GRAMBLING'S BRUCE EUGENE WINS 2003 JAKE GAITHER AWARD
Award made at annual 100% wrong club sports jamboree
Grambling State quarterback Bruce Eugene received the 2003
Jake Gaither Award, February 1st as the culminating event
for the two day, 69th Annual All Sports jamboree of the 100%
Wrong Club of Atlanta.
Eugene led the Grambling Tigers to this year's Southwestern
Athletic Conference championship and ended his sophomore year
as the conference's number one passer, completing 269 of his
543 passing attempts for 4,455 yards. He threw 43 touchdowns.
He also led the nation in total offense, rushing for 723 yards.
Eugene was also runner-up for this year's Walter Peyton award
which is given to the outstanding player from the NCAA's Division
IAA.
The Gaither, created by the Wrongers in 1978 as a Heisman-like
honor for the best football player from a predominately black
college, is named for Alonzo S. "Jake" Gaither,
the revered head coach at Florida A&M University. Past Gaither
winners have included Atlanta native Richard Dent and Oakland
Raider wide receiver Jerry Rice. Both players were named Super
Bowl MVPs. The Gaither winner, one of the club's closely guarded
secrets, is usually chosen from the MVPs of the four historically
black college athletic conferences. This year's finalists
included MVP's John Grant of Morehouse and Fort Valley's Duron
Croson of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
(SIAC), Allen Suber and Rashean Mathis of the Mid Eastern
Athletic Conference (MEAC), Eugene and Robert Mathis of the
Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) and Kevin Jones and
Brian Holliday of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association
(CIAA).
Grambling left Atlanta Saturday night with a trunkload of
awards from theWrongers including being named the club's mythical
national black champ. The honor, originally named to honor
WA Scott II, the founder of Atlanta Daily World from which
the Wrong Club sprang, is sponsored annually by the Coca Cola
Company. The bottling giant also used the Wronger banquet
to showcase its first Academic All American team. The list
included Kwabena Randolph, Ben Arnold, and Laquonne Holden
of Morris Brown College. Grambling head coach Doug Williams
was also named college coach of the year, named for former
Clark College (now CAU) head coach Ralph C "Hogmaw" Robinson.
Also honored were Lithonia Mayor Marcia Woods Glenn with
the Al Thompson award, so named for the late Al Thompson,
a former longtime president of the Wrongers, and famed attroreny
Willie Gary with the club's Pioneer award. The Major Broadcast
Cable network , which Gary co-founded, co-sponsored this year's
dinner and taped the event which will be replayed at a later
date.
On the morning of February 1st, the Wrongers held their
annual breakfast honoring outstanding football players from
metro Atlanta high schools. Grambling's Doug Williams keynoted
and reminded the assembled high school athletes and their
parents and friends that getting educated is a lot more important
than reaching for a pro football career. "When you get that
education, nobody can take that away from you," he said. "I
was fortunate in that I got to play pro football but before
any of that, I walked across that stage at Grambling and got
my diploma."
The club also unveiled its first high school scholarship
awards established principally through the efforts of club
member Jeffrey McKnight. Winners of the first of the annual
awards were Reggie Ball of Stephenson., Antoine Varner of
Therrell, C. H. McCullum of Douglass and Zerbin Singleton
of Columbia.
The 100% Wrong Club's Annual Sports Jamboree was not devoid
of levity thanks to former South Carolina State head football
coach Willie Jeffries. "Jeff", as he is called by friends,
kept both the breakfast and dinner crowd roaring with laughter
his funny stories and jokes.
A SAD NOTE: Curtis Crockett, a
longtime assistant coach and alum at Clark-Atlanta University,
passed away over the weekend. Crockett, from Henry County
Georgia, was also the school's head football coach in 2000
and 2001. Funeral arrangement were pending at press time.
Got an item or comment?
Contact Hal at lamar95@bellsouth.net
