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Don, It's not surprising that Gene Mingo draws a blank. He's something of a mystery man, didn't play in college. I have never seen an article about him anywhere. Once I read an article whose theme was the tremendous prejudice black athletes supposedly face, a brief comment that Mingo was the...

There was a black PK named Gene Mingo who was in the AFL from 1960-68. He was the regular kicker for Denver in the early 60's. He finished his career as the regular kicker for the Steelers in 1969-70. Remember him, Don? He was 17-44 in Field Goals (Source, The Sports Encyclopedia: Pro Football)...

It's worth noting that most blacks are on Rose's side in the matter of the HOF. Hank Aaron was quoted some years ago saying Pete Rose should be admitted. ESPN had a mock trial some years ago and the late Johnnie Cochran was speaking for Rose. Several time black guys have told me that they think...

There were many interesting comments about Matt Jones. My own feeling is that a player with a "laid back" disposition will have trouble converting to another position. It's true that a QB may have arm strength for college ball, but not enough for pro ball. A pro QB has to be able to throw the...

I remember reading that in the early 70's, that there were actually more Cowboy fans in Houston than there were Oiler fans. Bum Phillips changed that. He made the people in Houston (and around the country) care about the Oilers. Bum was a regular guy, but also gave the Houston Oilers class and...

I believe the best position for Matt Jones in the NFL would be as a QB, judging from that scouting report. The right QB coach could make him a very good one. I doubt that he would make it big as a WR. I recall that Joe Montana was a 3rd rounder in 1979. Many "experts" thought Montana's arm...

I have an acquaintance who knew Ted Williams slightly. He worked for a Boston radio station years ago. He told me some anecdotes about Ted Wiliams and some other Boston athletes. Of Williams, the most notable thing was Ted's high intelligence. During Marine pilot training, Ted picked up...

Don, The player you mean was Dave Kopay, who played for several teams in the 1960's. He was a journeyman running back for the 49ers, Lions, Redskins, and Packers. He wrote a book in the mid-70s that was well received by the press at the time. Long-time Redskin TE, Jerry Smith, died of...

Yes, Kiner had drug problems. The Cowboys traded him to New England in 1971, they saw his drug habit and sent him to the Redskins in 1972. Kiner was on the Washington taxi squad during 1972. He then went back to New England in 1973 for a mediocre year as described above. The Patriots unloaded...

I remember a news item in 1975 that got a lot of play, for about a week. Supposedly, two NFL starting QBs were gay. No names were mentioned, and the story faded away. There was a well-known NFL QB of the1960's and early70's who was a subject of homosexual rumors. I saw this mentioned in a...

Yes, Kiner also said "Archie Who." I remember hearing of the song. So you had Steve Kiner calling Ole Miss players "mules" and Archie Manning, "Archie Who." Kiner was one of those "flakey white athletes of the 70's" as Don called them in a post a few months ago. When Kiner was drafted by Dallas...

If Tennessee had stayed all-white until 1972, they would have been a good team. A black linebacker we had, Jackie Walker, was really an amazing player at 180-85 pounds from 1969-71. The 1969 Jackson game was one of those off the wall games like when the Bears beat the Redskins 73-0 in the 1940...

I remember an interview with John Vaught in a Nashville newspaper around 1966. That year, the government was putting pressure on the SEC schools to integrate, or to show that they were making some effort to. Vaught was quoted as saying something like, "not good enough for the Rebs." About a year...

I remember a SI article about a Ram defeat by Tampa Bay early in the 1979 season. Regarding Ram RB's Lawrence McCutcheon and Cullen Bryant, SI said, "They couldn't juke past a light pole." It was such a good line that It has always stayed with me. John Cappeletti missed the season with an...

I never have been a Golf fan, but I thought I would alert members of the Forum to this program. Phil Mickelson will be the subject of an ESPN Sportcentury program. It is on at 7pm and 11pm ET on Monday night. I am an avid Court TV viewer. From this I learned that Scott Peterson and Phil...

Yes, Richmond Flowers Jr. was a better hurdler than football player. Still, most world class sprinters can't play football as well as Flowers could. There were other white hurdlers, but Flowers was the one who might have won the Gold in 1968 if he hadn't been injured. Richmond Flowers was on...

Oh yes, I remember Cookie Gilchrist. He was a well-known player in the 1960s. At the time, his pretensions were considered somewhat comical. I recall a "Sport Special" article in Sport Magazine in 1964. In those days an athlete being profiled this way in Sport Magazine was a big plus. It's...

No, he didn't go around calling himself "the fastest white boy alive," he was a rather modest fellow. Flowers was notable as the only white American Olympic Class hurler or sprinter in the late 60s. An injury caused him to miss the 1968 Trials after beating Willie Davenport aseveral times in...

Don, you asked me to give an evaluation of Richmond Flowers Jr. (I saw him play several times for Tennessee) on the Forum several months ago. To repeat, he was a very good college WR. The defenses gave him so much cushion, he and the other Tennessee receivers would catch passes underneath all...

If you haven't seen it before, ESPN Classic is running a bio of Richmond Flowers Jr. at 7pm ET tonight (Tuesday). His son, an Ole Miss WR, is up for the Draft this year. Colonel Reb has mentioned him.

A starting player on a major college team commits murder. It doesn't seem to be a surprise anymore when things like that happen.

I saw Bob Pettit play on TV many times. He had a beautiful jump shot and was a phemomenal offensive rebounder. When the St. Louis Hawks beat the Celtics in the 1958 NBA playoffs, Pettit scored the last 15 or so points (50 for the game, I believe) for the Hawks in a 110-109 victory. It may still...

Didn't Bonds have a legal problem for wife-beating some years ago? As I remember, the judge was very easy on him. Bonds didn't even get a slap on the wrist.

One more observation about Dick Allen, if I may. When he was traded to the Cardinals in 1970, he got a trememendous ovation the first time he played in St. Louis. In fact, I don't think he was ever booed for the rest of his career as he bounced from team to team. He went back to Philly for a...

During the 60s, both white and black athletes were booed. Frank Robinson was booed fairly often during 1965, his last year in Cincinnati. Red's GM Bill Dewitt felt he could trade Robinson, partly because of this. This turned out top be a disastrous trade, F. Robinson for pitcher Milt Pappas and...