"... I couldn’t help but think of how many people had helped me along the way. One of those people I wanted to personally thank for opening doors was Jimmy Raye. This book tells how some of those doors got pushed open. I’m sure you will enjoy reading about the journey!" - Tony DungyGeorge Webster
Willie Ray Smith left a legacy beyond football
Part II: Texas royalty turned to uncommon manMy segment on The Drive with Jack on sports radio in Lansing, Mich., on the influence of Willie Ray Smith-- Willie Ray Smith Sr. was one of the southern black high school coaches that laid the tracks to Michigan State coach Duffy...
My Michigan State history letter to Mel Tucker
To Coach Mel Tucker:Welcome back to Michigan State.Your two seasons as a graduate assistant in the 1997 and 1998 seasons on Nick Saban's football staff was time for you to learn more about the school than we know about you upon your return 22 years later. So I'm wondering how...
Dabo insults his team with Alabama history
“Notre Dame was 8-0 and ranked No. 1; the Spartans were 9-0 and ranked No. 2. Despite the fact that Alabama was also undefeated — and, in fact, would end the 1966 season as the only undefeated Division I team in the country — no one doubted that the winner of the Notre...
Forty four Underground Railroad legacy facts
--- Why do I write so much debunking the myths and fiction surrounding Bear Bryant and the 1970 USC-Alabam game? The answer is simple: History has failed to properly credit College Football Hall of Fame coach Duffy Daugherty and his Michigan State Underground Railroad teams for...
Black History Month and Underground Railroad
Three twitter posts I read in succession were unrelated unless placed in the context of Black History Month. One was from filmmaker Ava DuVernay and the other two about the Texas Hall of Fame and College Football Hall of Fame. In general, they were reminders...
Spartans have Super Bowl link to Sean McVay
The coaching DNA linking New England head coach Bill Belichick and his father Steve, a respected 34-year Navy assistant, are retold with every Patriots Super Bowl trip. But the Belichick family has company this week in Atlanta. Sean McVay, who has taken the Los Angeles Rams to...
Ernest Green as homecoming grand marshal
NOTE: Michigan State president John Hannah did much more than provide Biggie Munn and Duffy Daugherty the backing that established Michigan State as the college football leader of the integration. Hannah brought Ernest Green, a Little Rock Nine graduate, to Michigan State with a...
Here is what George Webster would have said
What would George say?How might the late George Webster, a Michigan State College Football Hall of Fame linebacker/safety on the 1965 and 1966 national championship teams, have viewed Jon Reschke re-joining the Spartans following a racially charged text?Michigan State’s...
Red Cedar film showing Wednesday on campus
Maya Washington, the daughter of Michigan State College Football Hall of Famer Gene Washington, is showing her independent film “Through the Banks of the Red Cedar” for the first time on campus this week. The showing at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 26 at Wells Hall Room...
History Loyola and Michigan State share
-- Why do I write so much debunking the myths and fiction surrounding Bear Bryant and the 1970 USC-Alabama game? The answer is simple: History has failed to properly credit College Football Hall of Fame coach Duffy Daugherty and his Underground Railroad teams for pioneering...