Alabama's Greg McElroy Is Chasing an Unknown's Legend

Larry Burton (Panama City Beach, Fl) With each additional win this season, Greg McElroy is likely to get more and more press over the fact he was undefeated in both high school and college.

Some will make the mistake of saying it's never been done, but that's not true. It has been done and the fact that more don't know about it is a tragedy.

The fact that he's not in the College Football Hall of Fame is another even worse one. That is an institute that should know better.

The man I'm speaking of is Chuck Ealey, a man that would have to be on anyone's short list of greatest football players of all time. Unfortunately for Ealey, he like other black athletes of various sports, Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson, they just came along a little too early, before integration was a normal part of sports and society.

So while I don't want to diminish Greg McElroy's accomplishment, should he finish this season as an undefeated high school and college athlete, you should know that he would be the second to do so and in many ways, would still stand behind the accomplishments of Ealey, who played more seasons as a starter and compiled a greater record.

Chuck is an inspiration for anyone who thinks life is tough and only the lucky get good things. You can't get much tougher than a black kid from a broken home living with his mother in Portsmouth, Ohio, an old rust bucket iron town in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains.

With no money, Chuck's only entertainment was playing with the local kids who were older and bigger. It toughened him mentally and physically. He had a gift in a fine arm and was soon always picked to play quarterback in neighborhood pick up games.

To sharpen his accuracy hitting moving targets, he'd often sit and pick targets on moving freight cars and fling away at them.

His arm gained notice and he was recruited to play for a high school on the "good side" of town instead of the local one he was supposed to attend. Ealey seized the opportunity. He had to literally walk from the bad side side of the tracks to the good side of town each day to school and practice.

He went a dazzling 18-0 as a starter at Notre Dame High School and was recruited by a few notable colleges, but mostly as a defensive back as no one was interested in a black quarterback no matter what his record was.

But one famous man saw the fire in the young Ealey and offered him a scholarship to come on as a defensive back or third string quarterback with only the faintest prospect of becoming a starter. That man was legendary coach Bo Schembechler, then of Miami of Ohio. But Chuck said no. 

It wasn't until a MAC official pressured then head coach Frank Lauderbur to speak at a dinner in Portsmouth, that Ealey became known to anyone at Toledo. He was asked rather bluntly by Chuck's high school coach why he wasn't recruiting the best quarterback he'd ever seen.

With football season over Laderbur sent an assistant to Notre Dame High to find out more about him and saw him play in a basketball state tournament game where his athleticism impressed him as well as his hustle and determination.

He called his coach back and told him what everyone said about him and then remarked, "I know what I've heard, but I just saw him sink a 30 foot shot to win a basketball game, and I think he's a winner."

The rest was history. Chuck Ealey signed with the University of Toledo.

1969 was a violent and turbulent time for blacks. Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King had just been assassinated, blacks were being booed on "white" teams and there was pressure on teams to keep blacks low profile on "regular" and not to have any stand out.

The coaches were putting pressure on Ealey to play defensive back at the start of his sophomore season, in those days freshmen were not allowed to play varsity football. But fate intervened. The starting quarterback went down with a kidney ailment and Chuck stepped into the starting role and into much controversy. 

He took the controversy, the slow death of his brother to cancer and all the other problems of being a black in a high profile position, in stride. He ended his career t not just 35-0 as a starter, but he was also the MAC player of the year for a record breaking three years in a row.

He won three Tangerine Bowls in a row, (Now the Capitol One Citrus Bowl) and was MVP. He also finished eighth in the Heisman Trophy balloting despite having better numbers than those above him and was voted an All-American, but only by the Football News, who is now, but was not then, a recognized All-American service.

Despite his accomplishments, Chuck was never considered a quarterback prospect by the NFL. Many wanted him as a defensive back, but like before, he said no and moved to Canada, where he played quarterback in the CFL and of course, led his team to a championship.

He had a great career in the CFL and lives today still in Canada. After football he worked for John Deer Limited until 1987 and then moved on to what he does today, being a financial analyst and planner. 

He is loved throughout the area and is a benefactor and helper in many charitable organizations and community programs. Despite all that he endured, there is no hint of bitterness in the man, just a warm sense of humility and generosity. 

So while young Greg McElroy chases this man's accomplishments as being only the second man to go undefeated in high school and college, he would do well to also try and emulate the man's sense of never surrendering your dreams and always giving back.

As an author of sports and of history, I have always seen that most men who accomplish great feats in one field are usually great men in all of their endeavors. Knowing Greg, I can only hope he truly follows this other great man's example throughout his life.

Please, if you too think that Chuck Ealey should be in the College Football Hall of Fame, I urge you to sign the petition at http://www.inductchuck.com/  Thank you.