1998

WEEK OF _....J.t(J'.L.I..f.:.4!..LC.!;;..JC ha......JI:...!,'---.:....f~...:.... 1 q~[ _ _ _

Blount has fond memoriei DECATLR - The names Frankie Sinkwich, Otto Graham and Elroy 'Craq Legs" Hirsch immediately perk up the ears of pro football historians. While readily admitting he's only attended one pro football game since he retired from the game in 1947 and realJy hasn't by kept up with per- candid ly that he believes that in his prime he could have played in the NFL in 1998. "I would be one of the few

players who could have played in today's market, and 1'11 tell you why," Blount said. "I had ~peed. There wasn't but two pros who every outrun me. There was one by fhe name of AI Baldwin from the Buffalo Bills from Arkansas who ran a 9.3. He had speed to burn. The other was my roommate Blondy Black." They were teammates at Mississippi State and also at Philadelphia High School, where Blount lh ed with relatives so he could pia) for three years. That's abo wtrere he met I\aomi, his wife of 56 years. •Jn 1942 at Mississippi State I ran the 100 and 220 with J.T. (Blond} Black),· Blount said. "I wa running for second place. I couJdn t outrun him. I could out– run h1m high c;chool when was at Philadelphia. I was the one who taught h1m to run," he said with a laugh 'Seriously. "I could outrun him through the ll.th grade in high school," he said. "We ran every day. We were the biggest enemies, he didn't like me and J didn't like him. We would get in these recess arguments and I'd take down and outrun him, until we _got to be juniors."

But to Decatur's Lamar Blount they bring up different memones. The former was a teammate of his on the old Baltin10re Colts and the later is a guy he "Nailed for a nine-yard loss." The second, also an oppo– nent of Blount's when he played in the old All-America Football Conference, became one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL his– torv. ;;Things c~rtainly were differ– ent back then, H said Blount from hi' Decatur home. A.s the 78- vear-old retired r\ewt n County farmer orted through old pro– gram-. and contract' from his two-) ear pro care-er memone... of his da) s w1th the M1ami Seahawks, Buffalo BtU.. and Colts, spewed forth like uncon– trolled geyser::, of mformation.. Blount pla) ed football m the davs ·when the helmet' were of plastic and the facema-.b ,.. ere non-existence. "Can't vou look at this nose and tell that I never played with a facema1>k," Blount said, laugh– ing while he moved the tip of his nose to one side with one of his crooked fingers. "You had to be tough back them," he said.

Austin haps as much as he Bishop sh~uld, Blount is qu1ck to compare AP Pea I the toughness of Staff th.e players he Writer played with against those who play the game today. "Today you'll see somebody go down, and three or four peo– ple will run onto the field and carry him off," Blount said. "Then you'll see somebody rub– bing a cramp out of his leg or something and then about 15 minutes later he'll be back in the game." ''I'm not saying it was right, but you just didn't come out of the same back when I pla\ed" he said. "People pia) ed \\ 1th broken bones and all kinde of mJUites 1: ynu didn t keep pia)– m yuu cat d \\i.nd up £effing fired It \\'aS as .5lm!' e as that. ·1 think thin~ ,._ ent too far one ,.. a) ba then, but these da~s the pla~ers run the Jea::ue, n ' the coaches and owners, he ~JU. ·That , cenainl) not the ''-a\ 1t wa~ ... \Vhile ackno\\ ledging that pro fombalJ pia) er~ are bigger and stron~r, Blount sa\"5 quite

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