NFL Players: From HBCUs To Pro Football (Part Three)

(Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Mississippi has got "good fruit" for the NFL in the 21st century, but when I was a child, Nina Simone sang of "Strange Fruit"  and "Mississippi, ...."

My research has transitioned from one Texas Southern University (TSU) wide receiver, to all of the TSU NFL players, to all of the Prairie View University players.  Now the focus is on a state that terrified me as a child, Mississippi.

The Emmitt Till story is what caused my stomach to churn.

Wait a minute!  "Fear" morphed to "feisty" once I became well-educated and loaded with "faith."  So, here is how the transformation occurred.

I met Dr. Roosevelt Gentry from Jackson State University, in Jackson, Mississippi. Prior to meeting the mathematician named Gentry,  I avoided even a discussion of the state. 

Life has its peculiar twists.  On a trip to Moscow, Russia with the Citizens Ambassadors' Program, in 1993, I met Gentry who was from Mississippi.  He was confident and friendly, and he told me how outstanding Jackson State's football team was.

At least I allowed him to talk about Mississippi. Our talks about football and mathematics baited me to learn more about the state.

Prior to my encounter with Gentry, I just did not want to talk about it.

Now I can talk.  So, let's talk about the "good NFL fruit" from Mississippi.

Approximately 90 players have come to the NFL from Jackson State.  The breakdown is:

23  1960+

28  1970+

23  1980+

13  1990+

3    2000+

My father would say that "It is good that I have been afflicted, because I learn..."  I venture to say that the challenging social situation of Mississippi inspired young men to play hard, run fast, and clasp the football, better than most.

Of the 90 players from Mississippi, three are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame:  Jackie Slater (1976-1995); Walter Payton (1975-1987); and Lem Barney (1967-1977). 

If you compare Jackson State with Texas Southern and Prairie View, Jackson State outscores the other HBCUs by far. 

HBCU         Total NFL players

TSU           60

PV             29

JSU           90

There is a trend in the Jackson State data:  a decrease from 1980 to 1990. 

Another decrease is evident in the number of NFL players from Jackson State:  from 13 to 3 in 2000.  An update will be provided in a future article.

Twenty-two (24 percent) of the Jackson State players only had one season or one year. 

Here is the total list or dataset from which observations are made:

Anderson, Rashard (2000 - 2001) 
Austin, Eric (1996 - 1996) 
Bacon, Coy (1968 - 1981) 
Barkum, Jerome (1972 - 1983) 
Barnett, Buster (1981 - 1984) 
Barnett, Tim (1991 - 1993) 
Barney, Lem (1967 - 1977) HOF
Bennett, Roy (1988 - 1989) 
Biggs, Verlon (1965 - 1974) 
Bradford, Corey (1998 - 2006) 
Brazile, Robert (1975 - 1984) 
Bullard, Louis (1978 - 1980) 
Burkett, Chris (1985 - 1993) 
Carr, Reggie (1987 - 1987) 
Caster, Rich (1970 - 1982) 
Coleman, Al (1967 - 1973) 
Conner, Darion (1990 - 1997) 
Cowan, Larry (1982 - 1982) 
Curry, Roy (1963 - 1963) 
Curtis, Bobby (1987 - 1987) 
Dalton, Oakley (1977 - 1977) 
Duncan, Speedy (1964 - 1974) 
Franklin, Larry (1978 - 1978) 
Funchess, Tom (1968 - 1974) 
Gordon, Cletis (2006 - 2008) 
Gray, Leon (1973 - 1983) 
Greer, Al (1963 - 1963) 
Hardy, Ed (1973 - 1973) 
Hardy, Larry (1978 - 1985) 
Hardy, Robert (1979 - 1982) 
Harrington, Perry (1980 - 1985) 
Harvey, James (1987 - 1988) 
Harvey, Richard (1970 - 1971) 
Hayes, Jim (1965 - 1966) 
Hilton, Roy (1965 - 1975) 
Holifield, Jimmy (1968 - 1969) 
Holmes, Lester (1993 - 2000) 
Hoover, Houston (1988 - 1994) 
Houston, Bill (1974 - 1974) 
Hughes, Bob (1967 - 1969) 
Jackson, Harold (1968 - 1983) 
James, Claudis (1967 - 1968) 
Kimbrough, Tony (1993 - 1994) 
Marshall, James (1980 - 1980) 
Martin, Steve (1987 - 1987) 
Mcgee, Ben (1964 - 1972) 
Mcjulien, Paul (1991 - 1993) 
Mobley, Stacey (1987 - 1989) 
Molden, Frank (1965 - 1969) 
Molden, Fred (1987 - 1987) 
Montgomery, Wilbert (1977 - 1985) 
Moore, Jeff (1979 - 1984) 
Moore, Leonard (1987 - 1987) 
Morris, Sylvester (2000 - 2000) 
Myles, Toby (1999 - 2001) 
Outlaw, Johnny (1969 - 1978) 
Patton, Ricky (1978 - 1982) 
Payton, Eddie (1977 - 1982) 
Payton, Walter (1975 - 1987) HOF
Perry, Marlo (1994 - 1999) 
Perry, Vernon (1979 - 1983) 
Phillips, Rod (1975 - 1980) 
Pride, Danny (1968 - 1969) 
Reed, Taft (1967 - 1967) 
Reese, Don (1974 - 1981) 
Richardson, Ernie (1974 - 1974) 
Richardson, Gloster (1967 - 1974) 
Richardson, Tom (1969 - 1970) 
Richardson, Willie (1963 - 1971) 
Seals, Leon (1987 - 1992) 
Simmons, Cleo (1983 - 1983) 
Slater, Jackie (1976 - 1995) HOF
Smith, Fernando (1994 - 2000) 
Smith, Jimmy (1992 - 2005) 
Stamps, Sylvester (1984 - 1989) 
Staten, Robert (1996 - 1996) 
Strauthers, Tom (1983 - 1991) 
Sutton, Frank (1987 - 1987) 
Tate, John (1976 - 1976) 
Thomas, Lee (1971 - 1973) 
Tillman, Lewis (1989 - 1995) 
Walker, Jackie (1986 - 1989) 
Williams, Charley (1978 - 1978) 
Wills, Ladell (1987 - 1987) 
Windham, David (1987 - 1987) 
Woodson, Sean (1997 - 1997) 
Word, Roscoe (1974 - 1976) 
Young, Rickey (1975 - 1983) 
Zanders, Emanuel (1974 - 1981) 

If I could talk to Nina Simone I would say:

"Yes, Mississippi may have had strange fruit. However, out of the pain (and affliction) of the social economic struggle came a higher level of creativity and passion for excellence in NFL football and in other professions, too."

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