Glorious Football

Southside Elementary School even had a football team at that time. I was in the third grade and wanted to play with my big brother Wren in this game, so I went out for the team. Our coach was Mr. Waddell, Wren played guard and we had a 92 pound quarterback named Dale Gray. He was "fast as lightning."

At that time, the teams played both offense and defense. Since I was the smallest kid on the team I was assigned to play center position, right next to my big brother. Uniforms were unheard of at that time so we played without helmets or shoulder pads, and some of us even played barefooted.

The "big game" between Southside and another school across town had started. The other team had the ball on their own 10 yard line, with 90 yards to go for a touchdown. They had the biggest and strongest quarterback in town. His name was "Big Veldon". I thought he looked big and ugly. He looked six feet tall, probably about 18 years old, and he must have weighed 150 pounds or more.

The ball was snapped to Big Veldon and he took the ball and came charging straight up the middle of the line toward me. He looked like a huge rampaging, wild elephant! I either had to jump on him or get out of his way. He would not be stopped. I made a giant leap onto his back and circled his body with my legs and held on for dear life. He carried me the entire length of the football field and scored a touchdown for his team with me riding on his back. They went on to win that football game.

It was then that I decided that football was not my favorite game.