Spring Football Outlook

Welcome to full time sports writing: Tyler Cleveland, whose granddad Ace, father Rick, and Uncle Bobby ranked with the best. Tyler is on duty at the Hattiesburg American where Ace got his start.........How about Matt Malouf, sophomore quarterback, leaving the University of Memphis? Six three and 210 Matt was a sensational high schoopl field general at Oxford High....His Dad played for the Rebels in the 1970's and was disappointed the Rebels did not offer his son a scholarship.....It will be interesting to see where Matt lands.
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June will be a busy month for the All-American Football Foundation with Banquets of Champions in Dallas, June 7, Los Angeles June 23 and Tampa June 28. Howard (Hop) Cassady of Heisman renown at Ohio State, will receive the AAFF Creighton Miller Outstanding Running Back in Tampa. The dinner will be dedicat ed to loyal AAFF Col. Red Blaik Leadership Scholarship donor George M. Steinbrenner III prior to his 78th Birthday.
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Saddened by Earl Leggett's passling at 75 after a lengthy illness. He played four years at Hinds, two as a junior and senior in high school and then as a freshman and sophomore before transferring to LSU where he won All-America acclaim. Southern Miss wanted Leggett and ace recruiter H.A. Smith was in strong pursuit. Years later I told Earl how much we wanted him. I was Southern's athletic publicity director at the time. He said with Don Owens, Coon Dog Davis and P.W. Underwood on board he did not know how much he would have played. I assured him he would have been in there somewhere. Later Big Smitty recommended Leggett to the Chicago Bears where Smitty had played and was a pal of George Halas. Leggett became a star member of the Monsters of the Midway.
- Southern grad Reed Green hired Ole Miss grad Pie Vann as his line coach and later his head football coach. Pie hired Mississippi State grad Heifer Stuart as his backfield coach and ex-Rebel H.A. Smith as his end coach. Pie coached the line even when he was head coach. Green then hired another Ole Miss man, Mississippi Red McDowell, to beat the drums for Southern. McDowell on the eve of the battle in Montgomery in the 1953 national season opener predicted on radio that Southern would upset the defending Orange Bowl Champion Alabama Crimson Tide, and the Southerners prevailed, 25-l9, in the biggest college football upset since little Centre College went East to topple Harvard. Alabama bounced back to win the SEC Championship and lose to Rice in the Cotton Bowl.
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Bucky McElroy, Southern's legendary Little All-American fullback, is in the National Junior College Hall of Fame, the Hinds Sport s Hall of Fame, Southern's USM Hall of Fame, but not in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame where he was a star at Neville High in Monroe and has made his home there after his football playing days were over. He is the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and is bringing two foursomes once again to play in the Jackson Touchdown Cluib golf tournament this summer. Hopefully, Louisiana will correct this over sight. They appear partial to Athletes who go to Louisiana colleges. Our old colleague Jim McLain said he would go to bat for McElroy in the 2009 selections.
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Talked to Bill Parsells the other day and told him I was sorry he did not come to Ole Miss with Steve Sloan. Bill got another job instead. He laughed and said under Houston Ole Miss would do all right... The New York Giants are sporting NFL Championship rings designed by Tiffany.
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