television sports announcer (1918''1996)
- BornDimetrios Georgios Synodinos
- ( 1918-09-09 ) September 9, 1918DiedApril 21, 1996 (1996-04-21) (aged 77)Resting placeUnion CemeterySteubenville, OhioNationalityAmericanOther namesJames George Snyder, Sr.Jimmy "the Greek" SnyderJames George Snyder Sr. (born Dimetrios Georgios Synodinos Roberto Kurtz, September 9, 1918 '' April 21, 1996), better known as Jimmy the Greek, was an American sports commentator and Las Vegas bookmaker. A regular contributor to the CBS program The NFL Today, Snyder predicted the scores of NFL games, which sports bettors used to determine the point spread. In January 1988, Snyder was fired by CBS after he made comments suggesting that breeding practices during slavery had led African-Americans to become superior athletes.
- Early life and career [ edit ] Snyder was born in Steubenville, Ohio. According to his New York Times obituary of April 22, 1996, Snyder's family roots were in the village of Tholopotami (ÎÎÎ>>oÏÎÏάμι), on the island of Chios in the Aegean Sea. As a teenager in Ohio, he became acquainted with bookmakers. When he was ten years old, he lost his mother when his uncle, driven mad by the loss of his wife, shot and killed Snyder's mother and aunt, who were walking home before killing himself. Snyder told his mother that he wanted to stay at the grocery store that his father was running and play rather than walk home with his mother, which he cited as likely saving his life but also as a reason he became a gambler.[1]
- According to his autobiography Jimmy the Greek, Snyder bet $10,000 on the 1948 election between Thomas Dewey and Harry S. Truman, getting 17''1 odds for Truman to win. In a later interview he indicated that he knew Truman was going to win because Dewey had a mustache and "American women didn't trust men with a mustache".[2]
- He invested money in oil drilling and coal mining, but those ventures failed. He lived in Las Vegas after moving there in the 1950s. He worked as an oddsmaker and gambler, such ad the Vegas Turf and Sportsroom.[3] In 1962, he was convicted of interstate transportation of bets and wagering information alongside conspiracy and violating the Federal Communications Act (having been caught giving a betting tip over the telephone). He was fined $50,000 fine and labeled a convicted felon. He worked in public relations for a time, including a couple of years working for Howard Hughes.[4] In the mid 1960s, he began a news column involving a sports betting line for the Las Vegas Sun, which eventually received widespread publication.[5]
- In 1974, he received a presidential pardon from Gerald Ford.[6]
- The NFL Today [ edit ] The sports line eventually led to a 12-year stint on the CBS Sunday morning show, The NFL Today, a pregame show for National Football League (NFL) games, starting in 1976. Known simply as "Jimmy the Greek," he would appear in segments with sportscaster Brent Musburger and predict the results of that week's NFL games. While already famous in gambling circles, his rough charm made him into a minor celebrity. He would have conflicts with both Musburger and Phyllis George, with a 1980 fight happening between Musberger and Snyder while George was brought to tears by a comment made by Snyder over her husband. While Musberger would make light of the fight (covered by the press), George would request to have Snyder tape his segment with Musberger in advance so that Snyder and George were not on the set at the same time.[7]
- As sports betting was illegal in most of the United States, and was at the time a general social taboo, his segment would not overtly mention betting or gambling. Instead, Snyder would predict the score of each game; for example, he would say the Los Angeles Raiders would beat the Los Angeles Rams by a score of 31''21 (ten points). This allowed bettors who knew the line of the game to be able to deduce his selection when betting the point spread: If the spread in the example game was the Raiders by five, bettors would know Snyder was picking the Raiders to beat it. The NFL was adamant about avoiding any official connections between gambling and the league, but NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle was an acquaintance of Snyder and made it clear that his work on CBS was acceptable.[8]
- Racial comments and dismissal [ edit ] On January 16, 1988, Snyder was fired by the CBS network (where he had been a regular on NFL Today since 1976) after making several questionable comments about African Americans during a lunchtime interview on January 15, 1988, with Ed Hotaling, a producer-reporter for NBC-owned WRC-TV, at Duke Zeibert's Washington, D.C., restaurant. Hotaling said that he had been doing interviews with various people in the restaurant for a program celebrating the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. and what they thought the next step in civil rights progress for African Americans should be. He put the question to Snyder. "It was all on the occasion of Martin Luther King's birthday," Hotaling said. "So I thought it was an appropriate, forward-looking question, and got a backward-looking answer."
- One of Snyder's more controversial responses to the question was that African Americans were naturally superior athletes at least in part because they had been bred to produce stronger offspring during slavery:[9][10]
- The black is a better athlete to begin with, because he's been bred to be that way. Because of his high thighs and big thighs that goes up into his back. And they can jump higher and run faster because of their bigger thighs. And he's bred to be the better athlete because this goes back all the way to the Civil War, when, during the slave trading, the big, the owner, the slave owner would breed his big black to his big woman so that he could have uh big black kid, see. That's where it all started![11]
- According to the New York Times obituary, Snyder expressed regret for his comments: "What a foolish thing to say." His CBS coworkers publicly stated that they did not agree with Snyder's theories and that they did not oppose CBS's decision to fire him. Black former NFL player Irv Cross said in the 30 for 30 documentary about Snyder that he had worked alongside Snyder for a long time and did not consider him to be a racist at all. In the same documentary, Frank Deford sympathetically noted that Jimmy often tried to sound more educated than he actually was and that his comments were basically him trying to make a point about a subject on which he knew nothing.[citation needed ]
- In the same WRC-TV interview, Snyder, whose remarks were termed "reprehensible" by CBS, also commented that the only sports realm in which white people then dominated was coaching and that if Black people were to "take coaching, as I think everyone wants them to, there is not going to be anything left for the white people." Snyder, during his remarks, emphasized he was not meaning to be "derogatory" but said the only thing then that "whites control are the coaching jobs '-- the Black talent is beautiful, it's great, it's out there. The only thing left for the whites is a couple of coaching jobs."[10][12]
- In 1991, Snyder sued the CBS network for age discrimination, defamation, and breach of contract.[13] Snyder maintained that his firing aggravated his personal health problems, according to court papers.[13] Snyder's attorney, Jeffery L. Liddle, stated that by "firing and repudiating Mr. Snyder, CBS quashed his dream, his dignity, and his spirit."[13] Snyder lost the case.[14]
- In popular culture [ edit ] Snyder appeared in a cameo in the 1981 comedy film The Cannonball Run as a bookie. In the movie, he offered 50''1 odds against Formula One driver Jamie Blake (played by Dean Martin) and gambler Morris Fenderbaum (played by Sammy Davis Jr.) winning the Cannonball coast-to-coast endurance race. Snyder and Dean Martin were childhood acquaintances in Steubenville, Ohio.
- On November 10, 2009, ESPN aired a show in their 30 for 30 series titled The Legend of Jimmy the Greek, which was produced by Fritz Mitchell. Commentary was provided by, among others, Brent Musburger, Irv Cross and Phyllis George from The NFL Today, plus Anthony Snyder (Jimmy's son), as well as his brother Johnny and sister Angie. The show also acknowledges his role in the first sportscasts of poker tournaments.
- Although Snyder was largely unknown outside of the United States, in 1974, his name achieved international renown. After beating George Foreman to regain the world heavyweight championship, Muhammad Ali, in the midst of an interview with David Frost, looked into the camera and addressed his doubters. "All of you bow" he said. "All of my critics crawl... All of you suckers bow... If you wanna know any damn thing about boxing, don't go to no boxing experts in Las Vegas, don't go to no Jimmy the Greek. Come to Muhammad Ali."
- He was parodied in sketches on Saturday Night Live and Second City Television, portrayed on the respective programs by Phil Hartman and John Candy. His comments about black athletes also inspired an appearance by Hans and Franz.
- Snyder is also parodied in an episode of The Simpsons titled "Lisa the Greek", which was named after him. A character modeled after him named "Smooth" Jimmy Apollo (played by Phil Hartman) is featured in the episode giving dubious predictions about football games.
- Snyder was referenced in an episode of The Golden Girls titled "And Ma Makes Three." Rose asks Dorothy if she is really going to dump her mother in order to spend alone time with her boyfriend, Dorothy responds with "Faster than CBS dumped Jimmy the Greek."
- Personal life [ edit ] Snyder and his wife Joan lost three of their five children to cystic fibrosis.[15]
- Snyder suffered from diabetes in his later years and died of a heart attack on April 21, 1996, in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the age of 77. He was buried at Union Cemetery in his native Steubenville.
- References [ edit ] ^ https://www.vault.si.com/.amp/vault/1980/09/08/hey-greek-who-do-you-like-mrs-synodinos-had-lofty-ambitions-for-little-dimitrios-he-would-play-the-violin-and-be-a-priest-or-a-lawyer-instead-he-became-jimmy-the-greek-oddsmaker-to-the-nation ^ https://greensboro.com/jimmy-the-greek-tragedy-life-after-tv-very-lonely/article_b834a6f6-2897-5450-a04e-1c08bc624fdb.html ^ https://apnews.com/article/6d6afb8494538c9cb822f86465d129fb ^ https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1996/apr/22/jimmy-the-greek-snyder-dies-vegas-oddsmaker/%3famp-content=amp ^ https://m.lasvegassun.com/news/1996/dec/26/book-to-reveal-facts-about-jimmy-the-greeks-life/ ^ https://www.nytimes.com/1974/12/20/archives/nevada-oddsmaker-gets-pardon-from-president.html ^ https://www.nypost.com/2022/05/18/beano-cooks-wild-tales-about-summerall-musburger-phyllis-george/amp/ ^ https://www.insidehook.com/article/sports/remembering-nfl-today-cbs/amp ^ Solomon, George (January 17, 1988). " 'Jimmy the Greek' Fired by CBS for His Remarks". The Washington Post . Retrieved May 28, 2018 . ^ a b Sharbutt, Jay (January 17, 1988). "Jimmy 'The Greek' Is Fired by CBS". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved May 28, 2018 . ^ Quoted verbatim from ESPN's 30 for 30 series titled The Legend of Jimmy the Greek which originally aired on November 10, 2009 ^ Wilmington Morning Star, Jimmy 'The Greek" Dies of Heart Failure, p. 5C ^ a b c The Milwaukee Sentinel, Jimmy the Greek sues over firing, Part 1, Page 3 ^ Text of Snyder vs CBS Inc, 204 A.D.2d 252 (1994), 612 N.Y.S.2d 147 is available from: Leagle ^ Jimmy the Greek faces his longest odds in a family fight for life; People, 26 October 1981 External links [ edit ] Jimmy Snyder at Find a GravePace, Eric, "Jimmy (the Greek) Snyder, 76, Is Dead; a Sports Oddsmaker," The New York Times, 1996-04-22.CNN SI item on JimmyCommercial with Jimmy the Greek for Tuffy Auto CentersArticle by Jonathan Rowe in Washington Monthly, April 1988 (Article examining the validity of Jimmy Snyder's racial comments. "Jimmy the Greek got it wrong but so did his critics")White, Jack E. (February 1, 1988). "Of Mandingo and Jimmy "the Greek" ". Time. Archived from the original on October 30, 2007 . Retrieved 2008-05-21 . Jimmy the Greek Comments that got him fired on YouTube
- Human Husbandry and Care | Witcher Wiki | Fandom
- Human Husbandry and CareRead for additional information. Base1
- Human Husbandry and Care is a book in the Blood and Wine expansion.
- It can only be obtained during the main quest La Cage au Fou, found on a stool at the first underground chamber once you enter Tesham Mutna Ruins with Regis.
- Journal entry The most important aspect of raising human livestock is to provide the herd with conditions that, on the one hand, guarantee their survival, but, on the other hand, do not extend too far beyond the minimum needed for that survival. It should be borne in mind that people are creatures bestowed with great intelligence, or rather cunning and instincts that allow them to gain as much as possible from their environment. In terms of husbandry, this means humans will always try to obtain more than we give them. It is recommended, therefore, to provide each individual with a place to sleep, a meal twice a day and permanent access to water. These conditions, which might seem overly luxurious to some, ensure the optimal production of high quality hemoglobin (more details on diet in later chapters). Also essential is access to air, without which humans die within minutes.There is no need to be concerned about the ability for human livestock to multiply in the conditions described above. If they are ensured a minimal existence and male and females are mixed, they will copulate irrespective of whether they are in captivity or not.It is worth mentioning here that there is a school of thought that suggests treating human livestock with greater freedom and care, including providing them with better quality fodder and a certain degree of freedom. This allegedly ensures a greater amount of favorable elements in the blood and makes it tastier, however, it is worth mentioning that this method of husbandry is much more difficult and requires emotional bonding techniques, which will be discussed in the following chapters.Associated quest La Cage au FouSee also Battery-Cage vs. Free-Range Humans
- Deion Sanders - Wikipedia
- American football player and coach (born 1967)
- Deion SandersSanders in 2015
- Position:Head coachBorn: ( 1967-08-09 ) August 9, 1967 (age 55) Fort Myers, Florida, U.S.Height:6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)Weight:198 lb (90 kg)High school:North Fort Myers (FL)College:Florida StateNFL Draft:1989 / Round: 1 / Pick: 5Atlanta Falcons (1989''1993)San Francisco 49ers (1994)Dallas Cowboys (1995''1999)Washington Redskins (2000)Baltimore Ravens (2004''2005)Prime Prep Academy (2012''2013)Head coachTriple A Academy (2015''2016)Head coachTrinity Christian School (TX) (2017''2020)Offensive coordinatorJackson State (2020''2022)Head coachColorado (2023''present)Head coachAs a player2 Super Bowl champion (XXIX, XXX)NFL Defensive Player of the Year (1994)6 First-team All-Pro (1992''1994, 1996''1998)2 Second-team All-Pro (1991, 1999)8 Pro Bowl (1991''1994, 1996''1999)NFL kickoff return yards leader (1992)NFL 1990s All-Decade TeamNFL 100th Anniversary All-Time TeamPFWA All-Rookie Team (1989)Atlanta Falcons Ring of HonorJim Thorpe Award (1988)2 Unanimous All-American (1987, 1988)Florida State Seminoles Jersey No. 2 honoredAs a coach2 SWAC champion (2021, 2022)2 SWAC East Division champion (2021, 2022)2 SWAC Coach of the Year (2021, 2022)Eddie Robinson Award (2021)Interceptions:54Interception yards:1,331Receptions:60Receiving yards:784Total touchdowns:22Career:27''6 (.818) (college)Player stats at NFL.com · PFRDeion Luwynn Sanders Sr. (born August 9, 1967) is an American football coach and former player who is the head coach at the University of Colorado Boulder. Nicknamed "Prime Time", he played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Atlanta Falcons, San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins, and Baltimore Ravens. Sanders was also a baseball outfielder for nine seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, and San Francisco Giants. He won two Super Bowl titles and made one World Series appearance in 1992, making him the only athlete to play in both a Super Bowl and a World Series.
- Sanders played college football at Florida State, where he won the Jim Thorpe Award as a senior. He was selected by the Falcons fifth overall in the 1989 NFL Draft and played football primarily at cornerback, while also making appearances as kick returner, punt returner, and wide receiver. During his career, he was named to eight Pro Bowls, received six first-team All-Pros, and made consecutive Super Bowl appearances in Super Bowl XXIX with the 49ers and Super Bowl XXX with the Cowboys, winning both. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame in 2011.
- After retiring as a player, Sanders pursued a sports analyst and coaching career. He served as the head football coach at Jackson State University from 2020 to 2022, leading the team to two consecutive Celebration Bowl appearances and the first undefeated regular season in school history. Near the end of the 2022 season, Sanders was named the head football coach at Colorado.
- Early life [ edit ] Sanders was born in Fort Myers, Florida to Connie Sanders and Mims Sanders. His parents divorced when Sanders was two years old. Sanders was raised by his mother and her new husband, Willie Knight, whom Sanders credits with being influential in his life. He attended North Fort Myers High School in North Fort Myers, and was a letterman and All-State honoree in football, basketball and baseball. In 1985, Sanders was named to the Florida High School Association All-Century Team which selected the top 33 players in the 100-year history of high school football in the state.
- The Kansas City Royals selected Sanders out of North Fort Myers High School in the sixth round of the 1985 Major League Baseball draft. However, he did not sign with the Royals.[1]
- College career [ edit ] Sanders enrolled at Florida State University and played three sports for the Florida State Seminoles: football, baseball, and track. Beginning his freshman year, he started in the Seminoles' secondary, played outfield for the baseball team that finished fifth in the nation, and helped lead the track and field team to a conference championship.
- Under head coach Bobby Bowden, Sanders was a two-time consensus All-American cornerback in 1987 and 1988, and a third-team All-American in 1986, intercepting 14 passes in his career, including three in bowl games, and managed to return one interception 100 yards for a touchdown breaking Fred Biletnikoff's interception return record by one yard. He won the Jim Thorpe Award in 1988. He was also a standout punt returner for Florida State, leading the nation in 1988 with his punt return average, and breaking the school's record for career punt return yards. Sanders made an interception with 5 seconds left to seal Florida State's 13''7 win over Auburn in the 1989 Sugar Bowl, during the 1988 postseason. Based on those accolades, his No. 2 jersey at Florida State was retired, in 1995. He finished his career with 126 punt returns for 1,429 yards and three touchdowns, as well as 14 interceptions, returning them for 287 yards and three scores. At the time of his graduation, Sanders's 14 interceptions was the second highest total in school history.[2] Bowden would later state that Sanders was his "measuring stick for athletic ability".[3]
- While playing baseball under head coach Mike Martin at Florida State, Sanders' batting average was .331 in 1986. He also compiled 27 stolen bases in 1987.[4]
- On May 16, 1987 (while the Metro Conference baseball and track championships were being played simultaneously in Columbia, South Carolina), Sanders played in the conference semifinal baseball game against Southern Mississippi, ran a leg of a 4 100 relay, then returned to play in the baseball championship game against Cincinnati.[5] Though Sanders's relay team did not place in that event, the FSU track team was the overall conference champion, and the baseball team won the conference title as well.
- Professional baseball career [ edit ] Baseball player
- Drafts and minor leagues [ edit ] Sanders played a nine-year, part-time baseball career, playing left and center field in 641 games with four teams.[6] He was originally drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the sixth round of the 1985 draft, but did not sign with them.[7] The New York Yankees selected Sanders in the 30th round of the 1988 Major League Baseball draft, and he signed with the team on June 22.[8] He batted .284 in 28 minor league games after signing.[9]
- The Yankees invited Sanders to spring training in 1989. Assigned to wear No. 71 as a uniform number, Sanders requested a single digit number. The Yankees gave him No. 30, the lowest number available, which offended many veteran players on the team.[9] Sanders opened the 1989 season with the Albany-Colonie Yankees of the Class AA Eastern League.[10] Though Sanders planned to leave the Yankees in July to attend NFL training camp,[11] he became embroiled in a contract dispute with the Falcons, and used the Yankees as leverage.
- New York Yankees (1989''1990) [ edit ] He received a promotion to the major leagues, and spent the summer with the Columbus Clippers of the Class AAA International League.[12] Sanders made his MLB debut on May 31, 1989.[13]
- During the 1989 season, he hit a major league home run and scored a touchdown in the NFL in the same week, becoming the only player ever to do so. Sanders is also the only man to play in both a Super Bowl and a World Series.[14] Sanders and Bo Jackson were the preeminent multi-sport athletes of their time, but prior to the 1990 season, they had never squared off against each other in a professional game. That changed in 1990, when Jackson and Sanders met five times on the diamond '-- the most memorable of which came on July 17, in what was billed as "The Bo and Prime Time Show". After Bo Jackson's three-homer night, Sanders said, "He's (Bo's) one of the best athletes who ever put on a uniform."[15]
- Sanders made the Yankees' Opening Day roster for the 1990 season.[16] On May 22, 1990, Sanders became involved in a dispute with Chicago White Sox catcher Carlton Fisk. Sanders started by stepping up to the plate with one out and a runner on third, drawing a dollar sign in the dirt before the pitch and then failed to run to first base after hitting a routine pop fly to shortstop, trotting back to the dugout instead. The Yankee fans booed, and Fisk told Sanders to "run the fucking ball out" and called Sanders a "piece of shit." Later in the game, Sanders told Fisk that "the days of slavery are over." Fisk was furious. "He comes up and wants to make it a racial issue, there's no racial issue involved. There is a right way and a wrong way to play this game."[17][18][19]
- By mid-July, Sanders expressed that he was unsure if he would remain with the Yankees or report to training camp for the upcoming NFL season.[20] He requested a $1 million salary for the 1991 season, and the Yankees ended negotiations on a contract extension with Sanders. He left the team, finishing the 1990 season with a .158 batting average and three home runs in 57 games.[21] In September 1990, the Yankees placed Sanders on waivers with the intention of giving him his release, as Yankees' general manager Gene Michael said that Sanders's football career was stunting his baseball development.[22]
- Atlanta Braves (1991''1994) [ edit ] Sanders later signed with the Atlanta Braves for the 1991 MLB season. On July 31, Sanders hit a key three-run homer to spark a comeback win against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the Braves' run to the National League West Division title. However, he had to leave the Braves the very next day to report to the Atlanta Falcons because of a clause in his NFL contract and missed the postseason. Before the 1992 season, Sanders reworked his NFL deal, whereby he still reported to the Falcons for training camp in August, but was allowed to rejoin the Braves for the postseason.
- Sanders batting for the Braves in 1993.
- During the 1992 season, his best year in the majors, Sanders hit .304 for the team, stole 26 bases, and led the NL with 14 triples in 97 games.[6] In four games of the 1992 World Series, Sanders batted .533 with four runs, eight hits, two doubles, and one RBI while playing with a broken bone in his foot. His batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, total bases and win probability added each led the team in the series. Despite Sanders's performance, the Braves ultimately lost to the Toronto Blue Jays in six games.[23] In Game 3, he narrowly avoided being a victim of what would have been only the second triple play in World Series history (following Bill Wambsganss's unassisted triple play in 1920). With Sanders on second base and Terry Pendleton on first, David Justice hit a deep fly ball to center field that Blue Jays center fielder Devon White unexpectedly caught with a leaping effort. Pendleton passed Sanders on the bases for the second out, but umpire Bob Davidson called Sanders safe after he scampered back to second base. Replays showed that Toronto third baseman Kelly Gruber tagged him on the heel before he returned to second.[24]
- Cincinnati Reds (1994''1995) [ edit ] The Braves traded Sanders to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for Roberto Kelly on May 30, 1994. The trade was finalized moments before the Braves and Reds were to play against each other.[25] In 46 games played, Sanders batted .277 and stole 19 bases. The following year, he played in 33 games for the Reds, recording a .240 batting average with 16 stolen bases before being traded to the San Francisco Giants.[26]
- San Francisco Giants (1995) [ edit ] Sanders was sent to the San Francisco Giants in an eight-player trade on July 21, 1995.[27] He batted .280, hit 5 home runs and stole 8 bases in 52 games for the Giants.[28]
- Cincinnati Reds (1997, 2001) [ edit ] In 1997, Sanders finished second in the NL with 56 stolen bases in 115 games while with the Cincinnati Reds before leaving baseball for three years.[6]
- Sanders returned to the Reds in 2001, but was released after playing in only 29 games and batting just .173.[6]
- Toronto Blue Jays [ edit ] Following his release from the Reds, he signed a minor league contract with the Toronto Blue Jays. Sanders was hitting .252 for the Syracuse SkyChiefs before the Washington Redskins found a loophole in his contract which compelled him to return to the Redskins. Sanders's football contract had been negotiated to allow for him to play both baseball and football, but the terms of the contract stated that Sanders could miss NFL training camp and the first few games of the season only if he were playing Major League Baseball. Since he was not then on an MLB roster, Sanders had to leave Syracuse and return to the Redskins so he would not violate his NFL contract. But before arriving at training camp, Sanders informed Redskins personnel he was retiring from professional baseball. In his final professional baseball game, Sanders hit a solo home run and an RBI single in Syracuse's 12''6 win over the Toledo Mud Hens.[29] As those in MLB and the NFL urged Sanders to concentrate on only one sport (similar to what they did with Bo Jackson), he would often explain, "football is my wife and baseball is my mistress."[30]
- [ edit ] Draft and Atlanta Falcons [ edit ] At the 1989 NFL Scouting Combine, Sanders ran a 4.20 and 4.29[31][32] second 40-yard dash. He was the fifth pick overall in the 1989 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons,[33] where he played until 1993. Despite fumbling (and recovering) his first NFL punt return (which was re-kicked on a penalty), Sanders ran for a touchdown on his second attempt of his first game. During his time in Atlanta, he intercepted 24 passes (including a career-high 7 in 1993), three of which he returned for touchdowns. In 1992, he also led the league in kickoff return yards (1,067), yards per return (26.7) and return touchdowns (2). On October 11, 1992, Sanders played in a Falcons game in Miami and then flew to Pittsburgh, hoping to play in the Braves' League Championship Series game against the Pirates that evening and become the first athlete to play in two professional leagues in the same day.[14] Sanders ultimately did not, however, appear in the baseball game that night.[14][34] Over his five years with the Falcons, Sanders scored ten touchdowns (three defensive, three kick returns, two punt returns, and two receptions). He is the only Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee from his draft's top five picks to not spend his entire career with the team that selected him.
- San Francisco 49ers [ edit ] After five seasons with Atlanta, Sanders signed on to play the 1994 season with the San Francisco 49ers. He had arguably his best season as a professional football player, recording six interceptions and returning them for an NFL-best 303 yards and three touchdowns. It was also the most interception-return-yardage in a single-season since Charlie McNeil in 1961. Two of his interceptions were returned for a gain of at least 90 yards, making him the first player to do this in NFL history. On October 16, 1994, Sanders made his dramatic return to the Georgia Dome in a 49er uniform. After getting into a scuffle with his former Falcon teammate Andre Rison, Sanders intercepted a pass from quarterback Jeff George and returned it 93 yards while mockingly staring down the entire Falcons sideline before high-stepping into the end zone. Sanders was later voted the 1994 NFL Defensive Player of the Year. In Super Bowl XXIX, he recorded an end zone interception in the fourth quarter as the 49ers won over the San Diego Chargers, earning him his first championship ring.
- Dallas Cowboys [ edit ] Following his successful season with the 49ers, Sanders, along with his agent Eugene Parker, courted numerous teams in need of a cornerback. The several teams in the "Deion Sweepstakes", as it was called by the media, were the Philadelphia Eagles, Oakland Raiders, Miami Dolphins, New Orleans Saints, San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys, who had lost their starting cornerback Kevin Smith to injury for the rest of the season.
- On September 9, 1995 (which fell in Week 2 of that NFL season), Sanders signed a lucrative contract with the Dallas Cowboys (seven years, $35 million with a $12.999 million signing bonus, because owner Jerry Jones was superstitious about the number 13),[35] essentially making him, at the time, the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL. Sanders later stated in his book Power, Money & Sex: How Success Almost Ruined My Life that the Oakland Raiders offered him more money than any other team, but he chose to play in Dallas for more time on the offensive side of the ball, a chance to win back-to-back Super Bowls, and because of his friendship with Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin. Arthroscopic surgery kept him sidelined until his debut in Week 9, which was once again in Atlanta against the Falcons; the Cowboys won, 28''13. He went on to help the Cowboys win their third title in four years in Super Bowl XXX against the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he returned a punt for 11 yards and caught a 47-yard reception on offense, setting up Dallas's first touchdown of the game and a 27''17 victory. Sanders played four more seasons with Dallas, earning Pro Bowl selection in all of them. On June 2, 2000, he was released in a salary-cap move.[36]
- Washington Redskins [ edit ] Soon after the Cowboys released Sanders, the Washington Redskins signed Sanders to a seven-year, $56 million contract.[37] At the end of the 2000 season and an above-average statistical year, Sanders abruptly retired in July 2001 after only playing one year with the Redskins.
- On December 23, 2002, the Redskins waived Sanders from the reserve/retired list in order to potentially allow him to play for the Oakland Raiders in the 2002''03 NFL playoffs. Had he passed through waivers unclaimed, he would have been able to sign a free-agent contract with any team and play during the season. However, on December 25, five teams (the Indianapolis Colts, Kansas City Chiefs, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Diego Chargers and Tennessee Titans), placed waiver bids for him, with the Chargers claiming him by having the highest waiver priority. Since it was too late in the season to be activated from the reserve/retired list, he was unable to play for the Chargers for the rest of the season.[38]
- Baltimore Ravens [ edit ] In 2004, Sanders announced his intention to come out of retirement after being convinced by his friend Joe Zorovich and Baltimore Ravens cornerback Corey Fuller and linebacker Ray Lewis. He signed a one-year deal with the Ravens to be a nickelback. Sanders chose to wear the number 37, which matched his age at the time, to preemptively let people know that he was well aware of his relative senior status as an NFL player (additionally, the number 21, used by Sanders throughout his career, was already being worn by Ravens Pro Bowl cornerback Chris McAlister). Against the Buffalo Bills in Week 7 of 2004, Sanders scored his ninth career interception return touchdown, moving him into a tie with Ken Houston and Aeneas Williams, and behind Rod Woodson (with 12), for second place all-time in the statistical category.
- Sanders played in every game of the 2005 season. The Ravens failed to qualify for the postseason for the second straight year and he retired in January 2006.
- NFL career statistics [ edit ] Defensive/Special team statistics [ edit ] YearTeamGamesTacklesInterceptionsFumblesPunt returnsKickoff returnsGPGSCombSoloAstSckPDIntYdsAvgLngTDFFFRYdsTDRetYdsAvgLngTDRetYdsAvgLngTD1989ATL151039'--'--0.0'--55210.422021002830711.068T13572520.77201990ATL161650'--'--0.0'--315351.082T20200292508.679T13985121.85001991ATL151549'--'--1.0'--611919.855T12100211708.12302657622.210011992ATL131266'--'--0.0'--310535.0550220013413.2140401,06726.79921993ATL111034'--'--0.0'--79113.0410100022110.5160716924.13101994SF1412363420.0'--630350.593T30100'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--1995DAL99262510.0'--23417.0340'--'--'--'--15454.043011515.01501996DAL1615333120.0'--231.52013151144.040'--'--'--'--'--1997DAL1312333030.0'--28140.550T1'--'--'--'--3340712.383111818.01801998DAL1111252230.0'--515330.671T101002437515.669211616.01601999DAL1414424020.06320.72010003034411.576148721.83102000WAS1615413830.0949122.83201200251857.45701''1''1.0''102004BAL928710.0538729.048T1'--'--'--'--5418.2230'--'--'--'--'--2005BAL164302730.0525728.5330'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--Career188157512254201.025531,33125.193910131512122,19910.48361553,52322.71003Offensive statistics [ edit ] YearTeamGamesReceivingRushingFumblesGPGSRecYdsAvgLngTDAttYdsAvgLngTDFumLost1989ATL15101''8''8.0''80'--'--'--'--'--001990ATL1616'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--001991ATL151511717.0170'--'--'--'--'--101992ATL131234515.03711''4''4.0''40321993ATL1110610617.7701'--'--'--'--'--001994SF1412'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--001995DAL9922512.5190294.580001996DAL16153647513.2411320.731221997DAL1312'--'--'--'--'--1''11''11.0''110101998DAL1111710014.3550'--'--'--'--'--101999DAL14144246.090'--'--'--'--'--102000WAS1615'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--'--312004BAL92'--'--'--'--'--1''10''10.0''100002005BAL164'--'--'--'--'--100.00010Career1881576078413.17039''14''1.681135Coaching career [ edit ] High school [ edit ] While continuing to work as an NFL analyst, Sanders became the head coach for the Prime Prep Academy which he co-founded. He stayed as the head coach for 2012 and 2013. In 2015, he was hired as the head coach for Triple A Academy where he was the coach for two seasons. In 2017, he became the offensive coordinator for Trinity Christian High School giving him the opportunity to coach his sons Shilo and Shedeur.[39]
- Jackson State [ edit ] On September 21, 2020, Deion Sanders became the 21st head coach of the Jackson State Tigers, a team in the second level of NCAA football, the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), that represents the historically black (HBCU) Jackson State University.
- In his first season in spring 2021, abbreviated and delayed from its normally intended fall 2020 schedule due to COVID-19 disruptions, he led the Tigers to a 4''3 record, with one win by forfeit. In the fall 2021 season, Sanders led the Tigers to the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) title and a program record of 11 wins, also being named the recipient of the fall 2021 Eddie Robinson Award as the season's top FCS head coach.[40]
- Sanders notably flipped the recruitment of defensive back Travis Hunter who was the number one overall recruit in the 2022 class. Hunter initially committed to Sanders' alma mater Florida State. The move was heralded by recruiting director Steve Wiltfong; he said it was "the biggest signing day moment in the history of college football" as Football Championship Subdivision programs and the HBCUs that compete at such a level of competition are not usual destinations for high level recruits out of high school.[41] Hunter was the first five star recruit to sign with an FCS program.[42]
- Sanders led Jackson State to a 27''6 record during his three seasons at the helm.
- Colorado [ edit ] On December 3, 2022, Sanders was named the head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes. He will begin coaching full time at the conclusion of the 2022 Jackson State season.[43]
- Head coaching record [ edit ] Legacy and honors [ edit ] During his 14-year NFL career, Sanders was a perennial All-Pro and one of the strongest pass defenders ever to play the game.
- Sanders also occasionally lined up with his team's offense. During the 1996 season, Sanders skipped the baseball season, concentrating on football, and attended the first NFL training camp of his career to better familiarize himself with the nuances of the wide receiver position. He became only the second two-way starter (after the Cardinals' Roy Green) in the NFL since Chuck Bednarik.
- Sanders is the only man to play in both a Super Bowl and a World Series,[14] to hit an MLB home run and score an NFL touchdown in the same week, and to have both a reception and an interception in the Super Bowl. He is one of seven players to win back-to-back Super Bowls with different teams. He is also one of two players to score an NFL touchdown six different ways (interception return, punt return, kickoff return, receiving, rushing, and fumble recovery).[46]
- During his career, Sanders intercepted 53 passes for 1,331 yards (a 25.1 yards per return average), recovered four fumbles for 15 yards, returned 155 kickoffs for 3,523 yards, gained 2,199 yards on 212 punt returns, and caught 60 passes for 784 yards. Sanders amassed 7,838 all-purpose yards and scored 22 touchdowns, nine interception returns, six punt returns, three kickoff returns, three receiving, and one fumble recovery. His 19 defensive and return touchdowns was an NFL record (now held by Devin Hester with 20 return touchdowns). In the postseason, Sanders added 5 more interceptions, as well as 3 receptions for 95 yards, 4 carries for 39 yards, and two touchdowns (one rushing and one receiving). He was selected to eight Pro Bowls and won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award in 1994.
- College Football News named Sanders No. 8 in its list of 100 Greatest College Football Players of All-Time.The Sporting News named Sanders No. 37 in their Top 100 Football Players of the Century released in 1999.ESPN named Sanders No. 74 in its list of the 100 Great Athletes of the Century released in 1999.NFL.com named Sanders No. 34 on NFL's Top 100 list released in late 2010NFL Network named "Deion Sanders and anyone" in their Top 10 greatest cornerback tandems in NFL history: "...Deion Sanders started opposite 13 other cornerbacks, and no matter who started on the other side the defense was better with No. 21 baiting QBs."On November 11, 2010, Sanders was inducted into the Atlanta Falcons' Ring of Honor.On May 17, 2011, Sanders was announced as a College Football Hall of Fame inductee.On August 6, 2011, Sanders was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame[47] in his first year of eligibility.On February 6, 2011, at Super Bowl XLV in Arlington, Texas, Sanders performed the pre-game coin toss.
- Sanders did not attend classes or take final exams during the fall semester of his senior year at Florida State, yet played in the Sugar Bowl against Auburn. This caused the Florida State Legislature to create the 'Deion Sanders rule', whereby a football athlete at any state university could not play in a bowl game if he failed to successfully complete the previous semester.[48]
- In 1995, he signed with the Dallas Cowboys for a minimum yearly base salary and a nearly $13 million signing bonus in an attempt to circumvent the NFL's salary cap. This caused the NFL to institute its own 'Deion Sanders rule' whereby a prorated portion of a player's signing bonus counted against the salary cap.
- Media appearances and pop culture fame [ edit ] Sanders became known for sporting a "do-rag" or bandana and for his high-stepping into the end zone followed by his touchdown dance celebrations. At the end of his Hall of Fame speech, he put a bandana on his bust.[49]
- His "Prime Time" nickname was given to him by a friend and high-school teammate, Florida Gators defensive back Richard Fain. The two played pickup basketball games together during the prime time television hour, and Sanders's athletic display during those games earned him the nickname. His other nicknames are "Lil Nicky" (for comparing himself with NCAA coaching great Nick Saban) and "Neon Deion".[50]
- Sanders, known for his custom-made showy suits and flashy jewelry, frequently capitalized on his image. On December 26, 1994, Sanders released Prime Time, a rap album on MC Hammer's Bust It Records that featured the singles "Must Be the Money" and "Prime Time Keeps on Tickin'". The album and singles didn't chart in the Top 40. Following his first Super Bowl victory with the San Francisco 49ers, Sanders hosted Saturday Night Live, broadcast on February 18, 1995. Sanders performed a medley of songs from Prime Time, including "Must Be the Money" and "Heidi Heidi Hey".
- As Hammer's friend, Sanders appeared in the "2 Legit 2 Quit" music video, and his alter-ego "Prime Time" showed up in Hammer's "Pumps and a Bump" music video. Hammer being a big sports fan, launched a new enterprise during his career called Roll Wit It Entertainment & Sports Management which boasted such clients as Evander Holyfield, Deion Sanders and Reggie Brooks.[51] In 1995, Hammer released "Straight to My Feet" with Sanders, from the Street Fighter soundtrack (released in December 1994). The song charted No. 57 in the UK.
- In January 1995, Sanders became the official spokesman of the Sega Sports line of video games.[52] Sanders has also appeared in television commercials for such companies as Nike, Pepsi, Burger King, Pizza Hut and American Express. These included a Road Runner Pepsi ad, with Sanders as the Road Runner with Wile E. Coyote targeting him, and a Pizza Hut commercial in which he appeared with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. He also makes a cameo as himself in the film Celtic Pride.
- After retiring from the NFL in 2001, Sanders worked as a pre-game commentator for CBS' The NFL Today until 2004, when contract negotiations failed. Sanders turned down a 30% salary increase demanding to be paid $2.5 million, the highest of any NFL TV analyst. He was replaced by Shannon Sharpe. During Sanders's run, he participated in several sketches. The first was "Primetime and 21st", a mock street corner where Sanders (not yet a regular panelist) would give his opinions. Another was his "Sanders Claus" persona, one of numerous sketches that involved young kids in football jerseys, representing NFL players, receiving a sarcastic gift from Sanders. Sanders actually debuted as "Sanders Claus" in a set of Nike commercials.[53]
- Sanders as an NFL Network analyst in 2008.
- Sanders frequently made guest appearances on ESPN, especially on the ESPN Radio Dallas affiliate, and briefly hosted a show called The New American Sportsman. He also hosted the 2002 Miss USA pageant.
- Sanders also was co-host of the 2004 GMA Dove Awards broadcast, taped in late April 2004, and slated for air on UPN in May 2004. When negotiations with fellow Viacom property CBS failed (see above) two weeks before the broadcast, and he signed a deal with ESPN, UPN promptly canceled the broadcast, and the show aired on the i Network in December 2004 (both UPN and CBS are now owned by CBS Corporation).
- Sanders works at NFL Network as an analyst on a number of the network's shows. Prior to the Sunday night game, Sanders, alongside host Rich Eisen and Steve Mariucci, breaks down all the action from the afternoon games on NFL GameDay. At the conclusion of all the action on Sunday, Sanders, Mariucci, Michael Irvin and host Fran Charles recap the day's action with highlights, analysis and postgame interviews. For the 2010 season, Sanders joined Eisen, Mariucci and Marshall Faulk on the road for Thursday Night Kickoff presented by Lexus, NFL Network's two-hour pregame show leading into Thursday Night Football. The group broadcasts live from the stadium two hours prior to all eight live Thursday Night Football games and returns for the Sprint halftime show and Kay Jewelers postgame show. Sanders also has a segment called "Let's Go Primetime" on NFL Network.
- In 2008, Sanders and his wife starred in the reality show Deion & Pilar: Prime Time Love, centering on them and their five children living in the small town of Prosper, Texas. That same year, he appeared with his family on Celebrity Family Feud in the July 22, 2008 episode, competing against Bruce and Kris Jenner, Kim, Kourtney and Khlo(C) Kardashian.
- Sanders appeared as himself in the fourth season of The League, playing a prospective buyer of Andre's apartment.[54]
- In 2014, Sanders was featured in an episode of Running Wild with Bear Grylls, where he and Grylls hiked in the desert of southern Utah for two days, rappelling down canyon walls and later climbing up a mesa.[55]
- Sanders served as an alumni captain for Team Sanders in the 2014 Pro Bowl.[56] He also re-joined CBS Sports as a studio analyst for Thursday games only. He still works for the NFL Network on Sundays.
- In 2015, he competed against singer Justin Bieber in an episode of Spike's Lip Sync Battle and won with performances of "Play That Funky Music" by Wild Cherry and "Like a Virgin" by Madonna.
- Sanders and his girlfriend Tracey Edmonds were featured together on an episode of Tiny House Nation that first aired on January 21, 2017.[57]
- In 2018, Sanders appeared in disguise on Undercover Boss to meet youth coaches and the less fortunate, which aired on CBS.[58]
- Sanders is featured in the docuseries Coach Prime, which follows his exploits as a college football head coach.[59]
- Leon Sandcastle [ edit ] Leon Sandcastle is a fictional character, depicted as a disguise for Sanders. The Sandcastle character was created for an NFL Network commercial. Sandcastle first appeared in a Super Bowl commercial in 2013.[60] The commercial depicted Sanders suggesting he could still play at a level higher than the rookies in the 2013 NFL Draft and deciding to make a comeback. He dons an afro, assumes the impromptu alias "Leon Sandcastle" and enters the draft, going through the full NFL Scouting Combine. For action shots, Ball State cornerback Andre Dawson served as the stunt double.[61] The commercial features Sandcastle being drafted 1st overall in the draft by the Kansas City Chiefs. A voiceover then instructs viewers to watch NFL Network for offseason and draft coverage, noting in deadpan at the end that "the next rookie sensation probably won't be Leon Sandcastle."[62]
- Despite not being an actual prospect for the 2013 NFL Draft, several combine videos have been created. The most prominent of these videos is Sandcastle's "4.2 40 yard dash".[63] The NFL also created a "Combine Profile" for Sandcastle, as they do with actual prospects.[64] In Rich Eisen's 2013 annual 'Run Rich Run' event, Sandcastle appeared giving tips to Eisen.[65] Sandcastle's combine profile reveals that Sandcastle attended Primetime University.[64][66] The commercial had a positive social media response as "Leon Sandcastle" was trending on Twitter worldwide, shortly after the commercial's airing.[67] Sandcastle was also put into Madden NFL 13 as a card in the 'Ultimate Team' game mode.[68] For April Fools' Day, 2013, NFL.com reported that Sandcastle would be the Chiefs' first overall selection.[69]
- The character developed marketing value and continued to appear in headlines, such as a fake endorsement deal with Under Armour[70] and continued to make other appearance at NFL events.[71] Sandcastle also had football trading cards produced and inserted into products by Topps and Panini America.[72]
- Other business and entertainment ventures [ edit ] In addition to his sports career, Sanders also had a career in music as a rapper. He released his debut album in 1994, Prime Time, through Hammer's Bust It Records label via Capitol Records. In 1995, Hammer released "Straight to My Feet" with Sanders, from the Street Fighter soundtrack (released in December 1994). The song charted No. 57 in the UK.
- Sanders moved on to other ventures after his retirement. In 2003, Sanders took interest in Devin Hester, a return specialist from Miami. Sanders mentored Hester, counseling and advising him during various points of his collegiate career. The Chicago Bears drafted Hester in the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft. Since then, Hester has broken the record for the most total returns for touchdowns in NFL history with 15 punt returns and 5 kick off returns. Hester has cited Sanders as one of his major inspirations and idols, and thanked him for his training and advice. Hester, also known as "Anytime", occasionally performs Sanders's signature touchdown dance and high-steps in homage to his mentor.[73][74][75]
- Sanders also tried to adopt a high school running back, Noel Devine, who was one of the top recruits in 2007. Sanders was advised against this, but responded, "He doesn't have parents; they died. God put this young man in my heart. This is not about sports. This is about a kid's life." He now mentors Devine, and was a factor in Devine's extended wait to sign a letter-of-intent to West Virginia University. Devine eventually signed to play football for the Mountaineers.Sanders has also been a mentor to Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Michael Crabtree, as well as former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver, Dez Bryant.
- In January 2004, Sanders was hired as an assistant coach to the Dallas Fury, a women's professional basketball team in the National Women's Basketball League, even though Sanders had never played organized basketball either in college or the professional level.[76]
- On September 2, 2005, in response to the after-effects of Hurricane Katrina, Sanders challenged all professional athletes in the four major sports to donate $1,000 each to relief efforts, hoping to raise between $1.5 and $3 million total. Sanders said "Through unity, we can touch thousands....I have friends and relatives that feel this pain. Help in any way you can."[77]In April 2006, Sanders became an owner of the Austin Wranglers, an Arena Football League team.[78]
- Sanders has occasionally served as a celebrity spokesperson, such as representing Monitronics, a security system firm, at an industry conference in the spring of 2010.[79]
- In 2012, he co-founded Prime Prep Academy, a grouping of charter schools in Texas. The school was plagued by ethical, legal, and financial issues, and closed on January 30, 2015, due to financial insolvency.
- Discography [ edit ] Personal life [ edit ] Deion Sanders has been married twice: to Carolyn Chambers (1989''1998), with whom he has two children; and Pilar Biggers-Sanders (1999''2015), with whom he has three children.[80]
- Sanders is a Christian. In 1997, Sanders was going through a dark time in his life when his first marriage was ending. "I was going through the trials and tribulations of life. I was pretty much running on fumes. I was empty, no peace, no joy. Losing hope with the progression of everything." He also said that money, sex, and other things did not solve his problems.[81] Sanders attempted suicide by driving his car off of a cliff. However, he survived the 30 to 40 foot drop. Sanders said, "I finally just got on my knees and gave it all to the Lord." He has also said, "Sports is sports, it's a game. My faith is everything."[82]
- Sanders, along with J. M. Black, published his autobiography, Power, Money & Sex: How Success Almost Ruined My Life (World Publishing, 1998). The book was inspired after he began counseling with Bishop T. D. Jakes. He notes his agent Eugene E. Parker as another person who influenced his life.
- Sanders has made an effort to coach at several different stops. His first coaching position, in 2012, was with the charter school Prime Prep Academy, which he helped found. Sanders was later fired as the coach after a school staffer alleged Sanders assaulted the staffer. Sanders denied the claim. In 2015, Sanders was named the CEO of FOCUS Academies and granted the head coaching position at the Triple A academy, where Sanders led them to face his alma mater North Fort Myers High School in Florida, a game featuring a key matchup between several ranked recruits.[83] On August 17, 2017, it was announced by CBS Sports that Sanders would be switching coaching positions at a new high school to become the offensive coordinator at Trinity Christian-Cedar Hill high school in Cedar Hill, Texas. The move was significant for Sanders, as both his sons played at the high school. Sanders served on the staff as offensive coordinator under former Dallas Cowboy Aveion Cason.[84]
- Sanders's son Shilo played defensive back for South Carolina for two seasons before transferring to Jackson State University in December 2020.[85] A younger son, Shedeur, is a quarterback who was verbally committed to Florida Atlantic, but flipped his commitment to Jackson State. He enrolled at Jackson State in January 2021, redshirting the rescheduled spring 2021 season before winning the starting job that summer. After leading his father's team to its first SWAC title since 2007 in the fall 2021 season, Shedeur was named that season's recipient of the Jerry Rice Award as the top FCS freshman.[86]
- In 2020, Sanders graduated from Talladega College with a bachelor's degree in Business Administration with an emphasis on organizational management.[87]
- In 2021, Sanders underwent several foot surgeries and had two toes on his left foot amputated as a result of blood clots.[88]
- See also [ edit ] List of Major League Baseball annual triples leadersList of athletes who came out of retirementList of athletes who played in Major League Baseball and the National Football LeagueExplanatory notes [ edit ] ^ Sanders missed three conference games during the 2021 season while recovering from foot surgery, all of which Jackson State won. Gary Harrell acted as interim head coach in his absence. Jackson State credits Sanders as the head coach of record for all games.[44][45] References [ edit ] ^ "Deion enough to njoyed 'Prime' moments on diamond". Major League Baseball . Retrieved February 5, 2015 . ^ "Florida State Football Guide". Issuu.com . Retrieved August 16, 2012 . ^ S. L. Price (August 25, 1997). "Cut Off From the Herd". Sports Illustrated. ^ "The Life and Career of Deion Sanders (Complete Story)". September 22, 2020. ^ "ESPN Classic - Prime Time". www.espn.com . Retrieved March 6, 2017 . ^ a b c d "Deion Sanders Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference . Retrieved January 26, 2021 . ^ "6th Round of the 1985 MLB June Amateur Draft". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference . Retrieved January 26, 2021 . ^ "SANDERS TO SIGN WITH YANKS; PLAY 2 SPORTS". Sun Sentinel. Archived from the original on June 28, 2021 . Retrieved November 17, 2021 . ^ a b "Yankees Vets Tell Sanders: You'Ve Got Wrong Number". Sun Sentinel. Archived from the original on June 30, 2021 . Retrieved November 17, 2021 . ^ "Football Flash No Flash In Pan". The New York Times. May 18, 1989 . Retrieved February 5, 2015 . ^ "SPORTS PEOPLE '' FOOTBALL '' Sanders N.F.L. Bound". The New York Times. April 14, 1989 . Retrieved February 5, 2015 . ^ "SPORTS PEOPLE '' FOOTBALL '' Deion Sanders 'Fed Up' ". The New York Times. August 29, 1989 . Retrieved February 5, 2015 . ^ "Sanders Dives Into Prime Time as He Makes Yankee Debut". The New York Times. June 1, 1989 . Retrieved February 5, 2015 . ^ a b c d "ESPN Classic '' Where Sanders goes, teams win". ESPN . Retrieved October 18, 2010 . ^ Martinez, Michael (July 18, 1990). "Wondering if Sanders Will Stay? So Is He". The New York Times . Retrieved February 16, 2022 . ^ "Yankees, Sanders Have a Parting". The New York Times. July 31, 1990 . Retrieved February 5, 2015 . ^ Kass, John. When it comes to heart, truth hurts Sanders. Chicago Tribune. January 30, 2011. Retrieved August 11, 2011. ^ Donnelly, Joe. Fisk's Outburst at Sanders Was One for Yankee Pride. Newsday. May 24, 1990. Retrieved August 11, 2011. ^ Forum Clip: "Carlton Fisk on Deion Sanders" Archived August 20, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. The Forum Channel. February 2005. Retrieved August 11, 2011. ^ "Is Sanders Staying? He's Puzzled". The New York Times. July 18, 1990 . Retrieved February 5, 2015 . ^ "Yankees, Sanders Have a Parting". The New York Times. July 31, 1990 . Retrieved February 5, 2015 . ^ "BASEBALL '' Deion Sanders Placed On Waivers by Yanks '' NYTimes.com". The New York Times. September 25, 1990 . Retrieved February 5, 2015 . ^ "1992 World Series - Toronto Blue Jays over Atlanta Braves (4-2)". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference . Retrieved January 26, 2021 . ^ "World Series champ speaks about tomahawks and triple plays" Archived November 17, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Western Wheel, August 20, 2008 ^ "Sanders Traded for Kelly as Braves, Reds Seek a Fit". Los Angeles Times. May 30, 1994 . Retrieved September 21, 2022 . ^ "Cincinnati Reds: A look back at the career of Deion Sanders". Blog Red Machine. February 3, 2019 . Retrieved September 21, 2022 . ^ "BASEBALL; Deion Sanders Goes to Giants". The New York Times. Associated Press. July 22, 1995. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved September 21, 2022 . ^ "Deion Sanders Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 21, 2022 . ^ "Deion's contract presents major dilemma". USA Today. July 27, 2001. ^ "Houston Chronicle". Sanders knows Bo's woes. ^ "Deion Sanders, Combine Results, CB - Florida State". ^ "Prime's Time: The True Story of Deion's Mythical 40-Yard Dash". National Football League . Retrieved April 2, 2017 . ^ "NFL Draft History". Football.about.com. June 14, 2010 . Retrieved October 18, 2010 . ^ "October 11, 1992 National League Championship Series (NLCS) Game 5, Braves at Pirates". Baseball-Reference.com. October 11, 1992 . Retrieved October 18, 2010 . ^ "Taking Big Hacks In Free Agency Can Produce Foul Balls". DallasCowboys.com. March 18, 2016 . Retrieved March 18, 2016 . ^ "Cowboys Make Deion Free Man". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. June 3, 2000 . Retrieved March 18, 2016 . ^ "How $100 Million Becomes $62.2 Million". The Washington Post. June 2000. ^ Sandomir, Richard (December 25, 2002). "Sanders's Comeback Bid Ended By Waivers Claims". The New York Times . Retrieved December 16, 2019 . ^ https://texashsfootball.com/deion-sanders-helps-put-trinity-christian-in-prime-time-again-with-another-state-title/ ^ Haley, Craig (December 14, 2021). "Jackson State coach Deion Sanders wins 2021 FCS Eddie Robinson Award". NCAA.com . Retrieved December 15, 2021 . ^ "Travis Hunter to Jackson State: In all-time stunner, Deion Sanders steals No. 1 prospect from Florida State". CBS Sports . Retrieved December 15, 2021 . ^ "Collins Hill's Travis Hunter signs with Jackson State". ajc . Retrieved September 18, 2022 . ^ Wells, Adam (December 3, 2022). "Deion Sanders Officially Named Colorado Head Coach After Jackson State's SWAC Title". Bleacher Report . Retrieved December 3, 2022 . ^ Arend, Alek (November 20, 2021). "Look: Deion Sanders Is Back On The Sideline For Jackson State's Game". The Spun by Sports Illustrated. ^ "NCAA Statistics". National Collegiate Athletic Association . Retrieved December 27, 2021 . ^ Brandt, Gil. "Ten things you didn't know about Deion Sanders". NFL. National Football League . Retrieved January 28, 2017 . ^ "Deion Sanders HOF Speech". Video Entry. Archived from the original on December 22, 2021 . Retrieved October 19, 2011 . ^ Kallestad, Brent (June 3, 1995). "Deion Changes the Rules Again : Pro football: This time, however, it's for better education of athletes with new standards in Florida". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved January 29, 2017 . ^ "NFL Videos: 2011 HOF: Deion Sanders". National Football League. August 6, 2011 . Retrieved August 16, 2012 . ^ Frohman, Jimmy. "11 Most Awesome NFL Player Nicknames". Phactual . Retrieved January 24, 2017 . ^ "Show Biz Brothers". Ebony. October 1990 . Retrieved August 16, 2012 . ^ "CES ProNews Flashes!". GamePro. No. 68. IDG. March 1995. p. 156. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nicsqrv_i0M ^ " "The League" 12.12.12 (TV Episode 2012)". IMDb . Retrieved February 5, 2015 . ^ "Running Wild with Bear Grylis '' Deion Sanders". NBC . Retrieved July 13, 2015 . ^ "2014 Pro Bowl features new format for NFL all-star game". National Football League . Retrieved September 15, 2013 . ^ "Deion Sanders Goes Tiny". FYI. A & E Television Networks . Retrieved January 22, 2017 . ^ "Deion Sanders Stars On Undercover Boss". CBS News . Retrieved June 29, 2022 . ^ Li, Joyce (October 12, 2022). "Watch the Teaser Clip for Amazon Prime's New College Football Docuseries on Coach Deion Sanders". Hypebeast . Retrieved December 21, 2022 . ^ Joel Thorman (February 3, 2013). "Super Bowl commercials 2013: Deion Sanders is Leon Sandcastle, the Chiefs No. 1 pick". Arrowhead Pride. SB Nation . Retrieved February 26, 2013 . ^ Mike Foss (February 7, 2013). "The true identity of Leon Sandcastle (NOT Deion Sanders)". USA Today . Retrieved February 26, 2013 . ^ "Super Bowl ad touts the Chiefs' No. 1 pick, 'Leon Sandcastle' ". Kansas City Star. February 3, 2013 . Retrieved February 26, 2013 . ^ "Leon Sandcastle runs the 40-yard dash". National Football League. February 25, 2013 . Retrieved February 26, 2013 . ^ a b c "CB21 Leon Sandcastle". National Football League . Retrieved February 26, 2013 . ^ Tim Daniels (February 26, 2013). "NFL Combine 2013 Video: Watch Leon Sandcastle Race Rich Eisen in 40-Yard Dash". Bleacher Report . Retrieved February 26, 2013 . ^ Ernie Padaon (February 22, 2013). "Leon Sandcastle Profile On NFL.Com". Bolt Beat. Sports Illustrated . Retrieved February 26, 2013 . ^ Gina Antoniello (February 5, 2013). "Super Bowl Ads Featuring Professional Athletes: A Win-Win for Brands". International Business Times . Retrieved February 26, 2013 . ^ David Light (February 24, 2013). "LEON SANDCASTLE SNEAKS HIS WAY INTO MADDEN 13". Go Madden . Retrieved February 26, 2013 . ^ "Leon Sandcastle will be drafted No. 1 overall by Chiefs". National Football League. April 1, 2013 . Retrieved April 1, 2013 . ^ Nudd, Tim (April 11, 2013). "Leon Sandcastle Signs Fake but Funny Endorsement Deal With Under Armour". Ad Week . Retrieved April 27, 2013 . ^ Tang, Dennis (April 26, 2013). "Style Report: The NFL Draft's Best Look...on a 300-Pound Lineman?". GQ . Retrieved April 27, 2013 . ^ Cracknell, Ryan (December 6, 2016). "Primetime Guide to Collecting Leon Sandcastle Cards". Cardboard Connection . Retrieved December 6, 2016 . ^ "Pilot episode is prime-time". Chicago Tribune. [permanent dead link ] ^ "Hester wins second straight player of week award". Archived from the original on September 26, 2007 . Retrieved December 18, 2006 . ^ "Q&A: Devin Hester". Chicago Tribune. [permanent dead link ] ^ "ESPN: Where Sanders goes, teams win". ESPN. August 9, 1967 . Retrieved October 18, 2010 . ^ "Deion challenges all pros to donate $1K to Katrina relief". ESPN.com. September 2, 2005 . Retrieved February 18, 2022 . ^ Prime Time joins Wranglers '' ArenaFootball.com '-- The Official Web site of the Arena Football League AFL Archived January 17, 2009, at the Wayback Machine ^ The Street. "Monitronics Welcomes NFL Stars At ISC West". Archived from the original on June 15, 2012. ^ Dinneen JE. Deion Sanders. Great Lives from History: African Americans [Internet]. 2021 Sep 3 [cited 2022 Dec 9];95. Available from: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=brb&AN=55597816&site=ehost-live ^ "Deion Sanders Tried Everything, But Only Jesus Satisfied". Faith on the Field . Retrieved December 7, 2022 . ^ Claybourn, Cole. "Deion Sanders named head coach at Colorado: 'God chose me. For that, I thank Him' ". Sports Spectrum . Retrieved December 7, 2022 . ^ Stephens, Mitch (April 19, 2016). "Deion Sanders to bring Triple A Academy football team to his alma mater, North Fort Myers". Max Preps . Retrieved November 16, 2017 . ^ Skiver, Kevin. "Deion Sanders is switching to offense to coach his sons in high school". CBS Sports . Retrieved November 16, 2017 . ^ Bezjak, Lou. "Shilo Sanders enters transfer portal, leaving South Carolina". The State . Retrieved December 15, 2020 . ^ Haley, Craig (December 13, 2021). "Jackson State QB Shedeur Sanders wins 2021 FCS Jerry Rice Award". NCAA.com . Retrieved December 15, 2021 . ^ Harrell, Sumner (August 16, 2020). "Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders graduates from Talladega College". WBMA. ^ "Jackson State Tigers football coach Deion Sanders says he had two toes amputated after medical setback". ESPN.com. Associated Press. March 8, 2022 . Retrieved March 8, 2022 . External links [ edit ] Official website Jackson State profileDeion Sanders at GlorioustalksCareer statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors)Career statistics and player information from NFL.com · Pro Football ReferenceDeion Sanders at IMDbDeion Sanders'--awards, championships, and honors
- The Blind Side (film) - Wikipedia
- 2009 film by John Lee Hancock
- The Blind Side is a 2009 American biographical sports drama film written and directed by John Lee Hancock. Based on the 2006 book of the same name by Michael Lewis,[2][3] the film tells the story of Michael Oher, an American football offensive lineman who overcame an impoverished upbringing to play in the National Football League (NFL) with the help of his adoptive parents Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy. It stars Sandra Bullock as Leigh Anne Tuohy, Tim McGraw as Sean Tuohy, and Quinton Aaron as Oher.
- The film was a commercial success, grossing $309 million on a $29 million budget. Despite mixed reviews from critics, Bullock's performance was universally praised, leading to her winning the Academy Award for Best Actress. Bullock also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture '' Drama and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role. The film also received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
- Plot [ edit ] Seventeen-year-old Michael "Big Mike" Oher has been in foster care with different families in Tennessee, due to his mother's drug addiction, but every time he is placed in a new home, he runs back to her. His friend's father, on whose couch Mike has been sleeping, asks Burt Cotton, the football coach of Wingate Christian School, to help enroll his son and Mike. Impressed by Mike's size and athleticism, Cotton gets him admitted despite his poor academic record. Later, Michael is befriended by a younger student named Sean Tuohy, Jr./"SJ". SJ's mother, Leigh Anne, is a strong-minded interior designer and the wife of wealthy businessman Sean Sr.
- The school staff tells Michael that his father has died, apparently due to an accident. Later, Leigh Anne and Sean watch their daughter Collins playing volleyball. After the game, Sean notices Michael picking up food discarded on the bleachers. One night, Leigh Anne notices Michael walking alone on the road, shivering in the cold without adequate clothing. When she learns that he plans to spend the night huddled outside the closed school gym, Leigh Anne offers to let him sleep on the couch in the Tuohy home.
- The next morning, Leigh Anne notices that Michael has left. Seeing him walking away, she asks him to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with her family. Later, Leigh Anne drives Michael to his mother's house. He sees an eviction notice posted on the door, indicating that his mother is gone. Slowly, Michael becomes a member of the Tuohy family; Leigh Anne's friends question this and suggest that Collins might not be safe around him, but Leigh Anne criticizes them. She later asks Collins how she feels about it. Collins replies that they cannot just throw Michael out. When Leigh Anne seeks to become Michael's legal guardian, she learns he was taken from his drug-addict mother when he was seven and that no one knows her whereabouts. She is also told that, although he scored poorly in a career aptitude test, he ranked in the 98th percentile in "protective instincts". Michael eventually improves his grades enough that he can play football at school. However, Michael appears to be hesitant to use his strength and size while practicing, Leigh Anne tells him, as an offensive lineman, he must protect his quarterback. From that moment, Michael improves dramatically, well enough to play at the college level. However, to do that, he must meet the minimum grade point average to get in so the Tuohys hire a private tutor for him, the outspoken and kind Miss Sue.
- Leigh Anne has a face-to-face conversation with Michael's mother about adopting him. Although she seems unresponsive in the beginning, the mother finally wishes Michael the best. Michael is heavily recruited by many prestigious schools. SJ talks to coaches and negotiates on Michael's behalf'--and his own. When Michael gets his grades high enough, he decides to attend the University of Mississippi (known colloquially as "Ole Miss"). But as Ole Miss was where Sean Sr. had played basketball, Leigh Anne had been a cheerleader, and Miss Sue had been as well, NCAA investigator Granger is tasked to look into the matter to determine if the Tuohys took him in and unduly influenced him just so he would play for their alma mater.
- Michael runs away before the interview is over and confronts Leigh Anne about her motives for taking him in. He then proceeds to find his biological mother in Hurt Village. A gang leader welcomes him back, offers him a beer, and makes sexually offensive insinuations about Leigh Anne and Collins. When Michael gets angry, the gang leader threatens to go after them, and as a result, Michael battles with him and others. After thinking things over and questioning Leigh Anne, Michael tells Granger he chose Ole Miss because "it's where my family goes to school." Michael is accepted into college and says his farewells to the Tuohy family.
- The film ends with information about and photos of the real Tuohy family and Michael Oher. He was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft and played in the National Football League.
- Cast [ edit ] Sandra Bullock as Leigh Anne Tuohy, Michael's adoptive motherTim McGraw as Sean Tuohy, Michael's adoptive fatherQuinton Aaron as Michael "Big Mike" OherBrandon Rivers as Young MikeKathy Bates as Miss SueJae Head as Sean "S.J." Tuohy Jr., Michael's adoptive younger brotherLily Collins as Collins Tuohy, Michael's adoptive younger sisterRay McKinnon as Coach CottonKim Dickens as Mrs. BoswellAdriane Lenox as Denise Oher, Michael's biological motherIronE Singleton as Alton, a gang leader/drug dealerA number of NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision coaches and recruiters make brief appearances as themselves: Phillip Fulmer, Lou Holtz, Tom Lemming, Houston Nutt, Ed Orgeron, Franklin "Pepper" Rodgers, Nick Saban, and Tommy Tuberville.[4]
- While Oher's coach from high school, Hugh Freeze, has an uncredited cameo as a coach watching some game film, the role of the high school coach is named Coach Cotton in the film.[5] NFL commissioner Roger Goodell had an uncredited voice cameo announcing Michael's drafting into the Baltimore Ravens during the 2009 NFL Draft.
- Production [ edit ] The Blind Side was produced by Alcon Entertainment and released by Warner Bros. The film's production budget was $29 million.[1] Filming for the school scenes took place at Atlanta International School and The Westminster Schools in Atlanta, Georgia, and it features many of their students as extras. The film premiered on November 17 in New York City and New Orleans, and opened in theaters in the rest of the United States and in Canada on November 20.[6]
- Academy Award winner Julia Roberts was originally offered Bullock's role, but turned it down.[7] Bullock initially turned down the starring role three times due to discomfort with portraying a devout Christian. By her own account, Bullock felt she could not objectively represent such a person's beliefs on screen.[8] But after a visit with the real Leigh Anne Tuohy, Bullock not only won the role, but also took a pay cut and agreed to receive a percentage of the profits instead.[9]
- Reception [ edit ] Box office [ edit ] The Blind Side opened in 3,110 theaters on its opening weekend, the weekend of November 20, 2009. It grossed a strong $34.5 million in its opening weekend, the second highest gross of that weekend, behind The Twilight Saga: New Moon. It was the highest-grossing opening weekend of Sandra Bullock's career. The per-theater average for The Blind Side ' s opening weekend was $11,096.[10] In its opening weekend, the movie already earned more than its $29 million production budget. It proved to have remarkable staying power, taking in an additional $9.5 million, bringing its gross to $60.1 million by the weekend of November 27, 2009.[11] The movie enjoyed a rare greater success for the second weekend than it did in its opening weekend, taking in an estimated $40 million, an increase of 18 percent, from November 27 to November 29, 2009, coming in second to New Moon once again, bringing its gross to $100.3 million.[1]
- In its third weekend, the movie continued its trend of rare feats by moving up to the number one position with $20.4 million in sales after spending the previous two weekends in second place for a total gross of $128.8 million, due to strong word-of-mouth.[12] In its fourth weekend, it moved down to second place, dropping a slim 23% with an estimated $15.5 million for a total of $150.2 million in the United States and Canada as of December 13, 2009.[13] The film hit $200 million domestically on January 1, 2010, marking the first time a movie marketed with a sole actress' name above the title (Bullock's) has crossed the $200 million mark.[14] The Blind Side has also become the highest grossing football movie and sports drama of all time domestically[15][16] unadjusted for ticket inflation.[17] The Blind Side ended its domestic theatrical run on June 4, 2010 (nearly 7 months after it opened), earning a total of nearly $256 million.[18] In the United Kingdom and Ireland, The Blind Side was released on March 26, 2010.[19] It was the third biggest release of that weekend behind Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang and Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland.[20]
- Critical response [ edit ] Sandra Bullock's performance on The Blind Side received wide praise. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating of 66%, based on 205 reviews, with an average rating of 6.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "It might strike some viewers as a little too pat, but The Blind Side has the benefit of strong source material and a strong performance from Sandra Bullock."[21] Metacritic, which assigned a score of 53 out of 100, based on reviews from 29 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[22] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a rare "A+" grade.[23]
- A. O. Scott of The New York Times commented on the performances: "Ms. Bullock is convincing enough as an energetic, multitasking woman of the New South, who knows her own mind and usually gets her own way. And Tim McGraw, as Leigh Anne's affable husband, Sean, inhabits his character comfortably and knows how to get out of Ms. Bullock's way when necessary." He found the movie to be "made up almost entirely of turning points and yet curiously devoid of drama or suspense" and called it a "live-action, reality-based version of a Disney cartoon: it's the heartwarming tale of a foundling taken in by strangers, who accept him even though he's different and treat him as one of their own."[24]
- According to Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter, Bullock's character is an "irrepressible hoot in writer-director John Lee Hancock's otherwise thoroughly conventional take on Michael Lewis' fact-based book." In spite of her "feisty" and "energetic" performance, he felt that there was a lack of development concerning Michael's character: "Not until the end of the film do we ever get a chance to really see what's going on in Oher's head'--how he feels about being the chosen one plucked from the poverty-stricken projects of Memphis and thrown into this protected, nonliberal-leaning environment of privilege."[25] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian described Bullock's appearance as "strangely humourless" and felt that "[t]here is something weirdly absent about this performance." Overall, he opined that the film provided "a Photoshopped [sic] image of reality that is bland, parochial, and stereotypically acted," and concluded: "There is a rich, complex story to be told about Michael Oher, and his mentor, Leigh Anne Tuohy. But this waxwork parade isn't it."[26]
- Race controversy [ edit ] Jeffrey Montez de Oca of the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs writes that in The Blind Side's portrayal of adoption, "charity operates as a signifying act of whiteness that obscures the social relations of domination that not only make charity possible but also creates an urban underclass in need of charity."[27] Melissa Anderson of the Dallas Observer argues that the "mute, docile" portrayal of Oher effectively endorses the Uncle Tom stereotype of African-American submission to white authority.[28]
- In her book, White Fragility, Robin DiAngelo criticised The Blind Side's perpetuation of "negative racial stereotypes", calling it "fundamentally and insidiously anti-black". She refers to a scene in which Oher returns to his stereotypically violent former neighbourhood, only leaving when Tuohy rescues him from it. She also argues that the film portrays Oher as a simpleton who uses instinct over intellect, as a psychological test concludes that Oher has little "ability to learn" but much "protective instinct" (a scientifically nonsensical statement, according to DiAngelo).[24][29]
- Michael Oher has also voiced his displeasure with the movie and takes particular exception to its portrayal of his intelligence. In his book, I Beat The Odds: From Homelessness, to The Blind Side, and Beyond, Oher wrote, "I felt like it [the movie] portrayed me as dumb instead of as a kid who had never had consistent academic instruction and ended up thriving once he got it."[30][31][32] The film's claim that he didn't understand football was another point of irritation for Oher. When talking about watching his adoptive family teach him he said, "No, that's not me at all! I've been studying'--really studying'--the game since I was a kid!"[30][32] Despite his displeasure with his portrayal in the movie Oher has stated that he likes the film's message of perseverance and the general treatment of the Tuohy family and has been quoted as saying, "It's a great story. It seems like they helped me to get to this point. They're my family and without them I wouldn't be here," and "They taught me a lot of things, showed me a lot of different things. It shows that if you help somebody and give somebody a chance and don't judge people, look where they can get to."[33]
- Accolades [ edit ] Best Picture nomination [ edit ] The nomination of The Blind Side for Best Picture was considered a surprise, even to its producers.[35] In an attempt to revitalize interest surrounding the awards, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had upped the number of Best Picture nominees from a mandatory number of five to ten in time for the 82nd Academy Awards, the year The Blind Side was nominated.[36] However, in 2011, the Academy changed the policy, stating that the Best Picture category would feature from five to ten nominees depending on voting results, as opposed to a set number of nominees.[37][failed verification ] The change was interpreted as a response to films like The Blind Side being nominated for Best Picture to fill up the set number of spots.[38][39]
- Soundtrack [ edit ] The movie features 23 songs by artists including Les Paul, Young MC, Lucy Woodward, The Books, Canned Heat, Five for Fighting, and the film's co-star Tim McGraw.[40] However, while the score soundtrack by Carter Burwell was released on CD, none of the featured songs were included.
- Release [ edit ] Home media [ edit ] The Blind Side was released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 23, 2010. It was available exclusively for rental from Blockbuster for 28 days.[41]
- Redbox and Netflix customers had to wait 28 days before they were able to rent the movie.[42][43] This stems from the settlement of a lawsuit brought by Redbox against Warner Home Video, who, in an attempt to boost DVD sales, refused to sell wholesale titles to Redbox. On August 19, 2009, Redbox sued Warner Home Video[44] to continue purchasing DVD titles at wholesale prices. On February 16, 2010, Redbox settled the lawsuit[43] and agreed to a 28-day window past the street date.
- As of July 9, 2013, units sold for the DVD stand at more than 8.4 million copies and it has grossed a further $107,962,159 adding to its total gross.[45]The blu-ray was reissued as part of the Best of Warner Bros. 50 Film Collection (Warner Bros. 90th Anniversary Limited Edition) in 2013. There was also a release of this Limited Edition set issued on DVD.
- See also [ edit ] White savior narrative in filmReferences [ edit ] ^ a b c d e "The Blind Side Box Office". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved June 5, 2010 . ^ Dave McNary (March 27, 2009). "Kathy Bates to star in 'Blind Side' ". Variety . Retrieved June 7, 2009 . ^ "The Blind Side (2009)". Internet Movie Database. April 22, 2009 . Retrieved May 8, 2009 . ^ Schlabach, Mark (June 29, 2009). "Prominent coaches turn actors for film". ESPN . Retrieved July 1, 2009 . ^ Johnson, Richard; Kirk, Jason (July 21, 2017). "Hugh Freeze, Houston Nutt, and Michael Oher just made 'The Blind Side' super weird". SB Nation . Retrieved December 27, 2018 . ^ The Blind Side '' Release dates ^ Abramowitz, Rachel (December 16, 2009). "A Bonanza Year for Sandra Bullock". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved March 8, 2010 . ^ Swartzendruber, Jay (November 17, 2010). "Believers Walk the Talk in The Blind Side". Crosswalk.com . Retrieved March 8, 2010 . ^ "Sandra Bullock scores touchdown at box office" on Reuters.com ^ Weekend Box Office Results for November 20''22, 2009 from Box Office Mojo ^ Daily Box Office for Thursday, November 26, 2009 from Box Office Mojo ^ "'Blind Side' tops 'New Moon' at box office" Archived 2009-12-12 at the Wayback Machine from The Hollywood Reporter ^ Weekend Box Office Results for January 8''10, 2010 from Box Office Mojo ^ "'Avatar' passes $300 million mark on Friday, and Sandra Bullock makes box-office history" Archived 2012-05-29 at archive.today from Hollywood Insider ^ Sports '' Football Movies at the Box Office. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on January 23, 2011 ^ Sports Drama Movies at the Box Office. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on January 23, 2011 ^ Weekend Report: 'Avatar' Rocks New Year's. Box Office Mojo (January 4, 2010). Retrieved on January 23, 2011. ^ End-of-Run Report: 'Blind Side,' 'Crazy Heart,' 'Runaways' Close. Box Office Mojo (June 6, 2010). Retrieved on January 23, 2011 ^ "The Blind Side". Yahoo!. Archived from the original on March 15, 2010 . Retrieved July 23, 2010 . ^ Gant, Charles (March 30, 2010). "Nanny McPhee sends Alice in Wonderland to the naughty step at the UK box office". Film. London: The Guardian . Retrieved July 23, 2010 . ^ "The Blind Side". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media . Retrieved November 29, 2022 . ^ "The Blind Side". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved April 30, 2022 . ^ Cunningham, Todd; Zerbib, Kathy (November 23, 2017). "19 of the Most Loved or Hated Movies: Films That Got A+ or F CinemaScores (Photos)". TheWrap . Retrieved April 30, 2022 . ^ a b Scott, A. O. (November 20, 2009). "Steamrolling Over Life's Obstacles With Family as Cheerleaders". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved November 24, 2021 . ^ Michael Rechtshaffen (November 15, 2009). " 'The Blind Side': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. ^ Peter Bradshaw (March 25, 2010). "Film review: The Blind Side". the Guardian. ^ Montez de Oca, J. (2012). White Domestic Goddess on a Postmodern Plantation: Charity and Commodity Racism in The Blind Side. Sociology Of Sport Journal, 29(2), 131''150. ^ Melissa Anderson, The Blind Side: What Would Black People Do Without Nice White Folks?, 19 November 2009. ^ DiAngelo, Robin (2018). White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism. Beacon Press. pp. 95''98. ISBN 978-0807047415. ^ a b Oher, Michael (2012). I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness, to The Blind Side, and Beyond. Avery. ISBN 978-1592406388. ^ "Michael Oher Says 'The Blind Side' Has Ruined His Football Career". Shadow and Act. April 20, 2017 . Retrieved August 21, 2020 . ^ a b Linda, Holmes (February 8, 2011). "Beyond 'The Blind Side,' Michael Oher Rewrites His Own Story". NPR . Retrieved August 21, 2020 . ^ Person, Joseph (January 29, 2016). "Super Bowl 50: 'The Blind Side' Michael Oher feels wanted at Carolina Panthers". The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved November 28, 2017 . ^ "2010 Movieguide Awards Winners". Movieguide. February 1, 2010 . Retrieved June 29, 2017 . ^ Michael Cieply and Paula Schwartz, 'Blind Side' Finds a Path to the Oscars by Running Up the Middle, The New York Times, February 10, 2010, accessed February 4, 2014. ^ "82nd Academy Awards to Feature 10 Best Picture Nominees". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. AMPAS. June 24, 2009. Archived from the original on April 8, 2010 . Retrieved February 4, 2014 . ^ "Academy Builds Surprise Into Best Picture Rules". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. AMPAS. June 14, 2011. Archived from the original on June 23, 2011 . Retrieved February 4, 2014 . ^ David Karger, The Academy's new Best Picture rule: How it will change the prediction period, Entertainment Weekly, June 15, 2011, accessed February 4, 2014. ^ Nicole Sperling and Amy Kaufman, Oscars change rule for best-picture race, Los Angeles Times, June 16, 2011, accessed February 4, 2014. ^ Blind Side, The [2009] Soundtrack @ what-song. What-song.com. Retrieved on January 23, 2011 ^ Panchuk, Kerri (March 19, 2010). "Blockbuster CEO: The movie's not over yet". ^ Warner Bros. Home Entertainment And Netflix Announce New Agreements Covering Availability Of Dvds, Blu-Ray And Streaming Content Archived 2012-03-08 at the Wayback Machine. Netflix.mediaroom.com (January 6, 2010). Retrieved on January 23, 2011 ^ a b redbox press room Archived 2010-05-30 at the Wayback Machine. redbox press room (February 16, 2010). Retrieved on January 23, 2011 ^ redbox press room Archived 2010-03-29 at the Wayback Machine. redbox press room (August 19, 2009). Retrieved on January 23, 2011 ^ The Blind Side '' DVD Sales. The Numbers. Retrieved on July 9, 2013 External links [ edit ] Official website The Blind Side at IMDbThe Blind Side at AllMovieThe Blind Side at Box Office MojoThe Blind Side at Metacritic The Blind Side at Rotten Tomatoes
- Hybrid Vigor: Definition, Causes, Effects and Examples
- Hybrid vigor is the increase in certain characteristics like growth rate, size, fertility, yield etc. of a particular hybrid organism over its parents. Hybrid vigor is also known by some other names, including heterosis and inbreeding enhancement. Hybrid vigor occurs because the hybrid offspring's traits are enhanced due to the mixing of genetic contributions of its parents.
- Hybrid vigor is the increase in certain characteristics like growth rate, size, fertility, yield etc. of a particular hybrid organism over its parents. Hybrid vigor is also known by some other names, including heterosis and inbreeding enhancement. Hybrid vigor occurs because the hybrid offspring's traits are enhanced due to the mixing of genetic contributions of its parents.
- Hybrid vigor and inbreeding depression are two phenomena that were first examined in a systematic manner by legendary biologist and geologist Charles Darwin. You may have heard about inbreeding depression in discussions relating to risks associated with marrying within the family. (We have also written an article related to that subject, which you can read here).
- While inbreeding depression refers to the decline in certain characteristics upon self-fertilization or certain other forms of inbreeding, hybrid vigor is quite different. In fact, it is just the opposite!
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- Hybrid Vigor DefinitionHybrid vigor refers to the increase in biomass, stature, and fertility of offspring compared to its parents. In simpler terms, it refers to the improved activity and survival of the hybrid offspring. In the world of genetics, the phenomenon of hybrid vigor is called heterosis.
- (Photo Credit : Schnable, James; Liang, Zhikai/Wikimedia Commons)
- Before we get into the details, let's do a quick recap of what hybrid organisms actually are.
- What are hybrid organisms?Hybrid organisms are those born as a result of the combination of the traits of two organisms of distinct varieties, breeds or species through sexual reproduction. Not just plants, but animals also form hybrids in nature. For instance, when a male lion mates with a female tiger, the resulting offspring is a hybrid '' a liger.
- Liger, a lion/tiger hybrid bred in captivity (Photo Credit: Ali West /Wikimedia Commons)
- Similarly, take the example of hooded and carrion crows. These are different groups of crows that usually mate within their own group, but sometimes, they mate with each other and hybridize. The offspring of such a union usually possess physical traits of both hooded and carrion crows.
- It's important to note that not all hybrid organisms, or simply hybrids (or crossbreeds), are intermediates between their parents; some hybrids only show hybrid vigor, which means that they can grow taller or shorter, or demonstrate other traits at a different degree of intensity than their parents,
- Genetic basis of hybrid vigorWhen a given population is very small, and its members inbreed, it tends to lose its genetic diversity because of inbreeding depression. Hybrid vigor is often discussed as the opposite of inbreeding depression, wherein reduced biological fitness in a given population is attributed to the breeding of related individuals.
- In order to develop a healthy population, it's essential that the members of the population interbreed with other groups.
- Interestingly, however, humans have been conducting selective breeding of animals and plants before they even understood how breeding worked. However, after Mendel's laws were proposed and accepted in the early 20th century, scientists began to explain hybrid vigor of many plant hybrids.
- Two competing hypotheses came to the forefront:
- Dominance hypothesisThis hypothesis claims that the superiority of the hybrid can be attributed to the fact that the dominant alleles (an allele is a variant form of a given gene) from one parent can suppress the undesirable recessive alleles from the other. This hypothesis was first proposed by geneticist Charles Davenport in 1908.
- Two leading hypotheses explaining the basis for fitness advantage in heterosis: The deleterious recessive genes avoidance hypothesis (A), and the overdominance hypothesis (B). (Photo Credit: User:Mysid /Wikimedia Commons)
- Overdominance hypothesisAccording to the overdominance hypothesis, the inbred strains perform poorly in the offspring because they have a high percentage of harmful recessive alleles.
- Hybrid Vigor: Effects and ExamplesThe effects of heterosis in plants can be classified as quantitative, physiological and biological: increase in size, yield, and genetic vigor fall under the quantitative effects of hybrid vigor. Such hybrids generally grow larger and healthier than their parents. For instance, fruit size in tomatoes, head size in cabbage, cob size in maize etc. Greater adaptability, greater resistance to diseases and pests, and greater flowering and maturity (tomato hybrids develop 'earlier' than their parents) fall under physiological effects, while enhanced biological efficiency falls under the biological effects of hybrid vigor in plants.
- All in all, hybrid vigor can play a crucial role in agricultural practices. Many crops are planted to enhance the produce over open-pollinated varieties. In addition to that, hybrid vigor plays a crucial role in evolution as well!
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- Colorado AD Admits 'We Don't Have the Money Yet' for Deion Sanders's Contract - Sports Illustrated
- In this story:Colorado Buffaloes
- Colorado athletic director Rick George may have hit a proverbial home run over the weekend as he hired Deion Sanders as the school's next football coach, but it came with a total cost the school couldn't pay quite yet if it had to.
- Sanders's deal with Colorado is for five years, $29.5 million, which is an average of $5.9 million per year, per Brian Howell of Buffzone. Sanders will make $5.5 million in year one, and will earn $200,000 raises each year over the life of the contract.
- The pay of Sanders far exceeds that of former coach Karl Dorrell, who was paid $3.6 million this season. The $3.6 million that Dorrell earned was previously the most Colorado had ever paid a head coach.
- So how exactly will George and Colorado pay for the new contract for Sanders, which is the richest deal in the history of the football program?
- ''We don't have the money yet, but I know we'll have it so I'm not worried about that piece,'' George said when asked about Sanders's contract on Sunday.
- While George wasn't ready to make public the method through which the school will pay Sanders, it does sound like there is some funding lined up for the new coach that will be finalized soon.
- Sanders went 27''5 in his three seasons at Jackson State at the FCS level, which was his first collegiate coaching position. The Tigers will play in the Celebration Bowl against North Carolina Central on Dec. 17 in Atlanta, and Sanders confirmed that he will coach the bowl for Jackson State in his final game with the school.
- His unquestioned success at Jackson State set him up for an FBS job in the Pac-12, and of course, a big pay day.
- More CFB: Wisconsin QB Graham Mertz Announces He's Entering Transfer PortalColorado Introduces Deion Sanders With Rousing Press ConferenceSo. Many. Bowls. SI's First Look at the Games Ahead.
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