Good article on former player...

ESSO,

Say it because of the time and place.

Eddie caught a lot of heck several years later, and I am somewhat sure the first kid who tried to break the barrier before then caught more.

Or he may not have had the grades.

I dunno.
 
Possibly Larry Howell in 1968....

Don't believe he ever made it to campus....

Right after McAshan came Greg Horne (RB out of Murphy High) and walk-on DB/WR/Punt Returner Karl "Pee Wee" Barnes - all 5'3" of him - from St Pius....

Cleo Johnson was a JC transfer @ WR ... QB Rudy Allen from Columbus-Kendrick and Tommy Crowley, a RB from West Rome (who name I couldn't remember)...

...and then Joe Harris arrived and re-wrote the books on what a LB should look like & play like....

and by then Pepper Rodgers really changed the face of GT in the '70s... RB David Sims, P Harper Brown, et al

texstinger said:
ESSO,

Say it because of the time and place.

Eddie caught a lot of heck several years later, and I am somewhat sure the first kid who tried to break the barrier before then caught more.

Or he may not have had the grades.

I dunno.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
I had occasion to meet Eddie at a Ga Sports HOF book-signing for Tony Barnharts book, "Southern Fried Football". He was seated at a table w/ three legends of football, George Patton, Larry Morris, George Rogers. Not bad company and all of them very gracious guys!
 
texstinger said:
ESSO,

Say it because of the time and place.

Eddie caught a lot of heck several years later, and I am somewhat sure the first kid who tried to break the barrier before then caught more.

Or he may not have had the grades.

I dunno.
Click to expand...

Obviously, I was oblivious to this...I had no idea. The only thing I know is that the students of my day -- who had become OF's by Eddie's time -- stormed the capital in 1955 when Marvin Griffin wouldn't let Tech play Pittsburg in a bowl because Pittsburg had a black player. The racial barriers had come under attack.

Look guys, today there are still some racists of all colors out there and many more who like to constantly stir the pot and even racists who get off by calling other people racists. It seems to me to be much worse now than it used to be. As a youngster, my working buddies were black and I loved working with them, telling stories with each other, riding together and eating lunch together. I was solidly in their corner about breaking down the racial barriers ("separate, but equal") that existed then and we were highly successful.

Much progress has been made and it took pioneers like Eddie to do it. My hat is off to him. But it's time to drop the animosities, join hands and work together just like we did during the days of my youth only this time without any racial barriers including new ones that are mostly mental.
 
gtyellowjackets said:
I was only 5,6,7 years old when McAshen as the GT qb. When my father and grandfather used to take me to games, I thought he was the greatest. I don't ever remember people cheering against him, but I was so young.

The artcle makes it sound like he was under the constant fire of racism. Is that an accurate portrayal or not?
Click to expand...
Absolutely not. I was a classmate of Eddie McAshan. Never a hint of racism on campus, altho it may have been an undercurrent running beneath the surface on the team. I was not a player so from a student and fan standpoint I saw none. I will tell you, to see him at Rose Bowl Field was something else. He handled the football like a magician......behind the back, spinning on a finger, rolling it from one hand down his arm, behind his neck and down the other arm.. unbelieveable stuff.
I was as surprised as anyone when he went postal right before the Georgia game. I worked in the campus post office part time and I will say the telegrams and old facsimile messages did have a hateful bent when they started rolling in. And the victory over Iowa State with Jim Stevens at qb sparked another flood of pretty racist messages. But again, on campus for all those years I thought he had a very welcome and supportive following.
 
gtyellowjackets said:
I was only 5,6,7 years old when McAshen as the GT qb. When my father and grandfather used to take me to games, I thought he was the greatest. I don't ever remember people cheering against him, but I was so young.

The artcle makes it sound like he was under the constant fire of racism. Is that an accurate portrayal or not?
Click to expand...
No it is not accurate. However, Eddie was under tremendous pressure. Not only was he the first black player but he was on a team that struggled offensively with a smallish line and limited running game. He threw beautiful passes but was often sacked and pressured unmercifully.
 
The old Dalton Catamount, the original DeepSnap....

in the flesh. Dat's me....

The only guy from our era I know who made it anywhere near the Yukon was Allen Vezey, the OL from Gainesville, GA, most noted for his headlock pictured on a UGag DL on Jack Williams's 1969 TD run.

Yukonwreck said:
Hey, Charlie! Is dat you?
Click to expand...

Gimme a hint, or msg me....
 
GT helped pave the way not Eddie McAshan. Decent QB, not above reproach otherwise.

TECH is a strict school. Cry your heart out and claim racism!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top