Mississippi's Uncovered Glory: True Football & Life in Mississippi During the Mid 1970'S

By Jerome Gentry

There are several inspirations and reasons why I decided to write this book. My daughters, Deanna and Mia were two of those inspirations. I was in deep thought one day on how my daughters knew very little of my life growing up and almost nothing of their uncle (Ricky), my deceased brother. Therefore, I decided to tell my story in book form. This book gives you a look inside of my soul of dealing with the lost of my only sibling. This book is also about growing up in Mississippi in the mid 1960s and the 1970s. The hope in writing this book is to help dispel any myths about life in Mississippi during those times. Along the way I will resurrect a high school football team from the mid 1970s that the world may not have known existed by way of its unique assembly. This high school football team reached a height in Mississippi high school football that had never been achieved before. What was more amazing is this team was led by two brothers. One was an undersized defensive lineman who was described by his head coach as the smallest nose guard in the world at 56 144 pound. I was that nose guard and the offensive catalyst for this team was my brother, a 61 212 pound devastating and powerful all-American running back.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 18, 2008
• ISBN: 9781462819294

Jerome Gentry

Jerome Gentry, CFSA, is also the author of Mississippi’s Uncovered Glory, the 2008 book of the year for “The Sports Maverick Show” of Voice America.com. His business career has given him the opportunity to appear on CNN’s, “Talk Back Live” TV Show. He has also been featured in several newspaper articles. He is honored to have had the opportunity to be invited to college campuses to share his messages on leadership and success with college students. Jerome is a former owner of a franchise of “The Growth Coach”. The Growth Coach’s concept has a unique and proven year-round coaching accountability process. Jerome has been involved with small businesses for over 20 years and has coached and assisted many small business owners, managers, and professionals. In addition to being a CFSA (Certified Financial Services Auditor), Jerome is a licensed Real Estate Broker and licensed Insurance Agent. Jerome also has over 20 years experience as a tax consultant consisting with individual tax preparation, small business and corporate tax preparation. He also has work experiences in the banking industry, the nonprofit sector and state government. Jerome’s business success has been mainly from the principles he is now teaching and sharing with others. He understands the importance of business owners, managers, and self-employed professionals becoming more successful and enjoying business success. Jerome earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and received his Master of Business Administration. Jerome also serves on the supervisory committee for the board of directors of Hope Community Credit Union.

Book preview

Mississippi’s Uncovered Glory

TRUE FOOTBALL & LIFE IN MISSISSIPPI DURING THE MID 1970’S

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A story of pure determination by maybe the smallest dominating defensive lineman that has ever played high school football.

WRITTEN BY JEROME GENTRY

EDITOR DR. ROCHELLE SMITH

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Acknowledgments

Copyright © 2008 by Jerome Gentry.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THIS STORY, E-MAIL: [e-mail]

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

[e-mail]

43601

TRUE FOOTBALL & LIFE IN MISSISSIPPI

DURING THE MID 1970’s

MY BROTHER’S LOVE

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Lepolian Ricky Gentry

Team Captain

This book is dedicated to my father, Mr. Lepolian Gentry, my mother,

Mrs. Etherlene Hatten Gentry, and my daughters, Deanna LaShay Gentry

and Mia Nicole Gentry. It is also dedicated to my late brother,

Lepolian Ricardo Gentry (Ricky) 1958-1977.

DAN EILTS

JACKSON DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

AUGUST/1975

It may be a little farfetched to compare anybody in the Jackson Big Eight Conference to Jackson State University’s claim to fame, running back Walter Payton, now a Chicago Bear and tabbed as the next Gale Sayers. Jackson Callaway Head Coach Charles Allman agrees whole-heartedly.

But Allman’s got a kid about Walter’s size, waiting in the wings for yet another autumn of grinding up the yardage against Capitol Division foes in the Big Eight Conference before one of the Southeastern Conference schools or maybe even Jackson State snatches him up.

Lepolian Gentry is his name, and at 6 feet, 212 pounds, running people over is his game. He was named to several of the All-American high school teams in those magazines, said Allman. He’s big and strong, probably the most sought after running back around here.

Introduction

It seems as though it was just last year when I was watching that funny episode on television and started laughing as I looked over on the couch to see if Ricky was laughing too. I said, Did you see that? At that moment I stopped my sentence instantly because I realized that Ricky was not there. He had been gone for about a year. A part of me died when Ricky died. He was my only sibling and we were only 13 months apart. My desire in writing this story is to rekindle the spirit of Ricky and give my daughters an opportunity to know their uncle, whom they have never met. This book also gives my daughters an opportunity to learn about my early life and how I have dealt with loosing Ricky.

As I was writing this book, the news came on television about an FBI arrest in the 1964 killing of two black teenagers in Mississippi. The suspect was linked to the Klu Klux Klan (KKK) and was a former deputy sheriff. Even though we are all aware of the turbulent times regarding racism during the 1960’s in Mississippi and it continues to be exposed, I want people outside of Mississippi to understand that there were a lot of exciting times in Mississippi. The perception of Mississippi is frequently negative in the media, showing the bleak conditions in the state for black people. I will not deny that bigotry, hatred and prejudices existed; however, they existed in every region of the country.

By reading this book, I want you to gain a greater appreciation for Mississippi in the 1960’s and 1970s, in addition to sharing some exciting times, through my eyes, about a Mississippi high school football team. This is a true high school sports story that happened in Mississippi during the 1970’s. The story provides a look into the soul of one brother dealing with the loss of his only brother, whom he loved dearly. Both brothers were talented football players: one was a powerful running back and the other was an undersized defensive lineman excelling and dominating at the nose guard position, a fact that makes this story seem almost fictional. The nose guard was described by his head coach as the smallest nose guard in the world at 5'6 and 144 pounds. The decision of the head coach to play me at the nose guard position may have carried this team to a height in Mississippi high school football that had never been obtained before. The head coach’s vision may have very well created a scenario that had never been attempted anywhere in high school football. He also created a scenario in the state championship game that had never been obtained before. His unusual strategy left fans in awe. Possibly no one could have scripted a more intriguing story about a high school football team’s quest in winning a state championship than the actual one that occurred during that 1975 football season. The question that I ponder repeatedly in my mind is would any team attempt to develop a defense around a 5'6 144 pounds nose guard? My brother and I became the anchors of our respective offensive and defensive units. However, our journey started that year together in the same offensive backfield.

By showing the unity of black and white team members working together in creating a powerful bond of achievement through this story, a positive light was shed on race relations in Mississippi. This story talks about a talented high school quarterback in the state of Mississippi that wanted to challenge the face of college football in the SEC (Southeastern Athletic Conference) by being the first black quarterback to play at Ole Miss. Mississippi’s Uncovered Glory dispels some of the negative perceptions of how black families lived in Mississippi during the late 1960s and early 1970s, exposing to all a unique high school football team from the mid 1970s.

If not directly involved, even fellow Mississippians had no way of knowing that this team existed. In a visit to the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum on February 2, 2007, I discovered that there was very little documented history on Mississippi high school sports. There were no records of the high school state champions or division winners from the years 1950-1980. Gripped by shock, I was inspired to write this story. This is my story. I am Jerome Gentry, the defensive nose guard for the 1975 Callaway High School Chargers.

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STATE OF MISSISSIPPI-SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 612

Before the 1975 football season started for the Callaway Chargers, the State of Mississippi passed a concurrent resolution commending Lepolian R. Gentry (Ricky) for being an outstanding student and football player. The resolution was signed by House Speaker, C.B. (Buddy) Newman and then Lt. Governor William Winter.

(Former Governor William Winter)

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RICKY IS BEING PRESENTED THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI—SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 612 BY A REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE AT CALLAWAY HIGH SCHOOL IN JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI IN 1975.

Chapter 1

THE BEGINNING

It was the year 1965 in Starksville MS; I was playing in my front yard on Vine Street with a little white boy (Sam), also about five years old. I am Black. We were playing football: I was the running back and he was the tackler. As some hours passed, his dad called him from across the street to tell him that it was time to go home. His dad worked at the gas station just across the street from our house. His dad had on a blue shirt and dark blue pants. At the same moment, my dad appeared driving up in his 1961 white Chevrolet Biscayne. He was dressed in a white shirt with a dark necktie and dark blue trousers. My dad was a junior high school principal. He waived at Sam’s dad and told me that it was time to come inside for dinner. We had just moved into a new three bedroom, one bath, brick home with a single carport. This was Starksville, MS in the 1960s, 50 miles from Philadelphia, MS, where in 1963 the infamous three civil rights workers were killed and buried. This