Eddie McAshan

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ramrek

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I went to Tech from fall 0f '68 through December of '72. During those five football seasons I was able to see some pretty fair quarterbacks, Larry Good, Charlie Dudish, Jack Williams and Eddie McAshan. McAshan was by far the most talented and productive.

I know some previous posters mentioned his being kicked off the team for what would have been his final game due to his request for extra tickets. However, there were rumors of a football coach provoking him with an ethnic slur. I had graduated and left the campus for home so I never heard anymore about the incident. Does anyone else have any recollection?

Eddie was the Jackie Robinson of Tech and his road was not an easy one as I recall. But I hate to see a great athlete denied his due or his accomplishments tarnished for reasons that have never really been understood.
 
I was there from Fall of 69 to summer of 72. I remember that there were some questions as to what the real issue was. Maybe it was the tickets, I don't know.

I did play in a couple of pickup basketball games with McAshan and he seemd like a pretty nice guy. He was a very good basketball player, but not a show-off - kind of quiet.
 
I ain't as old as you two pharts, but I was there for Eddie's final season. The rumour was that he had sold his allotment of tickets, but wanted more for his relatives.

Please understand this is only rumour. I have no idea what really happened.
 
Last post was the way I have it.

Troublemaker who got too full of himself and wanted to be an individual. To put himself ahead of his teammates on the eve of the Georgia game was unbelievable.

I'm thankful we had a coach, unlike many today, who didn't compromise and threw his butt off the team!
 
I saw Eddie play as well. It must have been tough to be the first black kid at GT. IIRC, Ugag was still all white, same for Alamama.

If Eddie comes back for any school events, he sure keeps a low profile.

Perhaps some of his fellow players will set the record straight somewhere, someday.
 
It seems Eddie was also missing for several days without letting anyone know of his whereabouts. I remember going to the Ugag game in Athens and getting a lot of taunts about our black quarterback (except those racist rednecks weren't using the word "black").
 
GTLee has it correct. He sold his tickets then wanted about 30 or so more. He missed the Liberty Bowl (Tech won anyway) and that may have cost him a real shot at the pros.
 
Why don't someone ask Eddie? I would like to hear his side of the story. By the way, I think Jack Williams was a better quarterback, didn't seem to make as many mistakes, kindof like Godsey. I was at the 70 GT/UGA game when Williams hit Wysong for a 30+ yard TD pass, a thing of beauty!
South Georgia Jacket
 
GTLEE is correct per my recollection as I was there '68-'73. Eddie himself will probably discuss it with you since I believe he is now in some capacity at the GTAA. THWG
 
I beelieve the truth is somewhere in the middle beetween more tickets request and perhaps racial problems. It took a lot of guts to become, not just the first minority player here, but the QB at that.
 
Eddie McAshan had enormous pressure on him at Tech as many have stated, because of breaking the color barrier, especially at quarterback.

I am sure he is just another athlete who made a mistake that kept him out of a game. I would not read too much into it, as there have been many an athlete to make mistakes that have kept them out of games.

I would imagine many players kept out of games for discipline never make the headlines because the reason is not aired. When you are the quarterback, you are "high profile", and it is obvious you are missing from the game.

Had it not been the bowl game and had it not been the quarterback position, it would have been a minor incident.

Someone in this thread mentioned he was shy. He did not appear to be a showoff. One of the funniest things I remember about him was his ability to make a lot of running yardage when someone was chasing him from behind.

Some of us fans would joke about it. It seemed he did not like to take the hard licks, so when the big linemen were chasing him, he could really move. If they came at him head on, they generally sacked him, but when they were behind him, he could really make yardage.

Father Time
 
I have a different take.

Don't blame Georgia people for racial taunts. He never even suited up. Besides, if that were true, what better way to get at them than to beat them on the field.

He did go missing - no excuse. If you have problems share them with the staff and your teammates and they will understand.

In the end, it should be about playing the biggest game of your life - Georgia.

Also, the people he ultimately let down was not the coaches, nor us the fans, but his teammates, who were robbed not because of injury, but had to go with someone that had taken all the snaps and they had put their trust in. No excuse.
 
We hear so much about racism concerning #1 but the truth be know, the NAACP picketed the Liberty Bowl because of the McAshan incident so lets not lay everything at the feet of racism at Tech. He (#1) had his chance he blew it not the other way around. As I recall it was Fulcher who was the coach at that time and true gentleman if there ever was one, so if he (and he did) suspend #1 then I supported him then and now.
 
I also recall the ticket scandal. Don't believe there was ever an official report. Sort of hushed up "Eddie won't be playing with us" but that was the prevailing word in the street. It wasn't a HUGE infraction but the punishment was justified.

On a side note, our new "Commander of Academics", Col. Stevens, was the man who came off the bench to lead TECH to victory in a pretty exciting 31-30 win over Iowa St. in that Liberty Bowl.

I seem to remember another pretty good QB that got to sit out a bowl for "an infraction", too. Our backup led us to victory in that one as well.
 
McAshan certainly did throw beeeeautiful long spirals repeatedly to lil' Jimmy Robinson. Truely the best pitcher/catcher combo GT ever had until Joe and his cousin.

Being the first black to play football at Tech, and at QB no less, he was subject to a lot of verbal and mental abuse. From fans, students, and even teammates. Possibly faculty and coaches, but I have no knowledge of that. And I do recall he did go AWOL for a day or two - it was reverberating around campus.

Whatever actually happened is long gone, and in my book Eddie deserves a lot of thanks for breaking the color barrier at Tech and for his accomplishments for the team and doing it with class. The fact that he has come back home as an employee also speaks volumes about the man.

It might be nice for those of us that were there at the time to finally find out the truth of what happened, but whatever it was it certainly wasn't as ugly as many of the incidents going on in college football today.

But ya know; it really don't matter.
 
Originally posted by oldfoggy:
GTLee has it correct. He sold his tickets then wanted about 30 or so more. He missed the Liberty Bowl (Tech won anyway) and that may have cost him a real shot at the pros.
Click to expand...
<font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">I never saw him play, but I can say this. What most likely cost him a shot at the pros was the fact that in a 3 year 32 game career he threw 52 INT's to only 32 TDs. That'll do it everytime.
 
Think you are wrong on this BOR, back in those days the owners of the pro teams didn't want a trouble maker, he gained that rep towards the end of his career. He was given a shot at the pro's but was waived early on. #1 (his jersey #) had a rifle of an arm.
 
If I recall correctly, he was tried as a running back for Seattle, but was cut in preseason. He never got a shot at being a pro QB.
 
I was a big fan of Eddie's for his football ability, but what impressed me most was after his football days were through, I would see him on campus going to class and working on his degree.
 
Originally posted by oldfoggy:
Think you are wrong on this BOR, back in those days the owners of the pro teams didn't want a trouble maker, he gained that rep towards the end of his career. He was given a shot at the pro's but was waived early on. #1 (his jersey #) had a rifle of an arm.
Click to expand...
<font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">Guys like Joe Namath, for instance.
 
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