In memory: David Lewis made a personal impact at Grambling
June 20, 2008
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
For me, next season's Grambling home football opener -- no matter the outcome -- will be a somber experience.
Absent from the Robinson Stadium pressbox will be David Lee Lewis, who died last week and was honored during a memorial on Thursday morning in Ruston.
A criminal justice professor at GSU for two decades before retiring a few years back, Lewis was one of those quietly important contributors, even if few outside of his classroom or "The Rob" ever knew it.
And, I'm honored to say, he was my friend.
Lewis was remembered during those emotional services as a mentor to scores of criminal justice majors, emerging leaders-in-the-making who went out into the world to make it a better place. And as a force behind countless community efforts, including those to erect a museum in honor of Grambling's late football coaching legend, Eddie Robinson.
Lewis was a tireless volunteer, a deeply committed soldier, for Grambling, for Lincoln Parish, for America. His so-called "retirement" never lessened that passion.
He was also, as a longtime scoreboard operator at GSU, a guy I knew as a student of the game who scouted pro football referees. He could expertly spot the ball on an inside running play with one eye -- even while still focusing on the pressbox vittles with the other.
Generous and sharp, David Lewis was a steady presence, the voice of reason, but also a deeply humorous guy. He once correctly predicted, within 20 people, the abysmal attendance at a meaningless out-of-conference game -- and I still owe him some money on that.
In fact, I never covered a GSU game at Robinson Stadium without Lewis at the scoreboard, and we never missed an opportunity to trade barbs, stories and quips. He bested me every time.
Still, while he could see the intrinsic humor in life, David Lewis was never a frivilous person. His standards were high, sometimes impossibly so. Lewis had a sharp focus, and a serious one, on leaving this place better than he found it, and for honoring those who did what was right.
He was instrumental, for instance, in helping to secure the former women's gymnasium as the future home for exhibits in memory of Robinson. Countless students, friends and family members spoke on Thursday of similar efforts in their own lives, gestures often made away from public notice.
Mr. Lewis' commitment to service and pride in citizenship touched students and family alike. His son Bobby -- one of five children he often lovingly mentioned -- was serving in the war on terror when he heard of Lewis' passing.
The list of boards and associations he had served on was read aloud during Lewis' funeral, and it took a remarkable amount of time. But Lewis, known to those closest to him as "Big Daddy," always had a moment for his children, for his grandchildren, for his students, for his school.
He coordinated local youth activities, sent out notes and cards on special occasions, and worked diligently to promote and protect community programs -- touching hundreds of young people's lives. And that was on top of a 20-year tenure as a professor and then the criminal justice department's undergraduate program director at GSU.
It seemed fitting that Dr. Ruby Higgins, a former GSU administrative official and dear friend of Lewis', would suggest on Thursday that an endowed scholarship be established in his honor. Lewis, though he never made the cover of Sports Illustrated, wove himself into the very fabric of Grambling.
The dizzying achievements of Robinson, former basketball coach and athletics director Fred Hobdy or second school president R.W.E. Jones have been, at least more recently, well documented in publications like that.
But it takes an every-day attention to detail by a cast of thousands to stitch together a legacy like Grambling's. There are others who made smaller contributions that were, if not as widely recognized, just as important on a personal level.
Mr. Lewis was one of those people. He'll be missed.
Showing posts with label Remembering. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Remembering. Show all posts
Monday, March 09, 2009
Monday, October 06, 2008
Remembering: Grambling's Brandon Landers
Carroll's Landers picks Grambling
· Playing for Super Bowl quarterback Doug Williams played an important part in the decision. December 11, 2003
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
Carroll High quarterback Brandon Landers, the area's top local offensive recruit, confirms that he has verbally committed to play for Doug Williams at Grambling State.
"To be coached by the first black quarterback to win the Super Bowl had something to do with it," Landers said. "He knows the game. I'd like to follow in his footsteps and do some of the things he's done at Grambling State University."
Williams has said that any prep signings this off-season would redshirt in 2004 behind senior Bruce Eugene, the top quarterback in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Coach Jesse Smith has installed a similar spread offense at Carroll High.
"Whatever move he made, I'd support," Smith said of Landers' commitment. "But we do a lot of the same things that Grambling does. He will be in a system where he will throw the football. I believe, with the experience that he has gotten over the years, that this is as fine a program as he could be going to."
Landers also recognized the opportunity to quickly integrate into the SWAC's best passing offense the past two seasons.
"I feel like Grambling would treat me better," Landers said. "The offense they run is basically the same offense that we run."
Landers, who led Carroll to a second straight District 2-3A crown this season, finished his prep career with 2,302 yards on 140-for-245 passes, along with 16 TD passes and five interceptions. He was The News-Star/Glenwood SportsCare player of the week for Week 5 this season - after passing for 300 yards and a score against Ferriday, while also returning an interception for a touchdown.
"In my opinion, he had an outstanding year," said Smith. "He pretty much led the team. He was able to run the football and pass it too. He did everything we expected."
In his last high school game, the multi-talented Landers passed for 204 yards and ran for a score in a third-round playoff loss.. He also had 48 career tackles and three interceptions for Carroll.
Landers says he was recruited by McNeese State, Northwestern State, Louisiana-Monroe and Louisiana Tech. Others like Texas A&M were reportedly interested as well.
"But I never really considered anywhere else," Landers said. "I felt like Grambling fit me."
Landers follows in the footsteps of Grambling State legend James "Shack" Harris, who is also a Carroll High alum. Harris was the first black quarterback to be drafted into the NFL, playing for Buffalo, Los Angeles and San Diego.
Cooper's departure could shift QB status
Carroll High quarterback Brandon Landers could immediately move into the No. 2 slot at Grambling State. Coach Doug Williams granted two-year backup quarterback Gary Cooper a release on Monday.
"I'm not a guy who believes in a two-quarterback system," Williams said. "Somebody has to take the bull by the horns. It's unfortunate for Cooper, because he wants to play. But as long as Bruce is healthy, he's our starter."
Cooper had career numbers of 14-for-36 at GSU, with three interceptions and two scores.
Further back in the quarterback rotation are Texas freshmen Brandon Logan from San Antonio and Arnel Rolfe of Dallas. Neither has taken a game-day snap.
"They've got to step it up in the spring," Williams said.
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Landers learns another lesson the hard way
September 12, 2004
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
NORMAL Ala. - The grounds crew at Louis Crews Stadium can thank Grambling State quarterback Brandon Landers for all the work facing them this morning.
I expect there are several freshman-shaped holes out there today.
Perhaps that was expected for Landers, who got his first collegiate start a year early when senior All-American Bruce Eugene was injured last week.
Still, the timing couldn't have been worse, as GSU arrived in Alabama to face one of the Southwestern Athletic Conference's most inventive and aggressive defenses.
Alabama A&M relentlessly harassed Landers. It threw everything at him - linebackers, safeties, the kitchen sink, other appliances. That ensured Landers wouldn't win the game, yet his fiery determination would again win over the coaches.
"We have believed that Brandon Landers could handle the things we do," said interim GSU coach Melvin Spears, who fell to 0-2 with the loss to Alabama A&M. "Brandon and Bruce worked closely together all summer. He has grasped the information at a very fast pace."
There were moments of shimmering promise, followed by thudding despair.
That's a freshman quarterback for you.
For instance, Landers took advantage of a blocked punt by Winnfield junior Donald Alexander on A&M's first possession of the third quarter, firing a brilliant pass to Mangham senior Chad White over the middle for a critical completion at midfield.
But the inevitable sack ended that drive. Landers ran right into the rush on that play, a rookie error.
He kept his head up.
"My athleticism will always help me," Landers said. "As I get more familiar with the offensive scheme, I will only get better."
As soon as Landers got going on Saturday, he would get leveled.
A sack - no surprise, that - by A&M's Cedric Harris killed the first promising drive of Landers' night in Alabama. After starting 0-of-4, Landers had finally completed an underneath pass to junior Henry Tolbert that turned into a 15-yard gain.
GSU didn't score, but Landers kept going. He kept getting hit, but he kept going.
With 6:03 left in the game, Grambling State had used all of its timeouts. This was how this tough night would end, in real time - a slow wait.
Somebody forgot to tell Landers.
With 54 seconds left, he was still flinging it. GSU's first 0-2 start since 1996 - when former coach Eddie Robinson lost his initial three contests on the way to a 3-8 record - would have to wait. Landers hit Tolbert for a 25-yard touchdown pass to bring the score to 21-9.
But, too often, even when Landers could get a throw off, a very young receiving group again dropped it. GSU was also without its top target from last year's A&M game, as Moses Harris joined Eugene with a season-ending injury during Week 1.
"It hasn't been roses for them. They've faced some challenges," said third-year Alabama A&M coach Anthony Jones, who had never before won against GSU - a streak that included the 2002 SWAC title game. "Grambling has enough guys on that team that are used to winning. One thing I know about winning, once you get that taste in your mouth, you don't roll over for anybody."
So A&M kept coming.
Sacks count against a team's rushing yardage on the official stat sheet, so it's no surprise that the Tigers ended up with a staggering minus-two yards in the first half. Junior Ab Kuaan's first-down yardage was leaking out with each defensive play on his quarterback.
Yet, Landers was always out there under center when the whistle blew, lined up again and ready to go. He prides himself on that.
"I lead by action," said Landers, The News-Star/Glenwood SportsCare Offensive Player of the Year as a senior at Carroll. "I've never been a very vocal person. So, I lead by what I do."
A big, tough unit, GSU's offensive line was simply outnumbered by A&M's zone-blitz scheme. It often had seven hats on eight defenders.
That's why Landers could have been confined to bed rest by a doctor and not spent as much time on his back. Adding insult to injury, Grambling State wore white - meaning those grass stains may never come out.
But Spears takes solace in that flickering passion from his first-year signal-caller. You won't find many players still gunning for the end zone with under a minute left in an already-decided game.
"He's very athletic, very versatile, with an outstanding arm," enthused the ever-upbeat Spears. "When the lights come on, he's a different kind of player. He has a flair as a leader. I think we are in good hands."
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Saving the day has been child's play for Grambling freshmen
September 20, 2004
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
CINCINNATI- Remember when they used to make freshmen carry the older players' shoulder pads back in after practice?
Now, they're carrying the team.
Witness Grambling State's first win of the 2004 season. Quarterback Brandon Landers hands off to Landry Carter, who runs it in from four yards in the third quarter on Saturday against Bethune-Cookman, GSU's first points on the day.
Defensive end Jason Banks also notches two sacks for 14 yards in losses.
Landers tosses a 46-yard scoring strike to Clyde Edwards to get GSU to within two points.
Every one of the playmakers mentioned is a freshman. GSU would beat Bethune-Cookman 24-23 on Saturday in the Ohio Classic.
"I couldn't ask for anything better," said Landers, a Carroll High product named offensive player of the year just last spring by The News-Star. The ... high school ... offensive player of the year.
"To be on the Cincinnati Bengals field, being a young player," Landers marvelled from inside Paul Brown Stadium. "I've waited for this my whole life."
His whole life. Landers was born on Groundhog Day, Feb. 2, 1985.
But we've never seen anything like this before: Kid's stuff is now the stuff of legend. Landers has led GSU to 32 fourth-quarter points in three games.
"Leaders," Landers mused, and he couldn't be more right, "are born."
Born in the second Reagan administration.
And not just Brandon Landers, who replaced All-American Bruce Eugene after the senior suffered a season-ending knee injury in the first game of 2004.
First-year Georgia running back Danny Ware exploded for three scores against Georgia Southern. Tennessee's Brent Schaeffer became the first true freshman to start an SEC opener since 1945. A youngster named Darius Walker might have turned Notre Dame's season around with 115 rushing yards and two touchdowns in a second-week win over Michigan.
Landers' first start was somewhat less glamorous. But playing through it made him a better quarterback in Cincinnati.
"They were sending six or seven people at me last week (against Alabama A&M)," said Landers. "So (interim GSU) Coach (Melvin) Spears told me that we were going to the shotgun (against BCC), and that I should be patient and stay with it. He put the ball in my hands."
That Alabama A&M nightmare included just 11 completions on 40 tries. GSU didn't convert a single third-down - putting freshman punter Tim Manuel just one punt away from the school record for attempts in a game.
"Bouncing back from a performance like that," said Eugene, "is all about character."
Alabama A&M was credited with a five sacks, but Landers was hurried and pushed around all night.
"He's taken so many licks," said offensive coordinator Sammy White. "To keep getting up, that says a lot about him."
Landers would flourish Saturday in the shotgun, a scheme that made all the more sense when senior center Lance Wright left the game with an injury.
"What we were trying to do was to take some of the pressure off of Brandon," said Spears. "When you get down a couple of touchdowns, you've got to keep passing. But we wanted to give him a better opportunity. At halftime, we told him: `It's your show. Show us what you've got.' "
But just in case the freshmen get too comfortable, however, note that Landers' first collegiate win came with some veteran help.
Junior Henry Tolbert made a key scoring grab to narrow BCC's lead to two points in the third quarter. And Eugene attended Saturday's game, encouraging the team during warmups and helping out with playcalling upstairs with running backs coach Vyron Brown.
"We're going to keep him around," Spears said of Eugene, laughing. "He'll basically be our cheerleader - and he'll also help us with Brandon."
Saturday's game was Eugene's first since undergoing knee surgery a week ago on Thursday.
"I can help him, because I've been there," said Eugene, who was given wide latitude last season to audible from the line based on what he saw on the field. "That hands-on experience will make a difference."
A Landers scramble for a quick 53 yards seemed to loosen up this offense in the third quarter. The team's biggest second-half adjustment had to do with confidence.
"Those are the intangibles that Brandon brings to the table," said Spears. "He had great poise. In the end, he looked like Bruce Eugene back there - and that's a good comparison."
The move into the booth will also ensure that Eugene can stay for the entirety of the game, without enduring whatever pain comes from standing on the sidelines. Eugene, who moved around on crutches, is applying for another year of eligibility on a medical waiver.
"Everything is progressing very well for Bruce," said Spears, who is also taking a more prominent role in the offense, after concentrating on the defense early in the season. "As he heals, we'd like to give him an opportunity to look at the game from a different perspective. Hopefully, when he gets back, he will have a better understanding - and be a better player."
You could criticize GSU's hard-headed focus on making Landers pass. After all, he had attempted 62 throws in five quarters of play before arriving in Cincinnati. But whether they ran or he threw, there was going to be a learning curve.
"When you lose your trigger guy, it makes you a little stagnated - until you get the new trigger guy in place and working," said Spears. "I knew you would start seeing an outstanding quarterback soon - one who happens to be a freshman - in Brandon Landers."
NICK DERISO, named columnist of the year this summer by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association, is sports editor at The News-Star, 411 N. Fourth St., Monroe, 71201. Contact him at (318) 362-0233 or at nderiso@thenewsstar.com.
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Landers' stellar freshman season may not yield sophomore one
December 14, 2004
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING - Another week brings another freshman of the year honor for Carroll High product Brandon Landers. Yet, he still doesn't know whether he will get to start again next season at Grambling State.
Landers, who was honored Saturday night by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association, took over when senior GSU quarterback Bruce Eugene went down in the third quarter of the 2004 season opener. Landers was also named freshman of the year by the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
"It never ran across my mind to win both awards," said Landers, who broke the school's single-season passing yards record for a freshman - set by Doug Williams in 1974. "You always set goals for a season - you know, once I got the starting job, I decided I wanted to win. But awards like this are a great feeling. I didn't even think I was going to play."
GSU defender Kenneth Pettway and place-kicker Brian Morgan, both seniors, also received first-team All-Louisiana honors from the LSWA, while sophomore offensive tackle Andre' Bennett was given an honorable mention.
The awards come as GSU awaits word on a medical exemption for Eugene. If the NCAA grants Eugene an extra year of eligibility, coaches have said Landers would be redshirted.
"We talked with the NCAA, and it's still under review," said interim GSU coach Melvin Spears. "If Bruce comes back, Landers will redshirt. He will get an opportunity to watch more, and to learn. But if Bruce doesn't come back, then Landers will be the incumbent in camp."
GSU signed LaMarque High product Larry Kerlegan out of Houston last season - who was ranked No. 11 nationally among dual-threat quarterbacks by Rivals.com - but grades kept him off the roster. Kerlegan is expected to be in camp this spring.
"I talked to Bruce the other day, and he still doesn't know whether he will be back or not. We'll wait and see," said Landers, who posted a 6-4 mark as a starter while completing 132-of-316 passes for 2,283 yards, along with 18 touchdowns against 15 interceptions. "In the meantime, I know we're going to start back up in January. I am going to work on getting stronger, on my technique. Redshirting, if that happens, could make me better - just sitting back and watching and learning. I could get more of the experience I need."
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GSU's quarterbacks battle as friends
Camp competition at Grambling is far from combative
August 17, 2005
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING - There's a sure sign that Bruce Eugene is feeling it again.
Grambling State's former All American quarterback is trash talking once more during the team's stretching exercises before practice.
"This offense," Eugene was saying the other day, "has speed for sale."
GSU coach Melvin Spears has consistently hedged on how that return impacts his depth chart. After all, Brandon Landers rocketed to conference freshman of the year honors once Eugene lost his senior season to a knee injury in the 2004.
"Brandon did a wonderful job for us last year down the stretch," Spears said. "But when you talk about experience, Bruce Eugene knows the system. We will let the best guy play."
Landers has a different answer.
"I know what the situation is," he said. "Bruce is getting his old position back."
Even so, the expected creative tension hasn't followed.
In fact, these two remain friends. As they enter the practice field, one will say to the other: "Be perfect today."
"That way," Landers said, "we know we are pushing each other to do better. At the same time, I am trying to learn from him."
Eugene also says that competition hasn't gotten in the way of their relationship: "The whole thing of `let's be perfect' is that we are trying to make each other better. We get along just fine."
Eugene still wears a knee brace - though Spears says that's simply as a precaution.
"He's the only guy I've ever seen go through an ACL injury and not lose any flexibility," said Spears. "Bruce is better than he was before. First off, his rehab was extensive, but also he's a fast healer."
Questions about the knee haven't trumped Eugene's past performances, which likely pushed Grambling to the top of the Southwestern Athletic Conference's Western division in more than one preseason poll so far.
Grambling's career total offense leader with 10,172 yards, he was last seen as a junior in 2003 passing for 3,805 yards and 34 touchdowns. Eugene also ran for 412 yards - second most on the team - and another six touchdowns on the ground.
That makes Eugene, despite the fact that he spent the last season earning his degree, the most productive returning quarterback in Division I-AA.
Yet Landers never stopped working, even as a move to the No. 2 spot became clear.
The Carroll product paid particular attention to his upper-body strength this offseason, focusing on bench pressing on an incline and lifting by shoulder shrug. The result has been a sharper release, and better ball speed.
Spears, wary after an injury-marred 2004, said he won't consider redshirting Landers.
"The nature of the beast is that you never know how the game goes, and how it may fall," said Spears, who lost Eugene in the third quarter of the season opener last year.
Landers isn't interested either.
"A quarterback who redshirted might relax," said Landers, who threw for almost 2,300 yards as a freshman. "It's a mind thing. I'm not thinking about next year. I'm thinking about right now. That will help me stay ready, as always."
The No. 3 quarterback is a celebrated prep prospect, Larry Kerlegan of Houston's LaMarque High.
"You always have to think in terms of two or three years down the road," said Spears. "You've got to be prepared. Bruce Eugene won't be back - one way or another. Those other guys have to be ready to play."
Still, as even Landers admits, it's clear the team belongs to the likeable Eugene right now.
Eugene has always been gregarious, knowledgeable and well regarded, even if he is only just now completely inhabiting the leadership role.
"The kids really rally around Bruce," said GSU offensive line coach Carl Roberts. "He not only knows his own assignment, but also the linemen's assignment. He has that leadership quality."
Eugene earned a lot of credibility when he led Grambling to the 2002 championship, after a season behind Randy Hymes - quarterback on those 2000-01 title teams.
But Eugene gained real authority as a team captain when he wrestled down a more common nemesis: His weight.
"I know within the circle of this team, they believe in me," Eugene said. "That's what I go on."
Spears sent Eugene to the Duke University diet and fitness center over the summer, where he lost 25 pounds in just four weeks on a diet of 1,800 calories a day.
Eugene was just getting started. He's now dropped more than 40 pounds.
"In rehab, and while I'm lifting weights or walking, every time I get ready to eat something I shouldn't be eating, I think about the naysayers," said Eugene, who at one point ballooned up to a startling 308 pounds. "Everybody said I couldn't lose weight. Let them talk. I know in the end I will be standing on top."
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For Grambling State quarterback Brandon Landers ...
Waiting was the hardest part
March 15, 2006
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING - Brandon Landers was brought in to be the Next Big Thing at Grambling State.
The Carroll High product expected to apprentice during the 2004 season behind record-smashing quarterback Bruce Eugene, then assume the spotlight.
Something happened on the way to his debut.
Eugene went down with a knee injury, and suddenly Landers - just months after playing Class 4A ball in high school - was under center.
It took time and adjustment for both Landers and the staff, but he eventually claimed conference freshman of the year honors after leading a newly run-oriented GSU to a winning season.
"My freshman year, they wanted give the ball to the veteran backs," Landers said. "Having guys like that, it took some pressure off of me."
Landers then got his belated redshirt, gaining more valuable experience, when Eugene was given a medical exemption before the 2005 campaign.
So, there's little drama in this: Landers is penciled in at starter as GSU's spring sessions get underway today.
The plot thickens, however, when examining how Landers' return could affect the playbook.
"We might put in a few wrinkles here or there to play up to Brandon's strengths," GSU coach Melvin Spears said. "But a year behind Bruce has given Brandon a much better grasp of the offense, both in terms of being able to make all the different adjustments and running the team more efficiently."
Landers, always gritty and confidant, says the days of running the ball to mask immaturity are over. He's ready to fit into a passing system that has established itself as the Southwestern Athletic Conference's most dangerous and entertaining.
"I don't know about any changes (to the scheme); I hope they keep it the same so we can keep rolling," Landers said.
Then, after some thought, he adds: "Playing behind a guy like Bruce, everyone will be expecting a whole lot of things. I'm just going to go out and play the game that I know how to play."
Questions about the offensive focus can be forgiven, even by some of the players, after the way Landers' presence in 2004 so radically altered Grambling's look.
His freshman campaign ended with redemptive win over Southern, but Landers had just 13 passing attempts on the day. (To put that into perspective, Eugene had as many tries by the first GSU possession of the second quarter in the 2005 Bayou Classic.)
Ab "Killer" Kuuan was the tip of the sword in this reworked ground attack, averaging 131 rushing yards a game over the final month of the season. The last time he and Landers shared the field, Kuuan was receiving his Bayou Classic MVP trophy after running for 126 punishing yards against Southern.
"That was my first question: Are we still going to have the same offense? Or are we going to run it?" said senior Henry Tolbert, who just set a new school record for receiving touchdowns in a season.
"The coaches feel like it's on him," Tolbert said. "If Brandon can show this spring that he can run the offense the way Bruce did, everything will be the same."
Spears said he has always known that Landers was physically gifted. He just felt Landers needed more time to adjust to the speed of decision-making in the college game.
He got that chance when Eugene returned for a rare sixth season of eligibility - though the bench wasn't always a comfy spot for a competitor like Landers.
"It was tough; that was my first time ever sitting out an entire season, but I learned a whole lot," said Landers, who earned offensive player of the year honors from The News-Star and Glenwood SportsCare in 2003.
"I paid attention to the game, learning about what was called on the field," he said. "I knew my role. I did what was asked."
In the end, Landers had a front-row seat as Eugene marched through the record books. A capstone came when Eugene smashed a 20-year-old Division I-AA mark for touchdown passes in a season during the SWAC championship win last December.
Landers found that, in the end, he had made a friend.
"We bonded together; we developed a really good friendship," Landers said. "I hope to be a leader and do the same things Bruce did. It was honor playing behind him."
Landers also grew closer to Tolbert, sure to be one of his primary targets in `06, over the past two seasons. That chemistry translates off the field too, where the two are roommates.
"I feel really good about Brandon taking over," Tolbert said. "I don't think I could feel any better about anybody. I was here when he first got here, so I've seen a lot of progress. Sitting behind Bruce was great for him. My expectations are really high coming in."
Look for a strong push for starting time from second-year passer Larry Kerlegan, a celebrated former Texas recruit. Grambling was also still in the market for another quarterback signee as late as last weekend.
But in the end, the stage is set. It's Landers' job to lose.
"Brandon Landers showed a lot of maturity last year in the way he handled things," Spears said. "It allowed him to learn a lot from Bruce Eugene. What we will do this spring is polish that. We're eager to see what he learned from the whole process."
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Landers lays down the law
Grambling QB interned as local marshal this summer
August 7, 2006
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING — When Grambling State holds its first fall practice this afternoon, quarterback Brandon Landers will be the new sheriff in town.
Well, marshal, actually.
The Carroll product, a criminal justice major, spent the summer interning with Ouachita Parish marshal Wince Highshaw Jr. — a stint that included serving warrants and working court security.
Landers said that real-world experience uniquely prepared him to take over a leadership role as GSU quarterback.
And to continue in that role in his impoverished neighborhood when football is over.
"I'm the first person in my family to go to college," Landers said. "Doing something like this, going to school and working hard, it's a way to show younger people that success is not about drugs. I want to be a role model in the neighborhood."
Landers — friends have already taken to calling him "Officer Landers" — is by far the most experienced returning quarterback at Grambling.
Pushed into duty after an injury to the now-departed Bruce Eugene, a two-time Walter Payton Award finalist, Landers would eventually earn conference freshman of the year honors.
He struggled with the assignment early on, but showed flashes of the talent that only months before helped lead Carroll to a second straight District 2-3A crown.
Landers now stands 309 attempts, 131 completions and 17 touchdowns further along than sophomore Larry Kerlegan, GSU's backup when Eugene returned and Landers redshirted a year later.
In fact, Kerlegan has just one college completion on seven attempts — a touchdown pass late in that blowout win over Concordia, an over-matched NAIA team. Presumptive No. 3 Desmond Brentley is a true freshman out of Pittsburgh's Perry High.
Still, GSU coach Melvin Spears has stressed that this will be a competitive camp for Landers, with Kerlegan and Brentley getting their share of reps.
"Our goal was to bring in enough competition so that we could make certain that Brandon doesn't get complacent," Spears said. "We've got a couple of guys who can do that. We want to be competitive everywhere, at every position."
Later, Spears reiterates one of this off-season's early mantras: "Leadership has no seniority."
A visibly more mature Landers welcomes the challenge.
Time spent in local courtrooms, where he's gotten an up-close examination of how life can turn on a bad decision, along with a year behind Eugene helped reshape this flinty former high school star. Landers is focused, energetic, and a bit humbled.
"Some people from my neighborhood have asked me, how can you be a police officer with where you come from?" Landers said. "I want to show them you can make it out. You don't have to do illegal things to get there."
Landers was already something of a neighborhood hero, finishing his prep career with 2,302 yards and 16 touchdown passes to go with 48 career tackles and three interceptions as a defensive back for Carroll.
His senior season in 2003 included a 300-yard, one-touchdown passing day against Ferriday. He also returned an interception for a touchdown that night, on the way to <I>News-Star</I>/Glenwood SportsCare player of the week honors. Landers' final prep game was a third-round playoff loss, but he passed for 204 yards and ran for a score.
"He was able to run the football and pass it too," said Carroll coach Jesse Smith when Landers committed to Grambling. "He did everything we expected."
That led to offensive player of the year recognition at the All-Northeast banquet — though Landers couldn't attend because he was also a crucial contributor on the Bulldogs' basketball team, which was playing that night.
Recruiters, Landers said, came calling from ULM, Louisiana Tech, McNeese State, Northwestern State and Texas A&M. But he chose to stay close to home, hoping to play one day for former Grambling coach Doug Williams.
Landers figured to have some time to gather himself, since he arrived as Eugene entered what promised to be a heralded senior season. But in short order, Williams left for an executive job in the NFL — turning the reins over to Spears, his former offensive coordinator — and then Eugene blew out his knee in the season opener.
"Brandon did an outstanding job in 2004 when Bruce went down," Spears said. "He has a great feel for the game when the lights come on."
Still, the life lesson was clear: Be prepared.
Landers started contemplating on a longer timeline.
"You gotta think about life after football," he said. "The air might go out of the ball one day."
Landers said Highshaw, a family friend, helped him get the internship — and it's been something that helped Landers frame everything that's important right now, not just football.
"When I got into criminal justice, and found out the type of things that they do, I got really interested," Landers said. "Marshal Highshaw gave me the opportunity to get some hands-on training, and I've learned so much that will help me."
Landers took the summer to get in shape, and not just physically. That's something that will bolster a maturation process his coach thinks is critical for Grambling's success on the field this year.
"He's learned the system; he has the tangibles," Spears said of Landers. "It's just going to be a matter of how quickly he can show that on the field."
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Landers handled it all on and off the field
September 4, 2006
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The context surrounding Grambling State quarterback Brandon Landers' numbers on Saturday makes them all the more impressive.
While attempting to mediate an argument, Landers saw his brother murdered and his cousin critically wounded in his hometown of Monroe just two Fridays ago. Yet, he still threw for 273 yards and four touchdowns against Hampton at legendary Legion Field.
"I tried to go on with my everyday life," said Landers, a former Carroll High standout. "I tried to stay close to my team and my coaches, really just to take my mind off of things. Coach kept telling me that everything happens for a reason. I just looked at is as motivation."
Perhaps accordingly, Landers had his struggles, from a one-pass possession stopped on an interception to several attempts that badly overshot receivers.
But in the end, he was efficient enough to put the team in position to win — even if it didn't work out that way — and he did a good job of distributing the ball, hitting four different receivers for touchdown passes.
"He's had some ups and downs the week, certainly," GSU coach Melvin Spears said. "But he worked hard, and he executed for the most part. It's a whole lot for a young man to have on his shoulders. I'm ready proud of him."
The funeral for Frank Landers, 18, of Monroe, is set for Tuesday, Brandon Landers said.
Tallying it up: Hampton got big numbers courtesy of its big stars against Grambling, from NFL prospect Justin Durant — who led the team with eight tackles and 2½ for a loss — to running back Alonzo Coleman.
Coleman, the MEAC's preseason offensive player of the year, amassed 78 yards on 12 carries, despite missing the latter part of the game to injury. Van Morgan took over and added another 83 yards on 14 carries.
Princeton Shepherd left the game as well, but still passed for a team-best 120 yards, along with a touchdown. T.J. Mitchell spelled Shepherd and connected on 6-for-16 attempts for 89 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
Marquay McDaniels was stellar, with 113 yards and a score at wideout, 48 yards on punt returns, and 8 yards rushing on three tries.
Shepherd (passing), Coleman (rushing), McDaniels (receiving) and Durant (tackles and sacks) were the team leaders last year, as well.
Sweet home, Alabama: Six Grambling teammates played for linebackers coach Andre Robinson during a previous tenure at Birmingham's Parker High School.
They include: linebackers Brandon Arnold and Josh Bester; center Tavarus Cockrell; wide receivers Reginald Jackson; Xavier Jackson and Henry Tolbert; and defensive lineman Donald Williams.
Senior running back Ab Kuuan is also from nearby Sylacauga, Ala.
They'll be headed right back this week, as Grambling returns for a rematch of last December's SWAC Championship Game against Alabama A&M.
"We've got to come out and take care of A&M," said safety Bryan Langford. "We've got to be ready, even if it goes to overtime, to go the distance."
Tolbert had four catches for 78 yards and a touchdown at Legion Field. Kuuan had 37 yards on 17 carries and a special-teams tackle.
Bester had six tackles, including an assist for a loss; Williams had four, with one for a loss.
Kuuan and Tolbert were pregame team captains, as well.
Gave them five: Hampton and Grambling shared the Sheridan Broadcasting Network's black college national title in 2005. But the Pirates have owned Grambling as of late.
GSU actually has a 57-25 overall record against Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, but it has fallen to 2-6 all time against Hampton — including five losses in a row.
But GSU didn't go easy, fighting until the last play of the game as it went to overtime.
"It's what you expected," Landers said. "It was a hard-fought battle to the end. Hopefully, we gave the people what they came out to see, two great teams trying to be victorious."
You have to go all the way back to former GSU coach Eddie Robinson's 1994 team to find a win — and it was a squeaker, too: Grambling won 32-29.
Spears has lost to HU three times, twice as a offensive coordinator in 1998-99 and then this year as head coach. GSU, under Doug Williams, lost by scores of 28-15 and 27-7.
Grambling is now 2-2 on ESPN affiliates since 2003, beating Alabama State and Alabama A&M last year and falling to San Jose State in '03 and Hampton over the weekend.
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Landers back as GSU's starting QB
October 11, 2006
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING — Three games into Grambling State's two-quarterback experiment, the race is a dead heat.
Larry Kerlegan and Brandon Landers, both redshirt sophomores, have each shown the ability to take charge — and to take a leave of absence.
Kerlegan was the dynamo at Houston, winning a weekly Southwestern Athletic Conference award while Landers posted negligible stats. The roles were reversed at Mississippi Valley State, where the opposing coaches clearly schemed to stop Kerlegan and Kerlegan alone.
The two passers also shared duties, though they had more similar success, in a rout against Prairie View in between.
"I think they are getting there," GSU coach Melvin Spears said. "We're still looking for a little more continuity."
Landers will get the start this week against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, as first reported at www. thenewsstar.com on Tuesday morning. But Spears said that Kerlegan will again spell him at quarterback.
Situations, Spears said, will dictate who plays and when.
"It's a studying process," he said, "and I think Brandon is a little further along. That's why he's getting a few more reps."
Landers, who won SWAC freshman of the year honors while subbing for the injured Bruce Eugene at Grambling in 2004, has played with renewed vigor since Kerlegan hit the field. The competition seems to have emboldened both to work harder.
Still, add in the bye week, and it's been a month since these two began splitting duties and the numbers still don't provide an easy answer as to who should start.
The efficiency ratings are lopsided in Kerlegan's direction, with a 68 percent completion rate compared with 53 percent. But Landers has piled up nearly twice as much passing production. Through this week, he has 882 yards and nine passing touchdowns while Kerlegan has 418 yards and 4 scores.
That means they'll continue to share time, Spears said.
"We're not asking them to win the game, just to manage it and get the ball to our receivers and running backs," Spears said.
Kerlegan got 285 of those passing yards against Houston, while Landers went 0-for-3. Landers then had 213 yards in the air last week at Valley, while Kerlegan had minus-2.
In Dallas against Prairie View, they almost perfectly split 297 total passing yards, as Kerlegan sparked the offense with 172 yards.
Again, no clear frontrunner.
Kerlegan is the team's second-leading rusher with 180 yards, but Landers is the only one of the two with a score on the ground.
And so it goes.
"Larry Kerlegan throws the ball just as well," Spears said, "He just needs to continue to learn the system. Brandon can run too, though he's not as a fast as Kerlegan. They both have things we like. That's why we'll continue to use both."
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AGENT OF CHANGE: Monroe's Landers settles in with new Grambling staff, playbook
August 5, 2007
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING — Brandon Landers, now a redshirt junior, has seen it all during his time at Grambling State.
He's been the green freshman, unexpectedly inserted in 2004 when GSU's record-smashing passer Bruce Eugene blew out a knee.
He's been the camp underdog, fighting to get that same job back, when Eugene returned.
Once relied upon, in 2005 Landers was eventually redshirted.
He's been the presumptive No. 1 himself, struggling in 2006 to fight off a flinty backup.
Today, the Monroe native is, simply, the starter.
"I always live by the idea of being ready for anything," said Landers, a criminal justice major and volunteer with the Marshal's Office. "Things will come at you. I am making the necessary adjustments, but I don't think of it as a difficult thing. Football is football."
Landers' career has been the definition of things coming right at you. He is, in fact, the first quarterback to start consecutive seasons at Grambling since '04.
Then coming off All-Northeast offensive player of the year honors at Carroll, Landers was recruited in 2003 by Doug Williams, played in 2004 and '06 under Melvin Spears and will finish his career under new Grambling coach Rod Broadway.
"Brandon has something about him that you can't help but like," Broadway said. "He has shown some leadership skills. The guys have taken to him, and he's a nice guy to be around."
The first transition was largely seamless, since Spears had run Williams' offensive for six seasons before succeeding him as head coach.
Broadway, however, is installing a completely new look — one that will test both Landers' decision making and his ability to manage the playcalling in a variety of offensive situations.
Landers, bolstered by the new coaches' confidence in him, remains steadfastly optimistic as he faces perhaps his most rigorous challenge yet.
"We're excited about being back at it," Landers said. "We're bonding as a team, trying to get better. You can sense the change, and the excitement about the coaching staff. I feel a difference already in the team."
Landers was productive last season, averaging 194.4 yards per game. A highpoint was his 350-yard passing performance at home against Jackson State, which earned Landers Southwestern Athletic Conference player of the week honors. He also passed for 17 scores, which ranked second in the league.
The offense's troubles at closing out games contributed to Grambling's disastrous 3-8 record, but it still would finish with a SWAC-best average of 348.3 yards per game.
New offensive coordinator James Spady loses six starters from that group, but can find some solace in the return of Landers and senior receiver Clyde Edwards, his favorite target.
Both have been meeting three to four times a day, Landers said, as a new playbook has been installed. Gone is the flashy go-for-broke style associated with Spears' tenure.
This offense will certainly take its shots, but it's more in keeping with the pro-style offense that Williams always favored.
"It's different from last year, when we were wide open," Landers said. "This is more of a set-up type offense. We won't be stuck on the approach of just getting the big play."
That puts Landers in a place he's never been, having been asked to pass upwards of 50 times in games against Alabama A&M (his first start) and Jackson State in 2004. Landers never stopped competing, and eventually rose to Southwestern Athletic Conference and Louisiana Sports Writers Association freshman of the year honors.
He finished with a school-record 2,283 passing yards, besting a freshman mark that had stood since Williams's debut in 1974 under Eddie Robinson.
A highlight of that initial campaign came during the season-ending Bayou Classic when, in a style that could become familiar under Broadway, Landers attempted fewer than 20 passes as GSU slowly suffocated Southern.
"We're not asking him to win the game for us," Broadway said. "We want him to learn how to manage a game. Once he understands that, along with his continued growth as a player, he should be in pretty good shape — because if you have a triggerman, on all levels of football, then you have a chance to compete."
Landers, matured in a crucible of change, is taking it all in stride.
"I like the new look," Landers said, though he bristles at any suggestion that this offense might lack the implicit danger of GSU's old attack. "If you sleep on us, we'll hit you big."
BEHIND BRANDON
Senior Larry Kerlegan, an athlete of uncommon playmaking ability, is listed as the backup on Grambling State's fall depth chart.
Over seven games last season, Kerlegan passed for 633 yards and seven scores, while running for another 215 yards to rank second on the team in rushing. That led to a move by the staff to work Kerlegan into the wideout rotation.
"He plays the way you want kids to play, and that's fast," first-year Grambling coach Rod Broadway said. "We're going to use him in a variety of offensive situations."
Sophomore Al Hawkins, the former minor-league baseball player, is the only other quarterback on the roster. He didn't attempt a pass in the Black and Gold game.
"The guys who were backups in the spring will have to step up in the fall and get better," Broadway said. "They'll have to perform well or get out of the way for some of the freshmen we're going to give a chance to play."
Grambling's remaining quarterbacks from the 2006 roster included Desmond Brentley, who has apparently transferred; and Zak Latif, who's now listed at tight end. --Nick Deriso, nderiso@thenewsstar.com.
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Academics could sideline Grambling's senior quarterback
July 26, 2008
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING — Monroe product Brandon Landers, a three-year letterman at Grambling State, will likely miss next season over an academic issue.
"I'm trying to see what I can do," the quarterback said. "I didn't get the grade I needed (in a history class), so it's up in the air right now if I will even play."
Landers, a fifth-year senior after redshirting in 2005 at Grambling, most recently posted career highs for completions, yards and touchdowns in the inaugural season under GSU coach Rod Broadway. That helped the Tigers advance to their fifth Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship Game since 2000, before falling to Jackson State last December.
Landers' absence opens the door to a spirited competition at the position just weeks before the year's much-anticipated opening kick. Grambling was again picked to win the SWAC's Western crown in preseason polling at the league's media day.
Greg Dillon, a 6-0, 200-pound sophomore, is listed as Landers' backup in the 2008 season prospectus. The academic status of Larry Kerlegan, the No. 2 Grambling passer in 2005-07, is also unclear.
GSU signed three prep athletes with quarterbacking experience, including Rayville product Justin Higgins. The 6-2, 185-pounder passed for more than 6,000 yards, rushed for nearly 2,000 yards and scored 60 touchdowns in high school.
El Paso, Texas, product Brendon Crawford (2,207 passing yards and 20 scores as a senior) and South Boston, Va., product Rodale Pippen (who split time at wideout, recording nearly 5,000 yards of total offense last year) were announced in GSU's most recent signing day.
The most intriguing option might be J.P. Tillman, a redshirt freshman transfer from the University of Missouri who has been participating during informal summer 7-on-7 drills at Grambling. The 6-3, 250-pound prospect was a three-sport high school athlete, and ranked No. 22 in the nation among dual-threat quarterbacks by Rivals.com as a senior.
Landers said it was unclear if an appeal could be made on his behalf. He is pursuing a degree in criminal justice.
"They are trying to do all they can do," Landers said. "I hope to know more by Tuesday (when Grambling football players report for fall practice sessions)."
Grambling coaches were unavailable for comment on Friday afternoon. The team opens this season Aug. 30 in Reno at the University of Nevada.
Landers, who was named prep offensive player of the year by The News-Star after his senior season at Carroll High in 2003, ranks third all-time among Grambling passers with 7,024. He needs 1,388 to pass Doug Williams for second place.
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Final narrative for Grambling's Landers hasn't been written
August 1, 2008
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
Brandon Landers' time at Grambling, as impressive as it is statistically, will always be one of lost promise. But his narrative is far from finished.
Landers initially signed as a prep quarterback with Doug Williams, only to see his would-be mentor leave for an NFL job. Then he was pushed too early, and with too little instruction, into the starting position as a true freshman in 2004 when Bruce Eugene went down. Then pushed back into a redshirt, and largely ignored, a season later when Eugene returned. Then pushed around as a redshirt sophomore in 2006, having belatedly retaken the starting position without ever having been properly prepared for it.
He remained erratic, able to gut out terrific wins (Bethune-Cookman in Cincinnati, Bayou Classic XXXI) on the one-hand but still subject to deflating breakdowns (memorable OT losses to Alabama A&M and Hampton, last year's Southwestern Athletic Conference title match).
Landers finally caught a decent break with the hiring of yet another new staff before his junior season. He was on his third head coach, but seemed to finally connect.
That's when the interior of his line fell apart. Landers withstood the kind of blows that would bring down buildings, and occasionally fell into old habits.
Grambling ended up one win shy of a championship. But Landers had become a vastly improved passer, a stronger locker room presence and, most importantly, an emerging leader off the field: He planned a successful offseason mentoring camp, volunteered as a marshal at the courthouse.
"He wants to become an inspiration for kids in this area by becoming a mentor," said Esther Gallow, who has done so much important outreach work in the economically depressed Booker T. community that Landers was raised in. "He's saying, even if I don't go pro, I still want to show young people that they can get out of the neighborhood, get a college education and do something great with their lives."
Sports fans don't like to hear it, but that's the important stuff.
Just like that, though, and just 1,400 yards shy of Doug Williams' No. 2 all-time passing marks at Grambling, Landers came up short on a summer course — and a football career that never reached its full potential is apparently over.
Yet what Landers accomplished, despite so much adversity (both the crushing poverty of his childhood environment and then at GSU), shouldn't be defined in total by the number of Bayou Classics or SWAC titles won or lost.
Landers is one credit away from doing something more notable than winning that last game on the gridiron. He has dreams of becoming a law enforcement officer, and then a community leader of enduring substance — and that's more urgently needed than another shiny item for the program's trophy case.
When he does all of that, and I think he will, football will perhaps finally be put in perspective as just one part of Brandon Landers' still-evolving story.
· Playing for Super Bowl quarterback Doug Williams played an important part in the decision. December 11, 2003
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
Carroll High quarterback Brandon Landers, the area's top local offensive recruit, confirms that he has verbally committed to play for Doug Williams at Grambling State.
"To be coached by the first black quarterback to win the Super Bowl had something to do with it," Landers said. "He knows the game. I'd like to follow in his footsteps and do some of the things he's done at Grambling State University."
Williams has said that any prep signings this off-season would redshirt in 2004 behind senior Bruce Eugene, the top quarterback in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Coach Jesse Smith has installed a similar spread offense at Carroll High.
"Whatever move he made, I'd support," Smith said of Landers' commitment. "But we do a lot of the same things that Grambling does. He will be in a system where he will throw the football. I believe, with the experience that he has gotten over the years, that this is as fine a program as he could be going to."
Landers also recognized the opportunity to quickly integrate into the SWAC's best passing offense the past two seasons.
"I feel like Grambling would treat me better," Landers said. "The offense they run is basically the same offense that we run."
Landers, who led Carroll to a second straight District 2-3A crown this season, finished his prep career with 2,302 yards on 140-for-245 passes, along with 16 TD passes and five interceptions. He was The News-Star/Glenwood SportsCare player of the week for Week 5 this season - after passing for 300 yards and a score against Ferriday, while also returning an interception for a touchdown.
"In my opinion, he had an outstanding year," said Smith. "He pretty much led the team. He was able to run the football and pass it too. He did everything we expected."
In his last high school game, the multi-talented Landers passed for 204 yards and ran for a score in a third-round playoff loss.. He also had 48 career tackles and three interceptions for Carroll.
Landers says he was recruited by McNeese State, Northwestern State, Louisiana-Monroe and Louisiana Tech. Others like Texas A&M were reportedly interested as well.
"But I never really considered anywhere else," Landers said. "I felt like Grambling fit me."
Landers follows in the footsteps of Grambling State legend James "Shack" Harris, who is also a Carroll High alum. Harris was the first black quarterback to be drafted into the NFL, playing for Buffalo, Los Angeles and San Diego.
Cooper's departure could shift QB status
Carroll High quarterback Brandon Landers could immediately move into the No. 2 slot at Grambling State. Coach Doug Williams granted two-year backup quarterback Gary Cooper a release on Monday.
"I'm not a guy who believes in a two-quarterback system," Williams said. "Somebody has to take the bull by the horns. It's unfortunate for Cooper, because he wants to play. But as long as Bruce is healthy, he's our starter."
Cooper had career numbers of 14-for-36 at GSU, with three interceptions and two scores.
Further back in the quarterback rotation are Texas freshmen Brandon Logan from San Antonio and Arnel Rolfe of Dallas. Neither has taken a game-day snap.
"They've got to step it up in the spring," Williams said.
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Landers learns another lesson the hard way
September 12, 2004
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
NORMAL Ala. - The grounds crew at Louis Crews Stadium can thank Grambling State quarterback Brandon Landers for all the work facing them this morning.
I expect there are several freshman-shaped holes out there today.
Perhaps that was expected for Landers, who got his first collegiate start a year early when senior All-American Bruce Eugene was injured last week.
Still, the timing couldn't have been worse, as GSU arrived in Alabama to face one of the Southwestern Athletic Conference's most inventive and aggressive defenses.
Alabama A&M relentlessly harassed Landers. It threw everything at him - linebackers, safeties, the kitchen sink, other appliances. That ensured Landers wouldn't win the game, yet his fiery determination would again win over the coaches.
"We have believed that Brandon Landers could handle the things we do," said interim GSU coach Melvin Spears, who fell to 0-2 with the loss to Alabama A&M. "Brandon and Bruce worked closely together all summer. He has grasped the information at a very fast pace."
There were moments of shimmering promise, followed by thudding despair.
That's a freshman quarterback for you.
For instance, Landers took advantage of a blocked punt by Winnfield junior Donald Alexander on A&M's first possession of the third quarter, firing a brilliant pass to Mangham senior Chad White over the middle for a critical completion at midfield.
But the inevitable sack ended that drive. Landers ran right into the rush on that play, a rookie error.
He kept his head up.
"My athleticism will always help me," Landers said. "As I get more familiar with the offensive scheme, I will only get better."
As soon as Landers got going on Saturday, he would get leveled.
A sack - no surprise, that - by A&M's Cedric Harris killed the first promising drive of Landers' night in Alabama. After starting 0-of-4, Landers had finally completed an underneath pass to junior Henry Tolbert that turned into a 15-yard gain.
GSU didn't score, but Landers kept going. He kept getting hit, but he kept going.
With 6:03 left in the game, Grambling State had used all of its timeouts. This was how this tough night would end, in real time - a slow wait.
Somebody forgot to tell Landers.
With 54 seconds left, he was still flinging it. GSU's first 0-2 start since 1996 - when former coach Eddie Robinson lost his initial three contests on the way to a 3-8 record - would have to wait. Landers hit Tolbert for a 25-yard touchdown pass to bring the score to 21-9.
But, too often, even when Landers could get a throw off, a very young receiving group again dropped it. GSU was also without its top target from last year's A&M game, as Moses Harris joined Eugene with a season-ending injury during Week 1.
"It hasn't been roses for them. They've faced some challenges," said third-year Alabama A&M coach Anthony Jones, who had never before won against GSU - a streak that included the 2002 SWAC title game. "Grambling has enough guys on that team that are used to winning. One thing I know about winning, once you get that taste in your mouth, you don't roll over for anybody."
So A&M kept coming.
Sacks count against a team's rushing yardage on the official stat sheet, so it's no surprise that the Tigers ended up with a staggering minus-two yards in the first half. Junior Ab Kuaan's first-down yardage was leaking out with each defensive play on his quarterback.
Yet, Landers was always out there under center when the whistle blew, lined up again and ready to go. He prides himself on that.
"I lead by action," said Landers, The News-Star/Glenwood SportsCare Offensive Player of the Year as a senior at Carroll. "I've never been a very vocal person. So, I lead by what I do."
A big, tough unit, GSU's offensive line was simply outnumbered by A&M's zone-blitz scheme. It often had seven hats on eight defenders.
That's why Landers could have been confined to bed rest by a doctor and not spent as much time on his back. Adding insult to injury, Grambling State wore white - meaning those grass stains may never come out.
But Spears takes solace in that flickering passion from his first-year signal-caller. You won't find many players still gunning for the end zone with under a minute left in an already-decided game.
"He's very athletic, very versatile, with an outstanding arm," enthused the ever-upbeat Spears. "When the lights come on, he's a different kind of player. He has a flair as a leader. I think we are in good hands."
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Saving the day has been child's play for Grambling freshmen
September 20, 2004
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
CINCINNATI- Remember when they used to make freshmen carry the older players' shoulder pads back in after practice?
Now, they're carrying the team.
Witness Grambling State's first win of the 2004 season. Quarterback Brandon Landers hands off to Landry Carter, who runs it in from four yards in the third quarter on Saturday against Bethune-Cookman, GSU's first points on the day.
Defensive end Jason Banks also notches two sacks for 14 yards in losses.
Landers tosses a 46-yard scoring strike to Clyde Edwards to get GSU to within two points.
Every one of the playmakers mentioned is a freshman. GSU would beat Bethune-Cookman 24-23 on Saturday in the Ohio Classic.
"I couldn't ask for anything better," said Landers, a Carroll High product named offensive player of the year just last spring by The News-Star. The ... high school ... offensive player of the year.
"To be on the Cincinnati Bengals field, being a young player," Landers marvelled from inside Paul Brown Stadium. "I've waited for this my whole life."
His whole life. Landers was born on Groundhog Day, Feb. 2, 1985.
But we've never seen anything like this before: Kid's stuff is now the stuff of legend. Landers has led GSU to 32 fourth-quarter points in three games.
"Leaders," Landers mused, and he couldn't be more right, "are born."
Born in the second Reagan administration.
And not just Brandon Landers, who replaced All-American Bruce Eugene after the senior suffered a season-ending knee injury in the first game of 2004.
First-year Georgia running back Danny Ware exploded for three scores against Georgia Southern. Tennessee's Brent Schaeffer became the first true freshman to start an SEC opener since 1945. A youngster named Darius Walker might have turned Notre Dame's season around with 115 rushing yards and two touchdowns in a second-week win over Michigan.
Landers' first start was somewhat less glamorous. But playing through it made him a better quarterback in Cincinnati.
"They were sending six or seven people at me last week (against Alabama A&M)," said Landers. "So (interim GSU) Coach (Melvin) Spears told me that we were going to the shotgun (against BCC), and that I should be patient and stay with it. He put the ball in my hands."
That Alabama A&M nightmare included just 11 completions on 40 tries. GSU didn't convert a single third-down - putting freshman punter Tim Manuel just one punt away from the school record for attempts in a game.
"Bouncing back from a performance like that," said Eugene, "is all about character."
Alabama A&M was credited with a five sacks, but Landers was hurried and pushed around all night.
"He's taken so many licks," said offensive coordinator Sammy White. "To keep getting up, that says a lot about him."
Landers would flourish Saturday in the shotgun, a scheme that made all the more sense when senior center Lance Wright left the game with an injury.
"What we were trying to do was to take some of the pressure off of Brandon," said Spears. "When you get down a couple of touchdowns, you've got to keep passing. But we wanted to give him a better opportunity. At halftime, we told him: `It's your show. Show us what you've got.' "
But just in case the freshmen get too comfortable, however, note that Landers' first collegiate win came with some veteran help.
Junior Henry Tolbert made a key scoring grab to narrow BCC's lead to two points in the third quarter. And Eugene attended Saturday's game, encouraging the team during warmups and helping out with playcalling upstairs with running backs coach Vyron Brown.
"We're going to keep him around," Spears said of Eugene, laughing. "He'll basically be our cheerleader - and he'll also help us with Brandon."
Saturday's game was Eugene's first since undergoing knee surgery a week ago on Thursday.
"I can help him, because I've been there," said Eugene, who was given wide latitude last season to audible from the line based on what he saw on the field. "That hands-on experience will make a difference."
A Landers scramble for a quick 53 yards seemed to loosen up this offense in the third quarter. The team's biggest second-half adjustment had to do with confidence.
"Those are the intangibles that Brandon brings to the table," said Spears. "He had great poise. In the end, he looked like Bruce Eugene back there - and that's a good comparison."
The move into the booth will also ensure that Eugene can stay for the entirety of the game, without enduring whatever pain comes from standing on the sidelines. Eugene, who moved around on crutches, is applying for another year of eligibility on a medical waiver.
"Everything is progressing very well for Bruce," said Spears, who is also taking a more prominent role in the offense, after concentrating on the defense early in the season. "As he heals, we'd like to give him an opportunity to look at the game from a different perspective. Hopefully, when he gets back, he will have a better understanding - and be a better player."
You could criticize GSU's hard-headed focus on making Landers pass. After all, he had attempted 62 throws in five quarters of play before arriving in Cincinnati. But whether they ran or he threw, there was going to be a learning curve.
"When you lose your trigger guy, it makes you a little stagnated - until you get the new trigger guy in place and working," said Spears. "I knew you would start seeing an outstanding quarterback soon - one who happens to be a freshman - in Brandon Landers."
NICK DERISO, named columnist of the year this summer by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association, is sports editor at The News-Star, 411 N. Fourth St., Monroe, 71201. Contact him at (318) 362-0233 or at nderiso@thenewsstar.com.
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Landers' stellar freshman season may not yield sophomore one
December 14, 2004
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING - Another week brings another freshman of the year honor for Carroll High product Brandon Landers. Yet, he still doesn't know whether he will get to start again next season at Grambling State.
Landers, who was honored Saturday night by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association, took over when senior GSU quarterback Bruce Eugene went down in the third quarter of the 2004 season opener. Landers was also named freshman of the year by the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
"It never ran across my mind to win both awards," said Landers, who broke the school's single-season passing yards record for a freshman - set by Doug Williams in 1974. "You always set goals for a season - you know, once I got the starting job, I decided I wanted to win. But awards like this are a great feeling. I didn't even think I was going to play."
GSU defender Kenneth Pettway and place-kicker Brian Morgan, both seniors, also received first-team All-Louisiana honors from the LSWA, while sophomore offensive tackle Andre' Bennett was given an honorable mention.
The awards come as GSU awaits word on a medical exemption for Eugene. If the NCAA grants Eugene an extra year of eligibility, coaches have said Landers would be redshirted.
"We talked with the NCAA, and it's still under review," said interim GSU coach Melvin Spears. "If Bruce comes back, Landers will redshirt. He will get an opportunity to watch more, and to learn. But if Bruce doesn't come back, then Landers will be the incumbent in camp."
GSU signed LaMarque High product Larry Kerlegan out of Houston last season - who was ranked No. 11 nationally among dual-threat quarterbacks by Rivals.com - but grades kept him off the roster. Kerlegan is expected to be in camp this spring.
"I talked to Bruce the other day, and he still doesn't know whether he will be back or not. We'll wait and see," said Landers, who posted a 6-4 mark as a starter while completing 132-of-316 passes for 2,283 yards, along with 18 touchdowns against 15 interceptions. "In the meantime, I know we're going to start back up in January. I am going to work on getting stronger, on my technique. Redshirting, if that happens, could make me better - just sitting back and watching and learning. I could get more of the experience I need."
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GSU's quarterbacks battle as friends
Camp competition at Grambling is far from combative
August 17, 2005
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING - There's a sure sign that Bruce Eugene is feeling it again.
Grambling State's former All American quarterback is trash talking once more during the team's stretching exercises before practice.
"This offense," Eugene was saying the other day, "has speed for sale."
GSU coach Melvin Spears has consistently hedged on how that return impacts his depth chart. After all, Brandon Landers rocketed to conference freshman of the year honors once Eugene lost his senior season to a knee injury in the 2004.
"Brandon did a wonderful job for us last year down the stretch," Spears said. "But when you talk about experience, Bruce Eugene knows the system. We will let the best guy play."
Landers has a different answer.
"I know what the situation is," he said. "Bruce is getting his old position back."
Even so, the expected creative tension hasn't followed.
In fact, these two remain friends. As they enter the practice field, one will say to the other: "Be perfect today."
"That way," Landers said, "we know we are pushing each other to do better. At the same time, I am trying to learn from him."
Eugene also says that competition hasn't gotten in the way of their relationship: "The whole thing of `let's be perfect' is that we are trying to make each other better. We get along just fine."
Eugene still wears a knee brace - though Spears says that's simply as a precaution.
"He's the only guy I've ever seen go through an ACL injury and not lose any flexibility," said Spears. "Bruce is better than he was before. First off, his rehab was extensive, but also he's a fast healer."
Questions about the knee haven't trumped Eugene's past performances, which likely pushed Grambling to the top of the Southwestern Athletic Conference's Western division in more than one preseason poll so far.
Grambling's career total offense leader with 10,172 yards, he was last seen as a junior in 2003 passing for 3,805 yards and 34 touchdowns. Eugene also ran for 412 yards - second most on the team - and another six touchdowns on the ground.
That makes Eugene, despite the fact that he spent the last season earning his degree, the most productive returning quarterback in Division I-AA.
Yet Landers never stopped working, even as a move to the No. 2 spot became clear.
The Carroll product paid particular attention to his upper-body strength this offseason, focusing on bench pressing on an incline and lifting by shoulder shrug. The result has been a sharper release, and better ball speed.
Spears, wary after an injury-marred 2004, said he won't consider redshirting Landers.
"The nature of the beast is that you never know how the game goes, and how it may fall," said Spears, who lost Eugene in the third quarter of the season opener last year.
Landers isn't interested either.
"A quarterback who redshirted might relax," said Landers, who threw for almost 2,300 yards as a freshman. "It's a mind thing. I'm not thinking about next year. I'm thinking about right now. That will help me stay ready, as always."
The No. 3 quarterback is a celebrated prep prospect, Larry Kerlegan of Houston's LaMarque High.
"You always have to think in terms of two or three years down the road," said Spears. "You've got to be prepared. Bruce Eugene won't be back - one way or another. Those other guys have to be ready to play."
Still, as even Landers admits, it's clear the team belongs to the likeable Eugene right now.
Eugene has always been gregarious, knowledgeable and well regarded, even if he is only just now completely inhabiting the leadership role.
"The kids really rally around Bruce," said GSU offensive line coach Carl Roberts. "He not only knows his own assignment, but also the linemen's assignment. He has that leadership quality."
Eugene earned a lot of credibility when he led Grambling to the 2002 championship, after a season behind Randy Hymes - quarterback on those 2000-01 title teams.
But Eugene gained real authority as a team captain when he wrestled down a more common nemesis: His weight.
"I know within the circle of this team, they believe in me," Eugene said. "That's what I go on."
Spears sent Eugene to the Duke University diet and fitness center over the summer, where he lost 25 pounds in just four weeks on a diet of 1,800 calories a day.
Eugene was just getting started. He's now dropped more than 40 pounds.
"In rehab, and while I'm lifting weights or walking, every time I get ready to eat something I shouldn't be eating, I think about the naysayers," said Eugene, who at one point ballooned up to a startling 308 pounds. "Everybody said I couldn't lose weight. Let them talk. I know in the end I will be standing on top."
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For Grambling State quarterback Brandon Landers ...
Waiting was the hardest part
March 15, 2006
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING - Brandon Landers was brought in to be the Next Big Thing at Grambling State.
The Carroll High product expected to apprentice during the 2004 season behind record-smashing quarterback Bruce Eugene, then assume the spotlight.
Something happened on the way to his debut.
Eugene went down with a knee injury, and suddenly Landers - just months after playing Class 4A ball in high school - was under center.
It took time and adjustment for both Landers and the staff, but he eventually claimed conference freshman of the year honors after leading a newly run-oriented GSU to a winning season.
"My freshman year, they wanted give the ball to the veteran backs," Landers said. "Having guys like that, it took some pressure off of me."
Landers then got his belated redshirt, gaining more valuable experience, when Eugene was given a medical exemption before the 2005 campaign.
So, there's little drama in this: Landers is penciled in at starter as GSU's spring sessions get underway today.
The plot thickens, however, when examining how Landers' return could affect the playbook.
"We might put in a few wrinkles here or there to play up to Brandon's strengths," GSU coach Melvin Spears said. "But a year behind Bruce has given Brandon a much better grasp of the offense, both in terms of being able to make all the different adjustments and running the team more efficiently."
Landers, always gritty and confidant, says the days of running the ball to mask immaturity are over. He's ready to fit into a passing system that has established itself as the Southwestern Athletic Conference's most dangerous and entertaining.
"I don't know about any changes (to the scheme); I hope they keep it the same so we can keep rolling," Landers said.
Then, after some thought, he adds: "Playing behind a guy like Bruce, everyone will be expecting a whole lot of things. I'm just going to go out and play the game that I know how to play."
Questions about the offensive focus can be forgiven, even by some of the players, after the way Landers' presence in 2004 so radically altered Grambling's look.
His freshman campaign ended with redemptive win over Southern, but Landers had just 13 passing attempts on the day. (To put that into perspective, Eugene had as many tries by the first GSU possession of the second quarter in the 2005 Bayou Classic.)
Ab "Killer" Kuuan was the tip of the sword in this reworked ground attack, averaging 131 rushing yards a game over the final month of the season. The last time he and Landers shared the field, Kuuan was receiving his Bayou Classic MVP trophy after running for 126 punishing yards against Southern.
"That was my first question: Are we still going to have the same offense? Or are we going to run it?" said senior Henry Tolbert, who just set a new school record for receiving touchdowns in a season.
"The coaches feel like it's on him," Tolbert said. "If Brandon can show this spring that he can run the offense the way Bruce did, everything will be the same."
Spears said he has always known that Landers was physically gifted. He just felt Landers needed more time to adjust to the speed of decision-making in the college game.
He got that chance when Eugene returned for a rare sixth season of eligibility - though the bench wasn't always a comfy spot for a competitor like Landers.
"It was tough; that was my first time ever sitting out an entire season, but I learned a whole lot," said Landers, who earned offensive player of the year honors from The News-Star and Glenwood SportsCare in 2003.
"I paid attention to the game, learning about what was called on the field," he said. "I knew my role. I did what was asked."
In the end, Landers had a front-row seat as Eugene marched through the record books. A capstone came when Eugene smashed a 20-year-old Division I-AA mark for touchdown passes in a season during the SWAC championship win last December.
Landers found that, in the end, he had made a friend.
"We bonded together; we developed a really good friendship," Landers said. "I hope to be a leader and do the same things Bruce did. It was honor playing behind him."
Landers also grew closer to Tolbert, sure to be one of his primary targets in `06, over the past two seasons. That chemistry translates off the field too, where the two are roommates.
"I feel really good about Brandon taking over," Tolbert said. "I don't think I could feel any better about anybody. I was here when he first got here, so I've seen a lot of progress. Sitting behind Bruce was great for him. My expectations are really high coming in."
Look for a strong push for starting time from second-year passer Larry Kerlegan, a celebrated former Texas recruit. Grambling was also still in the market for another quarterback signee as late as last weekend.
But in the end, the stage is set. It's Landers' job to lose.
"Brandon Landers showed a lot of maturity last year in the way he handled things," Spears said. "It allowed him to learn a lot from Bruce Eugene. What we will do this spring is polish that. We're eager to see what he learned from the whole process."
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Landers lays down the law
Grambling QB interned as local marshal this summer
August 7, 2006
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING — When Grambling State holds its first fall practice this afternoon, quarterback Brandon Landers will be the new sheriff in town.
Well, marshal, actually.
The Carroll product, a criminal justice major, spent the summer interning with Ouachita Parish marshal Wince Highshaw Jr. — a stint that included serving warrants and working court security.
Landers said that real-world experience uniquely prepared him to take over a leadership role as GSU quarterback.
And to continue in that role in his impoverished neighborhood when football is over.
"I'm the first person in my family to go to college," Landers said. "Doing something like this, going to school and working hard, it's a way to show younger people that success is not about drugs. I want to be a role model in the neighborhood."
Landers — friends have already taken to calling him "Officer Landers" — is by far the most experienced returning quarterback at Grambling.
Pushed into duty after an injury to the now-departed Bruce Eugene, a two-time Walter Payton Award finalist, Landers would eventually earn conference freshman of the year honors.
He struggled with the assignment early on, but showed flashes of the talent that only months before helped lead Carroll to a second straight District 2-3A crown.
Landers now stands 309 attempts, 131 completions and 17 touchdowns further along than sophomore Larry Kerlegan, GSU's backup when Eugene returned and Landers redshirted a year later.
In fact, Kerlegan has just one college completion on seven attempts — a touchdown pass late in that blowout win over Concordia, an over-matched NAIA team. Presumptive No. 3 Desmond Brentley is a true freshman out of Pittsburgh's Perry High.
Still, GSU coach Melvin Spears has stressed that this will be a competitive camp for Landers, with Kerlegan and Brentley getting their share of reps.
"Our goal was to bring in enough competition so that we could make certain that Brandon doesn't get complacent," Spears said. "We've got a couple of guys who can do that. We want to be competitive everywhere, at every position."
Later, Spears reiterates one of this off-season's early mantras: "Leadership has no seniority."
A visibly more mature Landers welcomes the challenge.
Time spent in local courtrooms, where he's gotten an up-close examination of how life can turn on a bad decision, along with a year behind Eugene helped reshape this flinty former high school star. Landers is focused, energetic, and a bit humbled.
"Some people from my neighborhood have asked me, how can you be a police officer with where you come from?" Landers said. "I want to show them you can make it out. You don't have to do illegal things to get there."
Landers was already something of a neighborhood hero, finishing his prep career with 2,302 yards and 16 touchdown passes to go with 48 career tackles and three interceptions as a defensive back for Carroll.
His senior season in 2003 included a 300-yard, one-touchdown passing day against Ferriday. He also returned an interception for a touchdown that night, on the way to <I>News-Star</I>/Glenwood SportsCare player of the week honors. Landers' final prep game was a third-round playoff loss, but he passed for 204 yards and ran for a score.
"He was able to run the football and pass it too," said Carroll coach Jesse Smith when Landers committed to Grambling. "He did everything we expected."
That led to offensive player of the year recognition at the All-Northeast banquet — though Landers couldn't attend because he was also a crucial contributor on the Bulldogs' basketball team, which was playing that night.
Recruiters, Landers said, came calling from ULM, Louisiana Tech, McNeese State, Northwestern State and Texas A&M. But he chose to stay close to home, hoping to play one day for former Grambling coach Doug Williams.
Landers figured to have some time to gather himself, since he arrived as Eugene entered what promised to be a heralded senior season. But in short order, Williams left for an executive job in the NFL — turning the reins over to Spears, his former offensive coordinator — and then Eugene blew out his knee in the season opener.
"Brandon did an outstanding job in 2004 when Bruce went down," Spears said. "He has a great feel for the game when the lights come on."
Still, the life lesson was clear: Be prepared.
Landers started contemplating on a longer timeline.
"You gotta think about life after football," he said. "The air might go out of the ball one day."
Landers said Highshaw, a family friend, helped him get the internship — and it's been something that helped Landers frame everything that's important right now, not just football.
"When I got into criminal justice, and found out the type of things that they do, I got really interested," Landers said. "Marshal Highshaw gave me the opportunity to get some hands-on training, and I've learned so much that will help me."
Landers took the summer to get in shape, and not just physically. That's something that will bolster a maturation process his coach thinks is critical for Grambling's success on the field this year.
"He's learned the system; he has the tangibles," Spears said of Landers. "It's just going to be a matter of how quickly he can show that on the field."
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Landers handled it all on and off the field
September 4, 2006
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The context surrounding Grambling State quarterback Brandon Landers' numbers on Saturday makes them all the more impressive.
While attempting to mediate an argument, Landers saw his brother murdered and his cousin critically wounded in his hometown of Monroe just two Fridays ago. Yet, he still threw for 273 yards and four touchdowns against Hampton at legendary Legion Field.
"I tried to go on with my everyday life," said Landers, a former Carroll High standout. "I tried to stay close to my team and my coaches, really just to take my mind off of things. Coach kept telling me that everything happens for a reason. I just looked at is as motivation."
Perhaps accordingly, Landers had his struggles, from a one-pass possession stopped on an interception to several attempts that badly overshot receivers.
But in the end, he was efficient enough to put the team in position to win — even if it didn't work out that way — and he did a good job of distributing the ball, hitting four different receivers for touchdown passes.
"He's had some ups and downs the week, certainly," GSU coach Melvin Spears said. "But he worked hard, and he executed for the most part. It's a whole lot for a young man to have on his shoulders. I'm ready proud of him."
The funeral for Frank Landers, 18, of Monroe, is set for Tuesday, Brandon Landers said.
Tallying it up: Hampton got big numbers courtesy of its big stars against Grambling, from NFL prospect Justin Durant — who led the team with eight tackles and 2½ for a loss — to running back Alonzo Coleman.
Coleman, the MEAC's preseason offensive player of the year, amassed 78 yards on 12 carries, despite missing the latter part of the game to injury. Van Morgan took over and added another 83 yards on 14 carries.
Princeton Shepherd left the game as well, but still passed for a team-best 120 yards, along with a touchdown. T.J. Mitchell spelled Shepherd and connected on 6-for-16 attempts for 89 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
Marquay McDaniels was stellar, with 113 yards and a score at wideout, 48 yards on punt returns, and 8 yards rushing on three tries.
Shepherd (passing), Coleman (rushing), McDaniels (receiving) and Durant (tackles and sacks) were the team leaders last year, as well.
Sweet home, Alabama: Six Grambling teammates played for linebackers coach Andre Robinson during a previous tenure at Birmingham's Parker High School.
They include: linebackers Brandon Arnold and Josh Bester; center Tavarus Cockrell; wide receivers Reginald Jackson; Xavier Jackson and Henry Tolbert; and defensive lineman Donald Williams.
Senior running back Ab Kuuan is also from nearby Sylacauga, Ala.
They'll be headed right back this week, as Grambling returns for a rematch of last December's SWAC Championship Game against Alabama A&M.
"We've got to come out and take care of A&M," said safety Bryan Langford. "We've got to be ready, even if it goes to overtime, to go the distance."
Tolbert had four catches for 78 yards and a touchdown at Legion Field. Kuuan had 37 yards on 17 carries and a special-teams tackle.
Bester had six tackles, including an assist for a loss; Williams had four, with one for a loss.
Kuuan and Tolbert were pregame team captains, as well.
Gave them five: Hampton and Grambling shared the Sheridan Broadcasting Network's black college national title in 2005. But the Pirates have owned Grambling as of late.
GSU actually has a 57-25 overall record against Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, but it has fallen to 2-6 all time against Hampton — including five losses in a row.
But GSU didn't go easy, fighting until the last play of the game as it went to overtime.
"It's what you expected," Landers said. "It was a hard-fought battle to the end. Hopefully, we gave the people what they came out to see, two great teams trying to be victorious."
You have to go all the way back to former GSU coach Eddie Robinson's 1994 team to find a win — and it was a squeaker, too: Grambling won 32-29.
Spears has lost to HU three times, twice as a offensive coordinator in 1998-99 and then this year as head coach. GSU, under Doug Williams, lost by scores of 28-15 and 27-7.
Grambling is now 2-2 on ESPN affiliates since 2003, beating Alabama State and Alabama A&M last year and falling to San Jose State in '03 and Hampton over the weekend.
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Landers back as GSU's starting QB
October 11, 2006
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING — Three games into Grambling State's two-quarterback experiment, the race is a dead heat.
Larry Kerlegan and Brandon Landers, both redshirt sophomores, have each shown the ability to take charge — and to take a leave of absence.
Kerlegan was the dynamo at Houston, winning a weekly Southwestern Athletic Conference award while Landers posted negligible stats. The roles were reversed at Mississippi Valley State, where the opposing coaches clearly schemed to stop Kerlegan and Kerlegan alone.
The two passers also shared duties, though they had more similar success, in a rout against Prairie View in between.
"I think they are getting there," GSU coach Melvin Spears said. "We're still looking for a little more continuity."
Landers will get the start this week against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, as first reported at www. thenewsstar.com on Tuesday morning. But Spears said that Kerlegan will again spell him at quarterback.
Situations, Spears said, will dictate who plays and when.
"It's a studying process," he said, "and I think Brandon is a little further along. That's why he's getting a few more reps."
Landers, who won SWAC freshman of the year honors while subbing for the injured Bruce Eugene at Grambling in 2004, has played with renewed vigor since Kerlegan hit the field. The competition seems to have emboldened both to work harder.
Still, add in the bye week, and it's been a month since these two began splitting duties and the numbers still don't provide an easy answer as to who should start.
The efficiency ratings are lopsided in Kerlegan's direction, with a 68 percent completion rate compared with 53 percent. But Landers has piled up nearly twice as much passing production. Through this week, he has 882 yards and nine passing touchdowns while Kerlegan has 418 yards and 4 scores.
That means they'll continue to share time, Spears said.
"We're not asking them to win the game, just to manage it and get the ball to our receivers and running backs," Spears said.
Kerlegan got 285 of those passing yards against Houston, while Landers went 0-for-3. Landers then had 213 yards in the air last week at Valley, while Kerlegan had minus-2.
In Dallas against Prairie View, they almost perfectly split 297 total passing yards, as Kerlegan sparked the offense with 172 yards.
Again, no clear frontrunner.
Kerlegan is the team's second-leading rusher with 180 yards, but Landers is the only one of the two with a score on the ground.
And so it goes.
"Larry Kerlegan throws the ball just as well," Spears said, "He just needs to continue to learn the system. Brandon can run too, though he's not as a fast as Kerlegan. They both have things we like. That's why we'll continue to use both."
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AGENT OF CHANGE: Monroe's Landers settles in with new Grambling staff, playbook
August 5, 2007
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING — Brandon Landers, now a redshirt junior, has seen it all during his time at Grambling State.
He's been the green freshman, unexpectedly inserted in 2004 when GSU's record-smashing passer Bruce Eugene blew out a knee.
He's been the camp underdog, fighting to get that same job back, when Eugene returned.
Once relied upon, in 2005 Landers was eventually redshirted.
He's been the presumptive No. 1 himself, struggling in 2006 to fight off a flinty backup.
Today, the Monroe native is, simply, the starter.
"I always live by the idea of being ready for anything," said Landers, a criminal justice major and volunteer with the Marshal's Office. "Things will come at you. I am making the necessary adjustments, but I don't think of it as a difficult thing. Football is football."
Landers' career has been the definition of things coming right at you. He is, in fact, the first quarterback to start consecutive seasons at Grambling since '04.
Then coming off All-Northeast offensive player of the year honors at Carroll, Landers was recruited in 2003 by Doug Williams, played in 2004 and '06 under Melvin Spears and will finish his career under new Grambling coach Rod Broadway.
"Brandon has something about him that you can't help but like," Broadway said. "He has shown some leadership skills. The guys have taken to him, and he's a nice guy to be around."
The first transition was largely seamless, since Spears had run Williams' offensive for six seasons before succeeding him as head coach.
Broadway, however, is installing a completely new look — one that will test both Landers' decision making and his ability to manage the playcalling in a variety of offensive situations.
Landers, bolstered by the new coaches' confidence in him, remains steadfastly optimistic as he faces perhaps his most rigorous challenge yet.
"We're excited about being back at it," Landers said. "We're bonding as a team, trying to get better. You can sense the change, and the excitement about the coaching staff. I feel a difference already in the team."
Landers was productive last season, averaging 194.4 yards per game. A highpoint was his 350-yard passing performance at home against Jackson State, which earned Landers Southwestern Athletic Conference player of the week honors. He also passed for 17 scores, which ranked second in the league.
The offense's troubles at closing out games contributed to Grambling's disastrous 3-8 record, but it still would finish with a SWAC-best average of 348.3 yards per game.
New offensive coordinator James Spady loses six starters from that group, but can find some solace in the return of Landers and senior receiver Clyde Edwards, his favorite target.
Both have been meeting three to four times a day, Landers said, as a new playbook has been installed. Gone is the flashy go-for-broke style associated with Spears' tenure.
This offense will certainly take its shots, but it's more in keeping with the pro-style offense that Williams always favored.
"It's different from last year, when we were wide open," Landers said. "This is more of a set-up type offense. We won't be stuck on the approach of just getting the big play."
That puts Landers in a place he's never been, having been asked to pass upwards of 50 times in games against Alabama A&M (his first start) and Jackson State in 2004. Landers never stopped competing, and eventually rose to Southwestern Athletic Conference and Louisiana Sports Writers Association freshman of the year honors.
He finished with a school-record 2,283 passing yards, besting a freshman mark that had stood since Williams's debut in 1974 under Eddie Robinson.
A highlight of that initial campaign came during the season-ending Bayou Classic when, in a style that could become familiar under Broadway, Landers attempted fewer than 20 passes as GSU slowly suffocated Southern.
"We're not asking him to win the game for us," Broadway said. "We want him to learn how to manage a game. Once he understands that, along with his continued growth as a player, he should be in pretty good shape — because if you have a triggerman, on all levels of football, then you have a chance to compete."
Landers, matured in a crucible of change, is taking it all in stride.
"I like the new look," Landers said, though he bristles at any suggestion that this offense might lack the implicit danger of GSU's old attack. "If you sleep on us, we'll hit you big."
BEHIND BRANDON
Senior Larry Kerlegan, an athlete of uncommon playmaking ability, is listed as the backup on Grambling State's fall depth chart.
Over seven games last season, Kerlegan passed for 633 yards and seven scores, while running for another 215 yards to rank second on the team in rushing. That led to a move by the staff to work Kerlegan into the wideout rotation.
"He plays the way you want kids to play, and that's fast," first-year Grambling coach Rod Broadway said. "We're going to use him in a variety of offensive situations."
Sophomore Al Hawkins, the former minor-league baseball player, is the only other quarterback on the roster. He didn't attempt a pass in the Black and Gold game.
"The guys who were backups in the spring will have to step up in the fall and get better," Broadway said. "They'll have to perform well or get out of the way for some of the freshmen we're going to give a chance to play."
Grambling's remaining quarterbacks from the 2006 roster included Desmond Brentley, who has apparently transferred; and Zak Latif, who's now listed at tight end. --Nick Deriso, nderiso@thenewsstar.com.
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Academics could sideline Grambling's senior quarterback
July 26, 2008
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING — Monroe product Brandon Landers, a three-year letterman at Grambling State, will likely miss next season over an academic issue.
"I'm trying to see what I can do," the quarterback said. "I didn't get the grade I needed (in a history class), so it's up in the air right now if I will even play."
Landers, a fifth-year senior after redshirting in 2005 at Grambling, most recently posted career highs for completions, yards and touchdowns in the inaugural season under GSU coach Rod Broadway. That helped the Tigers advance to their fifth Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship Game since 2000, before falling to Jackson State last December.
Landers' absence opens the door to a spirited competition at the position just weeks before the year's much-anticipated opening kick. Grambling was again picked to win the SWAC's Western crown in preseason polling at the league's media day.
Greg Dillon, a 6-0, 200-pound sophomore, is listed as Landers' backup in the 2008 season prospectus. The academic status of Larry Kerlegan, the No. 2 Grambling passer in 2005-07, is also unclear.
GSU signed three prep athletes with quarterbacking experience, including Rayville product Justin Higgins. The 6-2, 185-pounder passed for more than 6,000 yards, rushed for nearly 2,000 yards and scored 60 touchdowns in high school.
El Paso, Texas, product Brendon Crawford (2,207 passing yards and 20 scores as a senior) and South Boston, Va., product Rodale Pippen (who split time at wideout, recording nearly 5,000 yards of total offense last year) were announced in GSU's most recent signing day.
The most intriguing option might be J.P. Tillman, a redshirt freshman transfer from the University of Missouri who has been participating during informal summer 7-on-7 drills at Grambling. The 6-3, 250-pound prospect was a three-sport high school athlete, and ranked No. 22 in the nation among dual-threat quarterbacks by Rivals.com as a senior.
Landers said it was unclear if an appeal could be made on his behalf. He is pursuing a degree in criminal justice.
"They are trying to do all they can do," Landers said. "I hope to know more by Tuesday (when Grambling football players report for fall practice sessions)."
Grambling coaches were unavailable for comment on Friday afternoon. The team opens this season Aug. 30 in Reno at the University of Nevada.
Landers, who was named prep offensive player of the year by The News-Star after his senior season at Carroll High in 2003, ranks third all-time among Grambling passers with 7,024. He needs 1,388 to pass Doug Williams for second place.
g g g
Final narrative for Grambling's Landers hasn't been written
August 1, 2008
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
Brandon Landers' time at Grambling, as impressive as it is statistically, will always be one of lost promise. But his narrative is far from finished.
Landers initially signed as a prep quarterback with Doug Williams, only to see his would-be mentor leave for an NFL job. Then he was pushed too early, and with too little instruction, into the starting position as a true freshman in 2004 when Bruce Eugene went down. Then pushed back into a redshirt, and largely ignored, a season later when Eugene returned. Then pushed around as a redshirt sophomore in 2006, having belatedly retaken the starting position without ever having been properly prepared for it.
He remained erratic, able to gut out terrific wins (Bethune-Cookman in Cincinnati, Bayou Classic XXXI) on the one-hand but still subject to deflating breakdowns (memorable OT losses to Alabama A&M and Hampton, last year's Southwestern Athletic Conference title match).
Landers finally caught a decent break with the hiring of yet another new staff before his junior season. He was on his third head coach, but seemed to finally connect.
That's when the interior of his line fell apart. Landers withstood the kind of blows that would bring down buildings, and occasionally fell into old habits.
Grambling ended up one win shy of a championship. But Landers had become a vastly improved passer, a stronger locker room presence and, most importantly, an emerging leader off the field: He planned a successful offseason mentoring camp, volunteered as a marshal at the courthouse.
"He wants to become an inspiration for kids in this area by becoming a mentor," said Esther Gallow, who has done so much important outreach work in the economically depressed Booker T. community that Landers was raised in. "He's saying, even if I don't go pro, I still want to show young people that they can get out of the neighborhood, get a college education and do something great with their lives."
Sports fans don't like to hear it, but that's the important stuff.
Just like that, though, and just 1,400 yards shy of Doug Williams' No. 2 all-time passing marks at Grambling, Landers came up short on a summer course — and a football career that never reached its full potential is apparently over.
Yet what Landers accomplished, despite so much adversity (both the crushing poverty of his childhood environment and then at GSU), shouldn't be defined in total by the number of Bayou Classics or SWAC titles won or lost.
Landers is one credit away from doing something more notable than winning that last game on the gridiron. He has dreams of becoming a law enforcement officer, and then a community leader of enduring substance — and that's more urgently needed than another shiny item for the program's trophy case.
When he does all of that, and I think he will, football will perhaps finally be put in perspective as just one part of Brandon Landers' still-evolving story.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Remembering: Grambling's first game at Northwestern State
Historic first meeting between Grambling, Northwestern was defensive slugfest
September 11, 2008
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
The stands, that night, were separated by color.
Fans sporting black and gold filled one set of bleachers, while purple and white populated the other.
But there was something else that divided them, as Grambling played its first-ever game against Northwestern State on Sept. 14, 1974.
"What was unique was not just the color of the shirts; you had all white people on one side and all black on the other," said Jack Brittain, an NSU special teams player in '74. "That was not something I was used to seeing. It was a different point of view."
The newly expanded State Fair Stadium — now Shreveport's Independence Stadium — was packed to the lid, as 30,000 fans joined together despite their differences for a night of stirring football action.
"We knew it was big, especially playing a school of different race from Louisiana," said Sammy White, then a junior wingback for the historically black Grambling college. "We knew the level of competition would be a step up for our program, and we wanted to give it everything we had to pull it out."
At the time, the late legendary GSU sports information director Collie J. Nicholson said this "could become a regular series for the two clubs."
But the Tigers wouldn't play another Southland Conference-affiliated program until falling to Arkansas State in the 1985 lower-division playoffs. Grambling, despite more recent efforts going back at least five seasons, hasn't played Northwestern since.
That changes Saturday at GSU travels to Natchitoches for a long-awaited Louisiana rivalry game that's stirred powerful memories of their first meeting more than 30 years back.
"It was actually a barrier breaker, as far as those things go," said Brittain, now Northwestern's sideline reporter. "As a freshman, it was my first football game, so my knees were shaking before we went out for the kickoff. Then, we were facing Grambling, who had such a great reputation for sending players to the professional leagues. We figured it was going to be an epic battle."
Was it ever.
'TIGHT, TIGHT, TIGHT'
Senior Grambling quarterback Joe Comeaux, a Westlake native, opened the scoring with a four-yard TD scramble. He'd hit Dwight Scales on a 43-yard pass to the NSU 7 on the second play from scrimmage.
Rodney Zeno, a senior GSU defensive back, added the extra point, but the 7-0 lead wouldn't stand for long.
A White fumble on the Grambling 13 gave the ball back to Northwestern's Butch Ballard, who answered with his lone touchdown pass of the night — hitting Gene Knecht on an eight-yard strike.
That followed a series of stuffs on off-tackle runs by Mario Cage, who couldn't get past Grambling seniors Gary "Big Hands" Johnson and Robert Barber.
In a harbinger of kicking problems to come, NSU's extra-point attempt then failed.
NSU's Cage — coming off a 1,000-yard, all-Gulf South season in 1973 — then made a dramatic second-quarter touchdown run on a pitch back from Ballard. (There are lingering discrepancies on the exact length of his run: Monroe's Morning World had it at 57 yards, The Times of Shreveport reported 61 and NSU's yearbook said 52.) Danny Foret's point-after attempt was true this time, giving Northwestern a 13-7 lead at the half.
Neither team, however, could gather itself for a knock out on offense. It was all body blows.
"That game," said White, "was tight, tight, tight."
Nicholson once marveled over NSU's 1974 defense, saying "they make up for a lack of size with speed, aggressiveness and a desire to hit."
Grambling's unit, meanwhile, featured James "Hound" Hunter as a secondary anchor along with the All-American Johnson, who late Grambling coaching legend Eddie Robinson had taken to calling "the best lineman in college football."
Both teams would punt seven times over the course of the contest, with Grambling earning just four first downs and outgaining NSU by a total of only 74 yards. Northwestern fumbled seven times, losing three — while picking off GSU a total of four stunning times.
"I was deep protection on the punts," Brittain said, laughing, "and we punted a lot. I just remember 'Big Hands' running past our center, right behind the snap as it was coming back. He would come in low, about one foot off the ground. All I could do is dive at his shoelaces. He would just shove me to the ground and trample right over me."
Grambling returned to the field after halftime with a new quarterback, and Shreveport sophomore Terry Brown reeled off a dramatic 82-yard pass to White.
"They were blitzing us a lot, so we had a one-on-one match up," said White, now an assistant coach at Grambling. "Terry threw a nice long ball on that one."
Zeno's kick gave the Tigers their final margin of victory, 14-13.
But not before a memorable NSU field goal attempt, blocked by Hunter, as time expired.
Hunter's playmaking through that junior season had already drawn raves from Robinson, who called the Texan "Mr. Clutch." A canny pass defender and zippy returner, Hunter was "generally spoken of with a reverence reserved exclusively for legendary Saturday heroes," the late Nicholson once said.
That legend was built on plays like the final one against Northwestern State.
NSU got the ball back after an interception by linebacker Dan Boddie, who dashed back to the Grambling 34 with 4:03 left in the game. Ballard then drove down to the GSU 3 as time grew short, setting up a 20-yard attempt by Foret. Demons coach George Doherty, in a gutsy move, had ordered the try on third down with just 39 seconds remaining.
Hunter got a finger on it, as perhaps did Johnson, and the attempt missed.
'WAY BEYOND FOOTBALL'
Cage, who went down to injury during that final push, rushed for 97 yards — though much of that was given back in the final team stats because of lost yardage by other players.
Ballard finished the day 11-of-16 for just 88 yards and a score for NSU. Comeaux and Brown, meanwhile, combined for a 7-of-21 performance — a lack of efficiency under center that eventually led to the now-famous insertion of a redshirt freshman named Doug Williams three games later against Prairie View A&M.
"We had our opportunities," Williams said. "We scored 14 points, but we were still largely ineffective. It wasn't one of those good old Grambling offensive days. You could give some of that to Northwestern, too. They had a good team."
Doherty, entering his last season in Natchitoches after winning the Gulf South in 1972, had brought A.L. Williams in as offensive coordinator — and installed his new assistant's more pass-oriented offense in anticipation of handing over the reigns.
NSU, which had already dropped its second straight game in 1974, was in the midst of consecutive 1-10 campaigns. Williams would coach at Northwestern for eight seasons, boasting ranked teams in 1980 and '82 when his teams finished 8-3 and 7-4 respectively.
Williams went on to pass for 1,150 yards (nearly 400 more yards than Comeaux and Brown combined) over the remainder of the 1974 season. Grambling finished 11-1, claiming the ninth of 17 total Southwestern Athletic Conference championships under Robinson. (Williams later returned to coach at his alma mater, and played host to the first Southland foe ever at Grambling's Robinson Stadium — McNeese State in 2003.)
Grambling's lone '74 stumble was a 19-14 loss to Alcorn, and they shared the SWAC crown. Robinson would finish the season at 236 career wins on the way to 408 total, a still-standing Division I record.
The Northwestern victory, thrilling in its playing and encouraging in its social significance, holds a special place among them.
"The perspective of this game is way beyond the football field," Brittain said. "In our lives, both at Grambling and at Northwestern, it had a big effect. What a great time to try something like that, to break through some of those unknowns."
September 11, 2008
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
The stands, that night, were separated by color.
Fans sporting black and gold filled one set of bleachers, while purple and white populated the other.
But there was something else that divided them, as Grambling played its first-ever game against Northwestern State on Sept. 14, 1974.
"What was unique was not just the color of the shirts; you had all white people on one side and all black on the other," said Jack Brittain, an NSU special teams player in '74. "That was not something I was used to seeing. It was a different point of view."
The newly expanded State Fair Stadium — now Shreveport's Independence Stadium — was packed to the lid, as 30,000 fans joined together despite their differences for a night of stirring football action.
"We knew it was big, especially playing a school of different race from Louisiana," said Sammy White, then a junior wingback for the historically black Grambling college. "We knew the level of competition would be a step up for our program, and we wanted to give it everything we had to pull it out."
At the time, the late legendary GSU sports information director Collie J. Nicholson said this "could become a regular series for the two clubs."
But the Tigers wouldn't play another Southland Conference-affiliated program until falling to Arkansas State in the 1985 lower-division playoffs. Grambling, despite more recent efforts going back at least five seasons, hasn't played Northwestern since.
That changes Saturday at GSU travels to Natchitoches for a long-awaited Louisiana rivalry game that's stirred powerful memories of their first meeting more than 30 years back.
"It was actually a barrier breaker, as far as those things go," said Brittain, now Northwestern's sideline reporter. "As a freshman, it was my first football game, so my knees were shaking before we went out for the kickoff. Then, we were facing Grambling, who had such a great reputation for sending players to the professional leagues. We figured it was going to be an epic battle."
Was it ever.
'TIGHT, TIGHT, TIGHT'
Senior Grambling quarterback Joe Comeaux, a Westlake native, opened the scoring with a four-yard TD scramble. He'd hit Dwight Scales on a 43-yard pass to the NSU 7 on the second play from scrimmage.
Rodney Zeno, a senior GSU defensive back, added the extra point, but the 7-0 lead wouldn't stand for long.
A White fumble on the Grambling 13 gave the ball back to Northwestern's Butch Ballard, who answered with his lone touchdown pass of the night — hitting Gene Knecht on an eight-yard strike.
That followed a series of stuffs on off-tackle runs by Mario Cage, who couldn't get past Grambling seniors Gary "Big Hands" Johnson and Robert Barber.
In a harbinger of kicking problems to come, NSU's extra-point attempt then failed.
NSU's Cage — coming off a 1,000-yard, all-Gulf South season in 1973 — then made a dramatic second-quarter touchdown run on a pitch back from Ballard. (There are lingering discrepancies on the exact length of his run: Monroe's Morning World had it at 57 yards, The Times of Shreveport reported 61 and NSU's yearbook said 52.) Danny Foret's point-after attempt was true this time, giving Northwestern a 13-7 lead at the half.
Neither team, however, could gather itself for a knock out on offense. It was all body blows.
"That game," said White, "was tight, tight, tight."
Nicholson once marveled over NSU's 1974 defense, saying "they make up for a lack of size with speed, aggressiveness and a desire to hit."
Grambling's unit, meanwhile, featured James "Hound" Hunter as a secondary anchor along with the All-American Johnson, who late Grambling coaching legend Eddie Robinson had taken to calling "the best lineman in college football."
Both teams would punt seven times over the course of the contest, with Grambling earning just four first downs and outgaining NSU by a total of only 74 yards. Northwestern fumbled seven times, losing three — while picking off GSU a total of four stunning times.
"I was deep protection on the punts," Brittain said, laughing, "and we punted a lot. I just remember 'Big Hands' running past our center, right behind the snap as it was coming back. He would come in low, about one foot off the ground. All I could do is dive at his shoelaces. He would just shove me to the ground and trample right over me."
Grambling returned to the field after halftime with a new quarterback, and Shreveport sophomore Terry Brown reeled off a dramatic 82-yard pass to White.
"They were blitzing us a lot, so we had a one-on-one match up," said White, now an assistant coach at Grambling. "Terry threw a nice long ball on that one."
Zeno's kick gave the Tigers their final margin of victory, 14-13.
But not before a memorable NSU field goal attempt, blocked by Hunter, as time expired.
Hunter's playmaking through that junior season had already drawn raves from Robinson, who called the Texan "Mr. Clutch." A canny pass defender and zippy returner, Hunter was "generally spoken of with a reverence reserved exclusively for legendary Saturday heroes," the late Nicholson once said.
That legend was built on plays like the final one against Northwestern State.
NSU got the ball back after an interception by linebacker Dan Boddie, who dashed back to the Grambling 34 with 4:03 left in the game. Ballard then drove down to the GSU 3 as time grew short, setting up a 20-yard attempt by Foret. Demons coach George Doherty, in a gutsy move, had ordered the try on third down with just 39 seconds remaining.
Hunter got a finger on it, as perhaps did Johnson, and the attempt missed.
'WAY BEYOND FOOTBALL'
Cage, who went down to injury during that final push, rushed for 97 yards — though much of that was given back in the final team stats because of lost yardage by other players.
Ballard finished the day 11-of-16 for just 88 yards and a score for NSU. Comeaux and Brown, meanwhile, combined for a 7-of-21 performance — a lack of efficiency under center that eventually led to the now-famous insertion of a redshirt freshman named Doug Williams three games later against Prairie View A&M.
"We had our opportunities," Williams said. "We scored 14 points, but we were still largely ineffective. It wasn't one of those good old Grambling offensive days. You could give some of that to Northwestern, too. They had a good team."
Doherty, entering his last season in Natchitoches after winning the Gulf South in 1972, had brought A.L. Williams in as offensive coordinator — and installed his new assistant's more pass-oriented offense in anticipation of handing over the reigns.
NSU, which had already dropped its second straight game in 1974, was in the midst of consecutive 1-10 campaigns. Williams would coach at Northwestern for eight seasons, boasting ranked teams in 1980 and '82 when his teams finished 8-3 and 7-4 respectively.
Williams went on to pass for 1,150 yards (nearly 400 more yards than Comeaux and Brown combined) over the remainder of the 1974 season. Grambling finished 11-1, claiming the ninth of 17 total Southwestern Athletic Conference championships under Robinson. (Williams later returned to coach at his alma mater, and played host to the first Southland foe ever at Grambling's Robinson Stadium — McNeese State in 2003.)
Grambling's lone '74 stumble was a 19-14 loss to Alcorn, and they shared the SWAC crown. Robinson would finish the season at 236 career wins on the way to 408 total, a still-standing Division I record.
The Northwestern victory, thrilling in its playing and encouraging in its social significance, holds a special place among them.
"The perspective of this game is way beyond the football field," Brittain said. "In our lives, both at Grambling and at Northwestern, it had a big effect. What a great time to try something like that, to break through some of those unknowns."
Friday, February 22, 2008
Remembering: Doug Williams' historic Super Bowl win
DIG DOUG
Play by play, Williams built a Super Bowl legacy 20 years ago
Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
There was actually some indication of what was about to unfold.
Sure, no team had ever come back from being down 7 or more points in any Super Bowl.
But Doug Williams and the Washington Redskins — losing 10-0 to Denver Broncos after one quarter of play 20 years ago at San Diego’s Jack Murphy Stadium — kept telling themselves the same thing.
"We had been down like that already against Chicago," Williams said.
The Redskins had fallen back two touchdowns before overtaking the Bears 21-17 in 1987’s divisional round.
"And it was frigid there," said Williams a Grambling product. "In San Diego, we had 80-degree weather."
A moment that grew into a cultural symbol — Williams, after a startling comeback, would become the first black quarterback to start and win a Super Bowl, and the first to earn MVP honors — was just a game back then.
And Washington was losing.
The NFC’s eventual representative in Super Bowl XXII had changed quarterbacks and running backs over the length of the ‘87 season.
Then Williams nearly blew out a knee.
He was still confident. But he might have been the only one.
AT FIRST, DISASTER
Redskins rookie Timmy Smith started the contest, rather than the injured former Heisman trophy winner George Rogers, and was going nowhere.
Williams’ initial third-down pass was dropped, too, giving Denver the ball for the first time.
One play later, Broncos’ receiver Ricky Nattiel — then just 22, the youngest player in history to score in a Super Bowl — was hauling in a 56-yard touchdown pass from Elway.
That was the fastest score in Super Bowl history.
Washington was stymied again on its next possession, which included another third-down drop. Williams was 1-of-4 for nine yards as Denver added a field goal to go up 10-0 with nine minutes still remaining in the first period.
"I think the average betting man would have gone with Elway," Williams said. "They didn’t give Doug Williams a prayer. Well, the good Lord does answer some."
But not before Redskins returner Ricky Sanders fumbled the resulting kickoff, nearly giving Denver the ball back in Washington’s red zone. Williams would go on to complete this stirring 40-yard strike to Art Monk.
That drive, and the next one, eventually also stalled — and Williams found himself twisting on the ground, grabbing a hyperextended left knee.
The injury was so excruciating that Williams instinctively released the ball, though he was ruled down. San Diego’s squishy turf had already forced the Broncos to switch to a deeper cleat.
Former starter Jay Schroeder returned to finish the drive, but was summarily sacked and then suffered yet another Redskins drop — their fourth already.
The air, it seemed, had gone out of Washington — but not Williams, even though he was just four-of-10 for 78 yards as the second period began.
"No question, I was in tremendous pain, but I was there to play the game," Williams said. "That’s how I looked at it. I couldn’t worry about that. You are on the biggest stage of your life. To me, it was like growing up — you throw a little dirt on it and keep going."
DENVER’S ‘NIGHTMARE’
Williams returned from the sidelines and, 53 seconds into the quarter, threw an 80-yard touchdown to Ricky Sanders, his first-ever postseason score. The Redskins had managed just 63 yards on offense during the entire first period.
Washington held as Elway threw what was then his sixth consecutive incompletion. Four plays later, Williams hit Gary Clark for a 27-yard score to take the lead.
Williams was well protected behind an offensive line so talented that he had been sacked just once in the playoffs.
"If the offense line did what I’d like for them to do, and receivers did what they can do, I knew we could get back into it," said Williams, who played for the legendary Eddie Robinson. "I just had to get the ball back."
Denver, fading badly now, turned the ball over on a missed 43-yard field-goal attempt.
Williams and the Redskins still had seven minutes remaining before the half.
Two plays later, Smith ran 58 yards for a touchdown — his first score ever — and a 21-10 lead. He had just 126 regular-season yards, but 204 in this game alone.
Denver had worked all week on stopping the Redskins’ vaunted counter running play. It didn’t matter.
"‘Coach Rob’ used to say it’s all about blocking and tackling," Williams said. "If you block it right, they can’t stop you — and our line did that. We knew from a physical standpoint, we were the better football l team. That was proved as game went on."
That last touchdown had tied the Super Bowl record, set by San Francisco in XIX and Chicago in XX, of 21 points in a single quarter.
Washington needed just three more plays to score its fourth consecutive touchdown, as Williams hit Sanders on a 50-yard slant — tying a record for most TD receptions by a player in the Super Bowl.
"When everybody is working on all cylinders like that, it’s the epitome of execution," Williams said.
Washington, ahead now 28-10, stopped Elway on an interception in his subsequent possession.
Smith dashed 45 yards to set up Washington at the Broncos’ 35. Denver’s defenders were distracted, then deflated.
"You get he defense out of place, get them confused," Williams said. "All of a sudden they’re looking at each other, trying to make judgment calls. When they’re making all of these late changes, there is a chance that somebody is going to be out of place."
Williams’ fourth touchdown pass, tying another Super Bowl record, to Clint Didier extended Washington’s now insurmountable lead to 35-10.
TV announcer Frank Gifford, in a line that Williams can repeat from memory, said it best: "If this was a fight, they might stop it."
In 222 previous post-season games to that point, no NFL team had ever scored more points in a single quarter. Oakland came closest in 1968, putting up 28; the Giants scored 27 all the way back in 1934.
Williams ran into former Denver coach Dan Reeves this week. "He just shook his head and said: ‘That second quarter was a nightmare.’"
TOUCHING SO MANY LIVES
Washington only scored once more, preferring instead to run the ball in long, quarter-eating drives.
"We wanted to flatten this thing out and keep Elway off the field," Williams said. "You take time off clock, and make it a little more impossible."
Desperate to catch up, Elway began to take more chances, and Washington defenders feasted on multiple turnovers.
The enormity of the moment was becoming clear. A contest marked by personal firsts for Williams, the initial player in Super Bowl history to throw four touchdowns in a single quarter, and to throw four in a half, would have wider implications for African-Americans.
"It’s a great feeling when you realize that people still recognize you and are grateful for what you did," Williams said. "They’ll come up and say: ‘God bless you; you don’t know what you mean to us.’ That’s a great feeling to have that kind of impact."
The announcing team for Super Bowl XXII — Gifford, Dan Dierdorf and Al Michaels – were a microcosm of that sudden revelation.
"Those guys were dumbfounded," Williams said, chuckling. "The last thing they expected was for it to be like that."
Elway was portrayed as the golden-boy sure thing, while Williams would be largely disregarded as an all but forgotten outsider. Too often, the conversation had entered on Williams’ race, rather than what his team did well.
"The problem with that Super Bowl was it wasn’t so much the game itself, as it was who the quarterbacks where," Williams said. "You had Doug Williams against John Elway, and we all know who’s going to win that game."
Williams’ performance, resilient and eye-popping in its complete efficiency, opened eyes and opened doors.
Two other black quarterbacks have followed Williams to the Super Bowl, though neither Philadelphia’s Donovan McNabb or Tennessee’ Steve McNair would win.
"The opportunity now," Williams said, "is more than it was then."
Super Bowl XXII remains an afternoon where race relations achieved a rare vista — even if, at first, it started as just another football game.
"That day still has significance," Williams said, "because it touched so many people’s lives — not just as a fan but from an emotional standpoint. From a time when there was no black quarterbacks to winning it, so many older people talk about what that game meant."
In the smaller vernacular of sports, he’s the consummate underdog-made-good, too.
"When somebody is down and out," Williams said, "they’ll put that game in."
As he walked off that San Diego field, in a lingering image, Williams raised his helmet in triumph.
"I had been to place people only dream about," Williams said, still taking it in. "You don’t get to that point too often."
Play by play, Williams built a Super Bowl legacy 20 years ago
Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
There was actually some indication of what was about to unfold.
Sure, no team had ever come back from being down 7 or more points in any Super Bowl.
But Doug Williams and the Washington Redskins — losing 10-0 to Denver Broncos after one quarter of play 20 years ago at San Diego’s Jack Murphy Stadium — kept telling themselves the same thing.
"We had been down like that already against Chicago," Williams said.
The Redskins had fallen back two touchdowns before overtaking the Bears 21-17 in 1987’s divisional round.
"And it was frigid there," said Williams a Grambling product. "In San Diego, we had 80-degree weather."
A moment that grew into a cultural symbol — Williams, after a startling comeback, would become the first black quarterback to start and win a Super Bowl, and the first to earn MVP honors — was just a game back then.
And Washington was losing.
The NFC’s eventual representative in Super Bowl XXII had changed quarterbacks and running backs over the length of the ‘87 season.
Then Williams nearly blew out a knee.
He was still confident. But he might have been the only one.
AT FIRST, DISASTER
Redskins rookie Timmy Smith started the contest, rather than the injured former Heisman trophy winner George Rogers, and was going nowhere.
Williams’ initial third-down pass was dropped, too, giving Denver the ball for the first time.
One play later, Broncos’ receiver Ricky Nattiel — then just 22, the youngest player in history to score in a Super Bowl — was hauling in a 56-yard touchdown pass from Elway.
That was the fastest score in Super Bowl history.
Washington was stymied again on its next possession, which included another third-down drop. Williams was 1-of-4 for nine yards as Denver added a field goal to go up 10-0 with nine minutes still remaining in the first period.
"I think the average betting man would have gone with Elway," Williams said. "They didn’t give Doug Williams a prayer. Well, the good Lord does answer some."
But not before Redskins returner Ricky Sanders fumbled the resulting kickoff, nearly giving Denver the ball back in Washington’s red zone. Williams would go on to complete this stirring 40-yard strike to Art Monk.
That drive, and the next one, eventually also stalled — and Williams found himself twisting on the ground, grabbing a hyperextended left knee.
The injury was so excruciating that Williams instinctively released the ball, though he was ruled down. San Diego’s squishy turf had already forced the Broncos to switch to a deeper cleat.
Former starter Jay Schroeder returned to finish the drive, but was summarily sacked and then suffered yet another Redskins drop — their fourth already.
The air, it seemed, had gone out of Washington — but not Williams, even though he was just four-of-10 for 78 yards as the second period began.
"No question, I was in tremendous pain, but I was there to play the game," Williams said. "That’s how I looked at it. I couldn’t worry about that. You are on the biggest stage of your life. To me, it was like growing up — you throw a little dirt on it and keep going."
DENVER’S ‘NIGHTMARE’
Williams returned from the sidelines and, 53 seconds into the quarter, threw an 80-yard touchdown to Ricky Sanders, his first-ever postseason score. The Redskins had managed just 63 yards on offense during the entire first period.
Washington held as Elway threw what was then his sixth consecutive incompletion. Four plays later, Williams hit Gary Clark for a 27-yard score to take the lead.
Williams was well protected behind an offensive line so talented that he had been sacked just once in the playoffs.
"If the offense line did what I’d like for them to do, and receivers did what they can do, I knew we could get back into it," said Williams, who played for the legendary Eddie Robinson. "I just had to get the ball back."
Denver, fading badly now, turned the ball over on a missed 43-yard field-goal attempt.
Williams and the Redskins still had seven minutes remaining before the half.
Two plays later, Smith ran 58 yards for a touchdown — his first score ever — and a 21-10 lead. He had just 126 regular-season yards, but 204 in this game alone.
Denver had worked all week on stopping the Redskins’ vaunted counter running play. It didn’t matter.
"‘Coach Rob’ used to say it’s all about blocking and tackling," Williams said. "If you block it right, they can’t stop you — and our line did that. We knew from a physical standpoint, we were the better football l team. That was proved as game went on."
That last touchdown had tied the Super Bowl record, set by San Francisco in XIX and Chicago in XX, of 21 points in a single quarter.
Washington needed just three more plays to score its fourth consecutive touchdown, as Williams hit Sanders on a 50-yard slant — tying a record for most TD receptions by a player in the Super Bowl.
"When everybody is working on all cylinders like that, it’s the epitome of execution," Williams said.
Washington, ahead now 28-10, stopped Elway on an interception in his subsequent possession.
Smith dashed 45 yards to set up Washington at the Broncos’ 35. Denver’s defenders were distracted, then deflated.
"You get he defense out of place, get them confused," Williams said. "All of a sudden they’re looking at each other, trying to make judgment calls. When they’re making all of these late changes, there is a chance that somebody is going to be out of place."
Williams’ fourth touchdown pass, tying another Super Bowl record, to Clint Didier extended Washington’s now insurmountable lead to 35-10.
TV announcer Frank Gifford, in a line that Williams can repeat from memory, said it best: "If this was a fight, they might stop it."
In 222 previous post-season games to that point, no NFL team had ever scored more points in a single quarter. Oakland came closest in 1968, putting up 28; the Giants scored 27 all the way back in 1934.
Williams ran into former Denver coach Dan Reeves this week. "He just shook his head and said: ‘That second quarter was a nightmare.’"
TOUCHING SO MANY LIVES
Washington only scored once more, preferring instead to run the ball in long, quarter-eating drives.
"We wanted to flatten this thing out and keep Elway off the field," Williams said. "You take time off clock, and make it a little more impossible."
Desperate to catch up, Elway began to take more chances, and Washington defenders feasted on multiple turnovers.
The enormity of the moment was becoming clear. A contest marked by personal firsts for Williams, the initial player in Super Bowl history to throw four touchdowns in a single quarter, and to throw four in a half, would have wider implications for African-Americans.
"It’s a great feeling when you realize that people still recognize you and are grateful for what you did," Williams said. "They’ll come up and say: ‘God bless you; you don’t know what you mean to us.’ That’s a great feeling to have that kind of impact."
The announcing team for Super Bowl XXII — Gifford, Dan Dierdorf and Al Michaels – were a microcosm of that sudden revelation.
"Those guys were dumbfounded," Williams said, chuckling. "The last thing they expected was for it to be like that."
Elway was portrayed as the golden-boy sure thing, while Williams would be largely disregarded as an all but forgotten outsider. Too often, the conversation had entered on Williams’ race, rather than what his team did well.
"The problem with that Super Bowl was it wasn’t so much the game itself, as it was who the quarterbacks where," Williams said. "You had Doug Williams against John Elway, and we all know who’s going to win that game."
Williams’ performance, resilient and eye-popping in its complete efficiency, opened eyes and opened doors.
Two other black quarterbacks have followed Williams to the Super Bowl, though neither Philadelphia’s Donovan McNabb or Tennessee’ Steve McNair would win.
"The opportunity now," Williams said, "is more than it was then."
Super Bowl XXII remains an afternoon where race relations achieved a rare vista — even if, at first, it started as just another football game.
"That day still has significance," Williams said, "because it touched so many people’s lives — not just as a fan but from an emotional standpoint. From a time when there was no black quarterbacks to winning it, so many older people talk about what that game meant."
In the smaller vernacular of sports, he’s the consummate underdog-made-good, too.
"When somebody is down and out," Williams said, "they’ll put that game in."
As he walked off that San Diego field, in a lingering image, Williams raised his helmet in triumph.
"I had been to place people only dream about," Williams said, still taking it in. "You don’t get to that point too often."
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Remembering: Everson Walls' selfless act
CALL TO ACTION
Selfless act by ex-Grambling and Cowboys star launches national crusade
January 6, 2008
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
Hope and love, outside of the storybooks, so often share time with searing pain and uncertainty.
And so it was with Everson Walls and former NFL teammate and life-long friend Ron Springs.
"The last 13-to-14 months," Walls said and paused, searching for the words, "have been trying, triumphant — heavy on my heart. I've just been running the gamut."
Walls, the former Grambling and pro standout, decided to give a kidney to Springs, was inducted into the Southwestern Athletic Conference Hall of Fame, mourned as his college coach passed, helped spark a national conversation on organ donation, and then watched in horror as Springs slipped into a lingering coma.
"Thank God I have faith," Walls said. "Thank God I have support from my family, because if it wasn't for that, I might have let all of that weigh on me."
Walls has, indeed, remained light on his feet — cross-crossing the country to share this remarkable story, encourage support for a national donor bill introduced to Congress in his honor last September and bolster the spirits of transplant recipients, donor families and those still waiting for the next Everson Walls to come along.
"As I look back, it has surprised me what I have come through," Walls said. "Something that I've really focused on since I decided to donate my kidney: Do not take anything for granted."
That includes the fairy tale conclusion that so many had hoped for.
Walls is just as often found these days at the side of Springs, who remains in a Dallas hospital, alive but not living.
The rewritten epilogue is messier, more real. Media outlets struggled to frame the narrative.
Bryant Gumbel, hosting HBO's "Real Sports," admitted that producers were initially inclined to shelve an already-completed segment on Walls' donation when Springs took the unexpected turn.
But the two men's unordinary bond transcended even this stunning twist.
"We planned," Gumbel said, "for our account of their relationship to stand as a tale of real selflessness and true teamwork. Unfortunately, their story took a sad and unexpected turn — one that, frankly, gave us pause about even airing the piece. Ultimately, we decided we should, because it's still an inspirational tale about the strength of friendship and genuine love."
That simple, timeless emotion opened up a continuing conversation on organ donation of sweeping proportions.
FRIENDS, THEN FAMILY
They were teammates on early 1980s Dallas Cowboys squads at first, then best friends, then family.
Godfathers to one another's children, their very lives were already inextricably bound.
They shared a neighborhood. Their wives were close, too.
In these small ways, they shared each other's story — even after Springs retired and Walls left for a successful stint with the New York Giants, where he won Super Bowl XXV in 1991.
That same season, Springs developed Type II diabetes. Over the next 10 years, this once vibrant athlete — the former running back had led Dallas with 12 touchdowns in 1981 — saw his kidneys fail, forcing Springs into dialysis.
He lost a foot to amputation. Finally both hands curled into nearly useless, withered commas, as muscular fibrosis set in.
Walls, shocked at his friend's deterioration, began working out with Springs — hoping, he says, to help him through what ever period of time it took for a kidney donation to arrive.
The search, which included two separate failed donation attempts by incompatible relatives, dragged on for three excruciating years. Springs also rejected an offer from his son, an 11th-year cornerback with the Washington Redskins, out of fear that the surgery would end his pro career.
A year ago in February, Walls decided to step in.
"I used to feel like an old penny," Springs said afterward. "Now I feel like a new John F. Kennedy 50-cent piece."
Walls never struggled with the decision, though he did at first shy away from the media attention that followed — refusing, as Springs often noted, to inhabit the hero's cape.
Walls said he hoped it would just be between the two of them, as so much always had been. Instead, his selfless act became a headline, then a call to action.
"We wanted to keep it in house," Walls said. "We really never thought about what kind of impact it would have, until we started sharing it."
He was stopped short, however, by the passing of former Grambling coach Eddie Robinson — a towering mentor in Walls' life who succumbed to an Alzheimer's-related illness in April.
Robinson's leadership toward a better America, with a focus on overcoming adversity and becoming a citizen contributor, still resonates.
"It was funny, because when I was telling people my thoughts on this donation, I always came back to Coach Robinson's insights into life — to his testament on being a strong black man," Walls said. "That had a lot to do with all of this. I had been talking about Coach Robinson that whole time, and I still am. It's given me another opportunity to uplift his philosophy."
Walls and a rejuvenated Springs threw themselves into Gift For Life — a national foundation they founded to promote awareness of kidney disease and encourage organ donation — and that became their second legacy, away from the field and that helmet with the star.
They would be teammates, brothers and friends, forever. Not just on the gridiron, but in the public consciousness.
Walls, in a whirlwind now, then found himself speaking before Congress in support of that House bill — called the Everson Walls and Ron Springs Gift for Life Act of 2007, after their nonprofit foundation.
The proposed law would establish a national organ and tissue donor registry center, authorize grants for state organ and tissue registries and create a database to help track long-term health effects for living donors.
"It went from being for one person to being something that the entire world wanted to get involved with," Walls said, still moved. "It has touched so many people lives."
There awaited, however, one more shocking turn in a tale that rivals the dark fables of old.
ENDURING INSPIRATION
Springs fell into the coma last October while undergoing elective surgery to remove a cyst in his arm. Doctors still don't know what sent him spiraling away, though Walls says he thinks it was a reaction to the anesthesia.
Springs remains physically well, Walls said, but locked in a quiet place where he can't be reached.
News stories have portrayed his hopes for recovery as virtually nonexistent, even as Springs' son Shawn described his father is "pretty much a vegetable."
Walls remains steadfast in his friendship, and his faith.
"It was not a reaction to the kidney," Walls said. "He's in good shape, and breathing on his own — and has been since a week after the incident. Ron is great candidate to come out of this coma. He still has body movement. The neurologist is very hopeful."
Walls continues the work he started with Springs, refusing to let a moment of enduring inspiration be rendered less significant by this sad footnote.
He's in Missouri this weekend to speak at the Smart Living Expo in St. Louis on behalf of the national donor bill. On Friday, he also visited a local Children's Hospital to visit with transplant patients.
"This is the biggest thing that has happened to me in my entire life, including that Super Bowl," Walls said.
The generation he spoke with at that St. Louis medical facility has no memory of the rest of Walls' considerable achievements in a football uniform. Not the best-in-the-nation mark for interceptions as a senior defensive back at Grambling, nor his Pro Bowl days at Dallas in 1981-83 and '85.
Only that he turned so much attention to their plight.
"As much as I take pride in my career as a player, now it's OK for others to think of football as secondary to how I am known now," Walls said. "To be known for that gives me much more gratification. Hands down, no comparison."
He knows, deep down, that the final chapter hasn't been written yet.
Not until their bill passes. Not until Ron Springs gets up from that hospital bed.
"He will," Walls said. "I know he will."
Selfless act by ex-Grambling and Cowboys star launches national crusade
January 6, 2008
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
Hope and love, outside of the storybooks, so often share time with searing pain and uncertainty.
And so it was with Everson Walls and former NFL teammate and life-long friend Ron Springs.
"The last 13-to-14 months," Walls said and paused, searching for the words, "have been trying, triumphant — heavy on my heart. I've just been running the gamut."
Walls, the former Grambling and pro standout, decided to give a kidney to Springs, was inducted into the Southwestern Athletic Conference Hall of Fame, mourned as his college coach passed, helped spark a national conversation on organ donation, and then watched in horror as Springs slipped into a lingering coma.
"Thank God I have faith," Walls said. "Thank God I have support from my family, because if it wasn't for that, I might have let all of that weigh on me."
Walls has, indeed, remained light on his feet — cross-crossing the country to share this remarkable story, encourage support for a national donor bill introduced to Congress in his honor last September and bolster the spirits of transplant recipients, donor families and those still waiting for the next Everson Walls to come along.
"As I look back, it has surprised me what I have come through," Walls said. "Something that I've really focused on since I decided to donate my kidney: Do not take anything for granted."
That includes the fairy tale conclusion that so many had hoped for.
Walls is just as often found these days at the side of Springs, who remains in a Dallas hospital, alive but not living.
The rewritten epilogue is messier, more real. Media outlets struggled to frame the narrative.
Bryant Gumbel, hosting HBO's "Real Sports," admitted that producers were initially inclined to shelve an already-completed segment on Walls' donation when Springs took the unexpected turn.
But the two men's unordinary bond transcended even this stunning twist.
"We planned," Gumbel said, "for our account of their relationship to stand as a tale of real selflessness and true teamwork. Unfortunately, their story took a sad and unexpected turn — one that, frankly, gave us pause about even airing the piece. Ultimately, we decided we should, because it's still an inspirational tale about the strength of friendship and genuine love."
That simple, timeless emotion opened up a continuing conversation on organ donation of sweeping proportions.
FRIENDS, THEN FAMILY
They were teammates on early 1980s Dallas Cowboys squads at first, then best friends, then family.
Godfathers to one another's children, their very lives were already inextricably bound.
They shared a neighborhood. Their wives were close, too.
In these small ways, they shared each other's story — even after Springs retired and Walls left for a successful stint with the New York Giants, where he won Super Bowl XXV in 1991.
That same season, Springs developed Type II diabetes. Over the next 10 years, this once vibrant athlete — the former running back had led Dallas with 12 touchdowns in 1981 — saw his kidneys fail, forcing Springs into dialysis.
He lost a foot to amputation. Finally both hands curled into nearly useless, withered commas, as muscular fibrosis set in.
Walls, shocked at his friend's deterioration, began working out with Springs — hoping, he says, to help him through what ever period of time it took for a kidney donation to arrive.
The search, which included two separate failed donation attempts by incompatible relatives, dragged on for three excruciating years. Springs also rejected an offer from his son, an 11th-year cornerback with the Washington Redskins, out of fear that the surgery would end his pro career.
A year ago in February, Walls decided to step in.
"I used to feel like an old penny," Springs said afterward. "Now I feel like a new John F. Kennedy 50-cent piece."
Walls never struggled with the decision, though he did at first shy away from the media attention that followed — refusing, as Springs often noted, to inhabit the hero's cape.
Walls said he hoped it would just be between the two of them, as so much always had been. Instead, his selfless act became a headline, then a call to action.
"We wanted to keep it in house," Walls said. "We really never thought about what kind of impact it would have, until we started sharing it."
He was stopped short, however, by the passing of former Grambling coach Eddie Robinson — a towering mentor in Walls' life who succumbed to an Alzheimer's-related illness in April.
Robinson's leadership toward a better America, with a focus on overcoming adversity and becoming a citizen contributor, still resonates.
"It was funny, because when I was telling people my thoughts on this donation, I always came back to Coach Robinson's insights into life — to his testament on being a strong black man," Walls said. "That had a lot to do with all of this. I had been talking about Coach Robinson that whole time, and I still am. It's given me another opportunity to uplift his philosophy."
Walls and a rejuvenated Springs threw themselves into Gift For Life — a national foundation they founded to promote awareness of kidney disease and encourage organ donation — and that became their second legacy, away from the field and that helmet with the star.
They would be teammates, brothers and friends, forever. Not just on the gridiron, but in the public consciousness.
Walls, in a whirlwind now, then found himself speaking before Congress in support of that House bill — called the Everson Walls and Ron Springs Gift for Life Act of 2007, after their nonprofit foundation.
The proposed law would establish a national organ and tissue donor registry center, authorize grants for state organ and tissue registries and create a database to help track long-term health effects for living donors.
"It went from being for one person to being something that the entire world wanted to get involved with," Walls said, still moved. "It has touched so many people lives."
There awaited, however, one more shocking turn in a tale that rivals the dark fables of old.
ENDURING INSPIRATION
Springs fell into the coma last October while undergoing elective surgery to remove a cyst in his arm. Doctors still don't know what sent him spiraling away, though Walls says he thinks it was a reaction to the anesthesia.
Springs remains physically well, Walls said, but locked in a quiet place where he can't be reached.
News stories have portrayed his hopes for recovery as virtually nonexistent, even as Springs' son Shawn described his father is "pretty much a vegetable."
Walls remains steadfast in his friendship, and his faith.
"It was not a reaction to the kidney," Walls said. "He's in good shape, and breathing on his own — and has been since a week after the incident. Ron is great candidate to come out of this coma. He still has body movement. The neurologist is very hopeful."
Walls continues the work he started with Springs, refusing to let a moment of enduring inspiration be rendered less significant by this sad footnote.
He's in Missouri this weekend to speak at the Smart Living Expo in St. Louis on behalf of the national donor bill. On Friday, he also visited a local Children's Hospital to visit with transplant patients.
"This is the biggest thing that has happened to me in my entire life, including that Super Bowl," Walls said.
The generation he spoke with at that St. Louis medical facility has no memory of the rest of Walls' considerable achievements in a football uniform. Not the best-in-the-nation mark for interceptions as a senior defensive back at Grambling, nor his Pro Bowl days at Dallas in 1981-83 and '85.
Only that he turned so much attention to their plight.
"As much as I take pride in my career as a player, now it's OK for others to think of football as secondary to how I am known now," Walls said. "To be known for that gives me much more gratification. Hands down, no comparison."
He knows, deep down, that the final chapter hasn't been written yet.
Not until their bill passes. Not until Ron Springs gets up from that hospital bed.
"He will," Walls said. "I know he will."
Monday, February 11, 2008
Recruiting: Grambling State's 2004 football signing class
Here are Grambling State University's announced football signees, with same-day analysis, from National Signing Day in February 2004:
Grambling State's 2004 haul
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
QUARTERBACK
· Brandon Gultrey, 5-10, 160, McCall (Tallulah, La.) HS: McCall's only senior, finished year with 2,218 yards, completing 64.1 percent of passes.
· Larry Kerlegan, 5-11, 180, La Marque (Texas) HS: Ranked No. 11 nationally among dual-threat quarterbacks by Rivals.com.
· Brandon Landers, 5-11, 190, Carroll (La.) HS: The News-Star's Offensive Player of the Year on 2003 All-Northeast Louisiana team.
· Mike Nichols, 6-5, 220, Westbury (Houston, Texas) HS: SuperPrep listed Nichols as 90th out of Top 100 prospects in the entire Big 12 region.
The Skinny: GSU did a good job of preparing for the future, as All-America quarterback Bruce Eugene enters his senior season. Landers was an early target, but the coaches kept working to sign more top-notch talent - including the two Texas quarterbacks. Kerlegan's academic status is uncertain, which probably means the race is between Nichols and Landers. Gultrey, who excelled as a safety at McCall, will likely be moved to another position.
RUNNING BACK
·Michael Rainey, 6-1, 185, Vicksburg (Miss.) HS: Rushed for 359 yards and also caught 22 passes for 207 yards last season.
The Skinny: While Grambling State has decided to use Ab Kuuan as its everyday rusher, he'll need someone to work in relief next season. That had been Henry Tolbert, but the coaches are moving him to the slot. Rainey is a similar runner, rangy and elusive.
WIDE RECEIVERS
· Clyde Edwards, 5-11, 170, Westbury (Houston, Texas) HS: Good academic performer; received first-team District 18-5A honors this season.
· Xavier Jackson, 6-3, 195, Parker (Birmingham, Ala.) HS: Had more than 900 yards and 14 touchdowns this season.
· Kenneth Miller, 6-2, 180, Winnsboro (La.) HS: Honorable mention on 2002 Class 3A All-State team. Also played basketball and ran track.
· Albert Rogers, 6-3, 180, Northeast (Zachary, La.) HS: Two-way player, received second-team All District 8-2A honors. All-around athlete, excelled at safety as well.
· Frank Green, 6-1, 185, Moncks Corner, SC/East Tennessee Univ.: Had 16 receptions for 242 yards and touchdown; also returned kick for another score last season.
The Skinny: Miller gives GSU the speed it so clearly craves, while Green brings valuable experience. Still, wide receiver wasn't a point of great need for the Tigers - despite the graduation of senior All-American Tramon Douglas, who broke Jerry Rice's record for receptions in a Southwestern Athletic Conference game. Freshman Tim Abney proved he was ready to audition for the No. 1 spot after tying for second in total touchdowns scored last season. Moses Harris and Paul Hardiman are also locks for playing time.
TIGHT ENDS
· Antonio Shannon, 6-4, 220, Mansfield (La.) HS: Member of Class 3A All-State football team.
· Travis Singleton, 6-3, 245, O. Perry Walker (New Orleans, La.) HS: Louisiana's No. 10 tight end prospect on the Zems Gems recruiting Web page. Impressive athlete, also plays basketball for Walker.
The Skinny: Shannon is the day's steal, a center on his school's basketball team who goes for passes like an aggressive rebounder. Singleton is listed at 4.8 in the 40-yard dash. Both of last year's tight ends are gone, meaning there will be a wide-open race to replace them. Gershone Jessie, an All-America candidate, has graduated. Jason Hatcher has been moved to defensive end.
OFFENSIVE LINE
· Mike Smith, 6-5, 315, Vicksburg (Miss.) HS: Smith joins former VHS linemen Andre Bennett and Charles Wilson, sophomores who both started at GSU last season. Wilson is Smith's brother.
· Quentin Smith, 6-2, 295, Centennial (Roswell, Ga.) HS: Son of former New York Giants OG Lance Smith, was part of group that gave CHS coach Mike Cloy his 100th career victory in 2003.
· Tavarus Cockrell, 6-3, 295, Parker (Birmingham, Ala.) HS: All-State as offensive tackle and defensive tackle, also played basketball.
The Skinny: GSU coaches feel that they have the type of runner in Kuuan who can return some balance to the Tigers' offensive attack. The problem last season seemed to be the lack of athleticism up front, especially with the reintroduction of the Wing-T formation in the scheme - one that calls for lots of pulling linemen. Cockrell in particular is a signing aimed directly at correcting that.
DEFENSE
· Guy Henderson, DB/WR, 6-0, 190, Karr (New Orleans, La.) HS: Superior athlete, also played quarterback for Karr as junior.
· Deshon Pennie, DB, 6-0, 195, Nimitz (Houston, Texas) HS: First-team all-district as senior. Runs a legitimate 4.4, according to his prep coach.
· Robby Smith, DB, 5-11, 170, Ruston (La.) HS: First-team pick on 2003 All-Northeast Football Team. Adept at both man-to-man coverage or stopping run.
· Dee White, DT, 6-2, 260, Richwood (La.) HS: All-district pick as senior and honorable mention for 2-3A in 2002.
The Skinny: The defensive line and linebacker corps went largely unaddressed since GSU coaches are happy with the development of several players there. But a pair of new defensive backs were desperately needed with the graduation of both starters. That means Smith, Henderson and Pennie - perhaps the most accomplished of these backs coming out of high school - will get immediate reps and, possibly, playing time.
SPECIALISTS
· William Mathis, KR/WR, 5-6, 155, Shades Valley (Pleasant Grove, Ala.) HS: Solid academic performer but also track star. Coaches say he is low 4.4 40-yard dasher.
· Larry Anderson, P, 6-4, 215, Redemptorist (Baton Rouge, La.) HS: Received second-team all-District 7-4A honors last season. Also played forward on school's basketball team.
The Skinny: Grambling State didn't have a reliable kickoff returner last season, often using starters from the defensive back and wide receiver units. So, Mathis will get an immediate look. Meanwhile, Anderson was badly needed at punter. Darien Morgan wasn't consistent enough in 2003 to be relied upon on an every-game basis.
Grambling State's 2004 haul
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
QUARTERBACK
· Brandon Gultrey, 5-10, 160, McCall (Tallulah, La.) HS: McCall's only senior, finished year with 2,218 yards, completing 64.1 percent of passes.
· Larry Kerlegan, 5-11, 180, La Marque (Texas) HS: Ranked No. 11 nationally among dual-threat quarterbacks by Rivals.com.
· Brandon Landers, 5-11, 190, Carroll (La.) HS: The News-Star's Offensive Player of the Year on 2003 All-Northeast Louisiana team.
· Mike Nichols, 6-5, 220, Westbury (Houston, Texas) HS: SuperPrep listed Nichols as 90th out of Top 100 prospects in the entire Big 12 region.
The Skinny: GSU did a good job of preparing for the future, as All-America quarterback Bruce Eugene enters his senior season. Landers was an early target, but the coaches kept working to sign more top-notch talent - including the two Texas quarterbacks. Kerlegan's academic status is uncertain, which probably means the race is between Nichols and Landers. Gultrey, who excelled as a safety at McCall, will likely be moved to another position.
RUNNING BACK
·Michael Rainey, 6-1, 185, Vicksburg (Miss.) HS: Rushed for 359 yards and also caught 22 passes for 207 yards last season.
The Skinny: While Grambling State has decided to use Ab Kuuan as its everyday rusher, he'll need someone to work in relief next season. That had been Henry Tolbert, but the coaches are moving him to the slot. Rainey is a similar runner, rangy and elusive.
WIDE RECEIVERS
· Clyde Edwards, 5-11, 170, Westbury (Houston, Texas) HS: Good academic performer; received first-team District 18-5A honors this season.
· Xavier Jackson, 6-3, 195, Parker (Birmingham, Ala.) HS: Had more than 900 yards and 14 touchdowns this season.
· Kenneth Miller, 6-2, 180, Winnsboro (La.) HS: Honorable mention on 2002 Class 3A All-State team. Also played basketball and ran track.
· Albert Rogers, 6-3, 180, Northeast (Zachary, La.) HS: Two-way player, received second-team All District 8-2A honors. All-around athlete, excelled at safety as well.
· Frank Green, 6-1, 185, Moncks Corner, SC/East Tennessee Univ.: Had 16 receptions for 242 yards and touchdown; also returned kick for another score last season.
The Skinny: Miller gives GSU the speed it so clearly craves, while Green brings valuable experience. Still, wide receiver wasn't a point of great need for the Tigers - despite the graduation of senior All-American Tramon Douglas, who broke Jerry Rice's record for receptions in a Southwestern Athletic Conference game. Freshman Tim Abney proved he was ready to audition for the No. 1 spot after tying for second in total touchdowns scored last season. Moses Harris and Paul Hardiman are also locks for playing time.
TIGHT ENDS
· Antonio Shannon, 6-4, 220, Mansfield (La.) HS: Member of Class 3A All-State football team.
· Travis Singleton, 6-3, 245, O. Perry Walker (New Orleans, La.) HS: Louisiana's No. 10 tight end prospect on the Zems Gems recruiting Web page. Impressive athlete, also plays basketball for Walker.
The Skinny: Shannon is the day's steal, a center on his school's basketball team who goes for passes like an aggressive rebounder. Singleton is listed at 4.8 in the 40-yard dash. Both of last year's tight ends are gone, meaning there will be a wide-open race to replace them. Gershone Jessie, an All-America candidate, has graduated. Jason Hatcher has been moved to defensive end.
OFFENSIVE LINE
· Mike Smith, 6-5, 315, Vicksburg (Miss.) HS: Smith joins former VHS linemen Andre Bennett and Charles Wilson, sophomores who both started at GSU last season. Wilson is Smith's brother.
· Quentin Smith, 6-2, 295, Centennial (Roswell, Ga.) HS: Son of former New York Giants OG Lance Smith, was part of group that gave CHS coach Mike Cloy his 100th career victory in 2003.
· Tavarus Cockrell, 6-3, 295, Parker (Birmingham, Ala.) HS: All-State as offensive tackle and defensive tackle, also played basketball.
The Skinny: GSU coaches feel that they have the type of runner in Kuuan who can return some balance to the Tigers' offensive attack. The problem last season seemed to be the lack of athleticism up front, especially with the reintroduction of the Wing-T formation in the scheme - one that calls for lots of pulling linemen. Cockrell in particular is a signing aimed directly at correcting that.
DEFENSE
· Guy Henderson, DB/WR, 6-0, 190, Karr (New Orleans, La.) HS: Superior athlete, also played quarterback for Karr as junior.
· Deshon Pennie, DB, 6-0, 195, Nimitz (Houston, Texas) HS: First-team all-district as senior. Runs a legitimate 4.4, according to his prep coach.
· Robby Smith, DB, 5-11, 170, Ruston (La.) HS: First-team pick on 2003 All-Northeast Football Team. Adept at both man-to-man coverage or stopping run.
· Dee White, DT, 6-2, 260, Richwood (La.) HS: All-district pick as senior and honorable mention for 2-3A in 2002.
The Skinny: The defensive line and linebacker corps went largely unaddressed since GSU coaches are happy with the development of several players there. But a pair of new defensive backs were desperately needed with the graduation of both starters. That means Smith, Henderson and Pennie - perhaps the most accomplished of these backs coming out of high school - will get immediate reps and, possibly, playing time.
SPECIALISTS
· William Mathis, KR/WR, 5-6, 155, Shades Valley (Pleasant Grove, Ala.) HS: Solid academic performer but also track star. Coaches say he is low 4.4 40-yard dasher.
· Larry Anderson, P, 6-4, 215, Redemptorist (Baton Rouge, La.) HS: Received second-team all-District 7-4A honors last season. Also played forward on school's basketball team.
The Skinny: Grambling State didn't have a reliable kickoff returner last season, often using starters from the defensive back and wide receiver units. So, Mathis will get an immediate look. Meanwhile, Anderson was badly needed at punter. Darien Morgan wasn't consistent enough in 2003 to be relied upon on an every-game basis.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Remembering: The 2004 season
A happy ending
GSU overcame series of setbacks to finish on high note
Thursday, December 2, 2004
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING - One collision in the north endzone of the Grambling State practice field, on the Tuesday before the season opener, summed up this year.
Texas Tech transfer Ivory McCann came down on the leg of projected No. 1 receiver Moses Harris. His ankle would be broken, and McCann's paperwork didn't clear. Neither played a down of football for GSU.
A season of lost promise for the Southwestern Athletic Conference's top passing attack would follow, as GSU finished 6-5 and out of title contention for the first time since 1999.
No. 2 receiver Tim Abney also missed the year with a nagging groin injury. Senior All-American quarterback Bruce Eugene then tore his ACL in Week 1. Center Lance Wright, a senior team captain, also suffered a season-ending injury.
The Tigers' offense never recovered from those personnel losses: After averaging 465 yards per game last season, GSU averaged 374. The Tigers converted on third down 45 percent of the time last year, but fell to 32 percent in 2004.
Scoring dropped by 10 points per contest. After totaling 57 touchdowns in 2003, GSU finished with 36 - three fewer than its opponents - this season.
But, in the end, GSU overcame its inexperience, both among its players and coaches, to fashion a winning season.
"All you can do is play with the hand that's dealt," said Melvin Spears, named interim coach in February after the sudden departure of sixth-year coach Doug Williams to the NFL. "Nobody knows going in that my quarterback is going to get hurt in the very first game. Or that two or three of the receivers weren't going to play. You've just got to play. And we've come out every week and done that."
With a hole now in his well-known vertical scheme, Spears struggled to adapt. Not until Week 9 did GSU settle into a pounding run game that would win its final two contests - including the emotional in-state rivalry game against Southern.
Perhaps that was expected.
"Over the past five or six years, this team might have had a good running game, but what we've done best is making receiving plays," said offensive coordinator Sammy White. "That got us on the scoreboard. That got us to championships."
PASSING CONCERNS
GSU stumbled badly in its first two games with true freshman Brandon Landers under center. There were also problems on defense, which had worked under four coordinators in less than one calendar year.
Before he left, Williams hired Tom Lavigne to run the defense and Luther Palmer to work with the defensive line. Lavigne replaced Heishma Northern, who had filled in for Michael Roach when Roach abruptly quit early last season.
But Spears almost immediately fired Lavigne and moved Palmer, with whom he had a better working relationship, into the coordinator spot.
"When we came in this fall, it would have been nice to have spring to work," said Palmer. "But we'd only had seven or eight weeks to put in this new terminology. We were still teaching them how to do their jobs, and let every thing flow to them."
Former Grambling State great Calvin Spears then returned to coach the secondary - which vastly improved in technique, if not in big-play potential. That unit didn't make many glaring errors, but finished with eight interceptions for a conference-worst 1 yard - yes, 1 single yard - in returns.
But the year turned on offensive turnovers, anyway.
Despite Week 3's thrilling come-from-behind victory over Bethune-Cookman, Landers was, after all, a freshman - gutsy, but inexperienced and prone to fatal errors. He would lead the conference in yards per completion, but also interceptions.
So, the Cincinnati game may best be remembered as the moment when Spears began to trust in Landers' nascent promise a bit too much. Those mishaps would cost GSU some games - including Jackson State, when coaches called a staggering 46 passing plays.
It was easy to get lost in the upside, though: Landers was named the SWAC's co-newcomer of the week after accounting for 293 of Grambling State's 360 yards in total offense in the 24-23 win against Bethune-Cookman.
"The one thing that Brandon brings to the game is such poise," Spears said. "He took over that ball game - and I think the guys were starting to rally around Brandon Landers."
Northern was given the task of quarterbacks coach as Landers tried to make his way - and did an admirable job. By Week 11, Landers had settled down into quiet efficiency.
"I just want to thank the coaches for the opportunity," said Landers, The News-Star/Glenwood SportsCare prep offensive player of the year at Carroll High in 2003. "I've just got to keep studying film, keep studying every kind of defense that they can throw at me. I just want to keep improving."
REDIRECTING THE FOCUS
The season quietly began to improve with stellar play by the special teams, where Northern did his best work as a coach. Not only were the Tigers second in the SWAC for kick coverage, Tallulah freshman Landry Carter shot to national recognition as he helped GSU to the top spot in all of Division I-AA for kick returns in early November.
Sophomore Keantwon Gray ripped off two returns of more than 90 yards in consecutive games against Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Jackson State.
Carter was named SWAC specialist of the week after he gained 240 yards in returns in the Tigers' win over Prairie View. But that contest would be marred by an on-field fight, which brought suspensions from the conference and fines for Spears from President Judson. In all, nine members of the GSU team and eight from Prairie View - along with an assistant from each school - were suspended. That made the Tigers' game at Mississippi Valley a more competitive affair.
Upon returning home , GSU continued to rely on its traditional pass-first mentality, even as the losses piled up.
Freshman wide receiver Clyde would earn co-newcomer of the week honors in late October after catching seven passes for 160 yards and two touchdowns against Jackson State. Yet, GSU fell in that game, part of an 0-4 year at Robinson Stadium.
"We were trying to figure out their motivation - whether that be playing in front of a national crowd, or just having pride in Grambling," said Calvin Spears. "It's not soul searching for talent. It's soul searching for effort. That's all we were missing."
Some of the blame for the offensive struggles could have been an over-reliance on the pass. The freshman quarterback was game, even in the face of so much adversity.
"Brandon has a lot of character about himself," said White. "When he fumbled the ball, or threw an interception, he kept his head in the game."
If Spears stayed with the vertical attack too long, he said it was the best option against the defensive looks that opponents were giving GSU. "We got everything that we wanted," said Spears. "But when you're in the red zone, your guys have to beat their guys. We just didn't cash in."
But no one could argue with the late-season success of this team's rushers. GSU's Ab Kuuan and Rueben Mayes grinded out 159 yards - and a startling combined average of eight years per carry - in a loss to Alabama State that was keyed on passing errors.
The coaches took notice. When the Tigers committed to the run, their season finally got on track. On the strength of that late surge in rushing yardage, GSU rushed for six more touchdowns this year than it had in 2003.
"We had to get 60 minutes of play out of this young team," said Spears. "Some of it was doing the little bitty things; it was execution. They had to buy into what we were doing. You saw that in the last game."
THEN FINISHING STRONG
The capstone on the season was that Nov. 27 victory over Southern, putting GSU one game over .500. The Tigers averaged 5 yards per attempt and 279 total yards rushing in New Orleans.
"That is such an emotional game. There are reunions, the spectacle, the bands. But in the end, it's about football," said Spears, who will now become part of a national search to permanently replace Williams. "It comes down to guts, to heart - to the players who really want it."
The win was so transformative, as GSU teetered on a losing campaign, that the school sponsored a Wednesday victory parade then a party at Men's Memorial Gym on campus. Cheers of "Keep Coach Spears" broke out.
GSU's defense - which limited Southern to 300 fewer total offensive yards this year - slowly rounded into shape, as well. Opponents were held to 1,031 fewer yards passing, and five fewer touchdown tosses. Though the defense gave up a scant 51 more total rushing yards, there were actually 9 fewer rushing scores.
"Eventually, we are going to be very, very good in this secondary," said Spears. "Our team stuck together, no matter what was said. They may have been rattled sometimes, but they endured."
Grambling State, perhaps fittingly, scored 105 of its 294 points this season during the fourth quarter. The last quarter of play in this 11-game season was also the Tigers' best. GSU would win three of the final five games, notching its 51st non-losing season since 1945.
"I think it finished up in a way that showed how much we had progressed," said Spears, who is awaiting word on Eugene's application for a medical exemption. "We're going to look at it as building momentum. The seasoning of these freshmen makes our future look very bright - and we're getting some people back."
THE 2004 SEASON
Final record: 6-5 overall, 3-4 in the SWAC.
Best game: GSU finally put together four quarters of football in the Nov. 27 Bayou Classic, rushing with consistency and making stops when needed. The coaching staff also showed the needed patience, sticking with the run-first game plan - even when Southern pulled ahead.
Worst game: Having lost, in quick succession, three of its best playmakers on offense, GSU stumbled badly at Alabama A&M on Sept. 11 - the only game this year where the Tigers weren't competitive. How bad was it? GSU, while its freshman fill-in quarterback was sacked six times for 54 yards in losses, was 0-for-18 on third down in the 21-9 drubbing.
Turning point: Falling to Alabama State on Nov. 6 ensured an unprecedented losing season at Robinson Stadium, but it also convinced the coaching staff that junior Ab Kuuan was ready to run. GSU would account for 735 of its 1,656 rushing yards on the season in the final three games - and go 2-1, including an emotional Bayou Classic victory.
Most telling stat: Senior quarterback Bruce Eugene's season-ending injury forever altered Spears' interim campaign. He played less than three quarters of football in 2004, yet still ended up at No. 4 for total offense on the GSU roster.
Most valuable player: Walk-on freshman sensation Landry Carter, a McCall-Tallulah product, did it all. Not only was he the top punt and kick returner, Carter was also GSU's third-leading receiver with 177 yards and third leading rusher with 211 yards. That helped him notch a team-best 1,046 all-purpose yards.
Top offensive player: Freshman Carroll product Brandon Landers, despite problems with ball placement that had the young quarterback leading the conference in picks, was a rallying point for the offense. His passing average per game was fourth in the SWAC - and his yards per completion, 17.3, was tops.
Top defensive player: The biggest loss on defense is senior Kenneth Pettway, a player of uncommon drive and intensity who would perform well both end and outside linebacker. He was second in the SWAC in 2004 for both sacks and tackles for a loss.
Top special teams player: Carter led Division I-AA nationally for several weeks on kick returns. He helped GSU finish the year atop the conference standings with an average of 23.9 yards per attempt - despite being kicked away from late in the season, notably by Southern.
Unsung hero: Senior kicker Brian Morgan quietly put together one of his best seasons, finishing 29-of-30 on extra points, 13-of-20 on field goals and second among SWAC kickers with 68 points. He also ably filled in on punting duties, averaging 36.3 yards per attempt.
Top newcomer: True freshman receiver Clyde Edwards, given the same jersey number of the departed record-smashing Tramon Douglas, displayed flashy big-play brilliance - and quickly earned a starting position. He finished the season as GSU's leading receiver in receptions, total yards and yards per game.
Emerging star: Junior running back Ab Kuuan, who coaches hoped would become an every-down runner in the offseason, exploded for consecutive 100-yard games in the final three weeks of the year - including a MVP performance on national television at the Bayou Classic.
Key injury: Senior quarterback Bruce Eugene - who led the SWAC in passing yards and total offense a season ago - went down in the season opener against Alcorn State. GSU would go from scoring 36.6 per game last year to 26.7, from passing for 3,853 yards a season ago to 2,452.
Returning starters, offense: (9) QB Brandon Landers, WR Clyde Edwards, TB Ab Kuuan, FB Rueben Mayes, LT Jonathan Banks, LG Charles Wilson, RT Andre Bennett, TE Matt Duhe and WR Zerrick Haymon.
Returning starters, defense: (7) DT Jimmy Zachary, DT Joshua Kador, DE Jason Banks, LB Dimitri Carr, CB Greg Fassitt, CB Lewis Carter and FS Zaire Wilborn.
Returning specialists: (2) P Tim Manuel, KR Landry Carter
- By Nick Deriso
GSU overcame series of setbacks to finish on high note
Thursday, December 2, 2004
By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING - One collision in the north endzone of the Grambling State practice field, on the Tuesday before the season opener, summed up this year.
Texas Tech transfer Ivory McCann came down on the leg of projected No. 1 receiver Moses Harris. His ankle would be broken, and McCann's paperwork didn't clear. Neither played a down of football for GSU.
A season of lost promise for the Southwestern Athletic Conference's top passing attack would follow, as GSU finished 6-5 and out of title contention for the first time since 1999.
No. 2 receiver Tim Abney also missed the year with a nagging groin injury. Senior All-American quarterback Bruce Eugene then tore his ACL in Week 1. Center Lance Wright, a senior team captain, also suffered a season-ending injury.
The Tigers' offense never recovered from those personnel losses: After averaging 465 yards per game last season, GSU averaged 374. The Tigers converted on third down 45 percent of the time last year, but fell to 32 percent in 2004.
Scoring dropped by 10 points per contest. After totaling 57 touchdowns in 2003, GSU finished with 36 - three fewer than its opponents - this season.
But, in the end, GSU overcame its inexperience, both among its players and coaches, to fashion a winning season.
"All you can do is play with the hand that's dealt," said Melvin Spears, named interim coach in February after the sudden departure of sixth-year coach Doug Williams to the NFL. "Nobody knows going in that my quarterback is going to get hurt in the very first game. Or that two or three of the receivers weren't going to play. You've just got to play. And we've come out every week and done that."
With a hole now in his well-known vertical scheme, Spears struggled to adapt. Not until Week 9 did GSU settle into a pounding run game that would win its final two contests - including the emotional in-state rivalry game against Southern.
Perhaps that was expected.
"Over the past five or six years, this team might have had a good running game, but what we've done best is making receiving plays," said offensive coordinator Sammy White. "That got us on the scoreboard. That got us to championships."
PASSING CONCERNS
GSU stumbled badly in its first two games with true freshman Brandon Landers under center. There were also problems on defense, which had worked under four coordinators in less than one calendar year.
Before he left, Williams hired Tom Lavigne to run the defense and Luther Palmer to work with the defensive line. Lavigne replaced Heishma Northern, who had filled in for Michael Roach when Roach abruptly quit early last season.
But Spears almost immediately fired Lavigne and moved Palmer, with whom he had a better working relationship, into the coordinator spot.
"When we came in this fall, it would have been nice to have spring to work," said Palmer. "But we'd only had seven or eight weeks to put in this new terminology. We were still teaching them how to do their jobs, and let every thing flow to them."
Former Grambling State great Calvin Spears then returned to coach the secondary - which vastly improved in technique, if not in big-play potential. That unit didn't make many glaring errors, but finished with eight interceptions for a conference-worst 1 yard - yes, 1 single yard - in returns.
But the year turned on offensive turnovers, anyway.
Despite Week 3's thrilling come-from-behind victory over Bethune-Cookman, Landers was, after all, a freshman - gutsy, but inexperienced and prone to fatal errors. He would lead the conference in yards per completion, but also interceptions.
So, the Cincinnati game may best be remembered as the moment when Spears began to trust in Landers' nascent promise a bit too much. Those mishaps would cost GSU some games - including Jackson State, when coaches called a staggering 46 passing plays.
It was easy to get lost in the upside, though: Landers was named the SWAC's co-newcomer of the week after accounting for 293 of Grambling State's 360 yards in total offense in the 24-23 win against Bethune-Cookman.
"The one thing that Brandon brings to the game is such poise," Spears said. "He took over that ball game - and I think the guys were starting to rally around Brandon Landers."
Northern was given the task of quarterbacks coach as Landers tried to make his way - and did an admirable job. By Week 11, Landers had settled down into quiet efficiency.
"I just want to thank the coaches for the opportunity," said Landers, The News-Star/Glenwood SportsCare prep offensive player of the year at Carroll High in 2003. "I've just got to keep studying film, keep studying every kind of defense that they can throw at me. I just want to keep improving."
REDIRECTING THE FOCUS
The season quietly began to improve with stellar play by the special teams, where Northern did his best work as a coach. Not only were the Tigers second in the SWAC for kick coverage, Tallulah freshman Landry Carter shot to national recognition as he helped GSU to the top spot in all of Division I-AA for kick returns in early November.
Sophomore Keantwon Gray ripped off two returns of more than 90 yards in consecutive games against Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Jackson State.
Carter was named SWAC specialist of the week after he gained 240 yards in returns in the Tigers' win over Prairie View. But that contest would be marred by an on-field fight, which brought suspensions from the conference and fines for Spears from President Judson. In all, nine members of the GSU team and eight from Prairie View - along with an assistant from each school - were suspended. That made the Tigers' game at Mississippi Valley a more competitive affair.
Upon returning home , GSU continued to rely on its traditional pass-first mentality, even as the losses piled up.
Freshman wide receiver Clyde would earn co-newcomer of the week honors in late October after catching seven passes for 160 yards and two touchdowns against Jackson State. Yet, GSU fell in that game, part of an 0-4 year at Robinson Stadium.
"We were trying to figure out their motivation - whether that be playing in front of a national crowd, or just having pride in Grambling," said Calvin Spears. "It's not soul searching for talent. It's soul searching for effort. That's all we were missing."
Some of the blame for the offensive struggles could have been an over-reliance on the pass. The freshman quarterback was game, even in the face of so much adversity.
"Brandon has a lot of character about himself," said White. "When he fumbled the ball, or threw an interception, he kept his head in the game."
If Spears stayed with the vertical attack too long, he said it was the best option against the defensive looks that opponents were giving GSU. "We got everything that we wanted," said Spears. "But when you're in the red zone, your guys have to beat their guys. We just didn't cash in."
But no one could argue with the late-season success of this team's rushers. GSU's Ab Kuuan and Rueben Mayes grinded out 159 yards - and a startling combined average of eight years per carry - in a loss to Alabama State that was keyed on passing errors.
The coaches took notice. When the Tigers committed to the run, their season finally got on track. On the strength of that late surge in rushing yardage, GSU rushed for six more touchdowns this year than it had in 2003.
"We had to get 60 minutes of play out of this young team," said Spears. "Some of it was doing the little bitty things; it was execution. They had to buy into what we were doing. You saw that in the last game."
THEN FINISHING STRONG
The capstone on the season was that Nov. 27 victory over Southern, putting GSU one game over .500. The Tigers averaged 5 yards per attempt and 279 total yards rushing in New Orleans.
"That is such an emotional game. There are reunions, the spectacle, the bands. But in the end, it's about football," said Spears, who will now become part of a national search to permanently replace Williams. "It comes down to guts, to heart - to the players who really want it."
The win was so transformative, as GSU teetered on a losing campaign, that the school sponsored a Wednesday victory parade then a party at Men's Memorial Gym on campus. Cheers of "Keep Coach Spears" broke out.
GSU's defense - which limited Southern to 300 fewer total offensive yards this year - slowly rounded into shape, as well. Opponents were held to 1,031 fewer yards passing, and five fewer touchdown tosses. Though the defense gave up a scant 51 more total rushing yards, there were actually 9 fewer rushing scores.
"Eventually, we are going to be very, very good in this secondary," said Spears. "Our team stuck together, no matter what was said. They may have been rattled sometimes, but they endured."
Grambling State, perhaps fittingly, scored 105 of its 294 points this season during the fourth quarter. The last quarter of play in this 11-game season was also the Tigers' best. GSU would win three of the final five games, notching its 51st non-losing season since 1945.
"I think it finished up in a way that showed how much we had progressed," said Spears, who is awaiting word on Eugene's application for a medical exemption. "We're going to look at it as building momentum. The seasoning of these freshmen makes our future look very bright - and we're getting some people back."
THE 2004 SEASON
Final record: 6-5 overall, 3-4 in the SWAC.
Best game: GSU finally put together four quarters of football in the Nov. 27 Bayou Classic, rushing with consistency and making stops when needed. The coaching staff also showed the needed patience, sticking with the run-first game plan - even when Southern pulled ahead.
Worst game: Having lost, in quick succession, three of its best playmakers on offense, GSU stumbled badly at Alabama A&M on Sept. 11 - the only game this year where the Tigers weren't competitive. How bad was it? GSU, while its freshman fill-in quarterback was sacked six times for 54 yards in losses, was 0-for-18 on third down in the 21-9 drubbing.
Turning point: Falling to Alabama State on Nov. 6 ensured an unprecedented losing season at Robinson Stadium, but it also convinced the coaching staff that junior Ab Kuuan was ready to run. GSU would account for 735 of its 1,656 rushing yards on the season in the final three games - and go 2-1, including an emotional Bayou Classic victory.
Most telling stat: Senior quarterback Bruce Eugene's season-ending injury forever altered Spears' interim campaign. He played less than three quarters of football in 2004, yet still ended up at No. 4 for total offense on the GSU roster.
Most valuable player: Walk-on freshman sensation Landry Carter, a McCall-Tallulah product, did it all. Not only was he the top punt and kick returner, Carter was also GSU's third-leading receiver with 177 yards and third leading rusher with 211 yards. That helped him notch a team-best 1,046 all-purpose yards.
Top offensive player: Freshman Carroll product Brandon Landers, despite problems with ball placement that had the young quarterback leading the conference in picks, was a rallying point for the offense. His passing average per game was fourth in the SWAC - and his yards per completion, 17.3, was tops.
Top defensive player: The biggest loss on defense is senior Kenneth Pettway, a player of uncommon drive and intensity who would perform well both end and outside linebacker. He was second in the SWAC in 2004 for both sacks and tackles for a loss.
Top special teams player: Carter led Division I-AA nationally for several weeks on kick returns. He helped GSU finish the year atop the conference standings with an average of 23.9 yards per attempt - despite being kicked away from late in the season, notably by Southern.
Unsung hero: Senior kicker Brian Morgan quietly put together one of his best seasons, finishing 29-of-30 on extra points, 13-of-20 on field goals and second among SWAC kickers with 68 points. He also ably filled in on punting duties, averaging 36.3 yards per attempt.
Top newcomer: True freshman receiver Clyde Edwards, given the same jersey number of the departed record-smashing Tramon Douglas, displayed flashy big-play brilliance - and quickly earned a starting position. He finished the season as GSU's leading receiver in receptions, total yards and yards per game.
Emerging star: Junior running back Ab Kuuan, who coaches hoped would become an every-down runner in the offseason, exploded for consecutive 100-yard games in the final three weeks of the year - including a MVP performance on national television at the Bayou Classic.
Key injury: Senior quarterback Bruce Eugene - who led the SWAC in passing yards and total offense a season ago - went down in the season opener against Alcorn State. GSU would go from scoring 36.6 per game last year to 26.7, from passing for 3,853 yards a season ago to 2,452.
Returning starters, offense: (9) QB Brandon Landers, WR Clyde Edwards, TB Ab Kuuan, FB Rueben Mayes, LT Jonathan Banks, LG Charles Wilson, RT Andre Bennett, TE Matt Duhe and WR Zerrick Haymon.
Returning starters, defense: (7) DT Jimmy Zachary, DT Joshua Kador, DE Jason Banks, LB Dimitri Carr, CB Greg Fassitt, CB Lewis Carter and FS Zaire Wilborn.
Returning specialists: (2) P Tim Manuel, KR Landry Carter
- By Nick Deriso
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