|
Featured Sections Headlines Opinion Obituaries Sports Crime Blotter Happenings Country Cooking Wandering Minds Classifieds Birthdays Off The Wall On The Record Church Listings Archives Featured Columns Pastor Howle Wise Tech Tips Editor's Column Carl Langley Dr. Skip Myers Edgefield Square Registered Sex Offenders for Edgefield County Contact us Contact Info or E-mail the Editor Phone: 803-634-0964 day 803-279-5041 eve 803-279-8943 fax Mail to EdgefieldDaily.com PO Box 972 Edgefield SC 29824 Video & Audio Updates Audio Archive Video Archive School System EC District Office School Board Strom Thurmond Charter Schools Fox Creek Private Schools Wardlaw Academy Public Offices Edgefield County Edgefield Johnston Trenton Political State and Federal Legislative Contacts Local Political Parties Republican Party Democrat Party Chamber of Commerce Edgefield County Chamber Historical Edgefield Genealogical Society News links The Citizen News Aiken Standard North Augusta Star The State Augusta Chronicle Atlanta Journal United Press Associated Press FOX News Reuters CNS News WorldNet Daily Newsmax Drudge Report GoogleNews Yahoo!News New York Times New York Post Los Angeles Times Washington Times Washington Post |
 Sports
Players of the Past: Robert Brazell By Tim Crane web posted August 19, 2010  SPORTS – Edgefield Daily Sports Writer
Tim Crane is
featuring a series of articles of “Players of the Past” and this week
he is spotlighting Edgefield’s own Robert Brazell who played during the
1979-1980 school year and was part of the team that lead Thurmond to
the state championship game only to come up short of the title. Name: Robert Brazell Head Coach (s): Preston Cox and Keith McAlister Years at ST: 1976-1979 (Graduated 1980) Football Accomplishments: Made varsity as sophomore, started defensive tackle his sophomore and junior seasons. Played center the senior year and made All Conference plus CSRA All 2nd team with only one year of offense under his belt. College Football: Newberry College (back when they were known as the Indians). Played with Jerome Singleton (Commissioner of SCHSL) and Chris Miller (Head Coach of James F Byrnes High). Played 4.5 yrs as a long snapper and center, redshirted as a freshman during the season. Played defensive tackle in his final season but enjoyed the offensive side better because the element of surprise was involved. In college football, the Center makes the line call; pull, trap, etc. Robert really enjoyed being the “deliverer” of the surprise to opposing defensive players! “It humbled me a lot when I walked on. Out of six centers, I was number six. I just wanted to be a part of something. I never gave up, which is something I learned at Strom Thurmond from Coach McAlister. College football is not for everyone; the academics are demanding plus it takes a physical toll on the players. I watched a lot of good talent just fall by the waste side, but I stuck it out and made the team then had the best four years of my life. I had a great time on and off the field while making a lot of great friends that I still have to this day.” Present Occupation/Residence: Owner Fairway Food Center, Edgefield SC. Marriage/Children: Married to Karen with two children; Cole and Lori Anne. Below: Offensive line (R-L) Lewis Mohorn, Robert Brazell, Ray Parker, Brad Jones, Mike Myers, and Eric Griffin  Best Memories of ST Football:
“Picking on teammate Lewis Mohorn about having to block William Perry
at football camp in Athens Georgia. But when we broke the huddle,
there he was at nose guard, right in front of me!!! The first
play, he pushed me in backfield and Coach Mac said “son, you have got
to do better than that!” I weighed 180 pounds; he was 280, could
run like a running back, was solid muscle and strong as an ox! I
learned very quickly that I had to use “a lot” of the techniques that
were being coached and not just strength and determination. He
was a man among boys, a true athlete. Even at that time everyone
knew there was something special about his abilities. I got
settled in and held my own against the Frig for the remainder of the
day. I survived!Earning my Blue Shirt was special; it meant you could dress in varsity room. Everyone wanted a blue shirt but until it was earned at practice, you had to wear a red shirt and couldn’t dress in the varsity locker room. In 1977, Batesburg Leesville was undefeated, ranked #2 in the entire state overall and we had to play them in their new stadium. We came to play though and I remember someone making a comment at halftime, that the only way they would beat Strom Thurmond was if the lights went out. Coincidentally, the lights did go out, but we still won the game, 14-7. 1978 Keith McAlister took over as head coach. It was the beginning of a new era of Strom Thurmond football. Coach Mac stressed our name as Strom Thurmond, not Thurmond, we played for Strom Thurmond! Previous to Coach McAlister, everyone referred to us as just Thurmond. Donnie Woosley came in as offensive line coach and Dusty Tripplet was the defensive coordinator. Coach Mac, Woosley and Tripplet all graduated from Newberry College. Mac was at Swansea high before he got the job at ST. During his first meeting with potential players, there were 100 guys in the lunch room…I was thinking where were you guys last season, when we only had 22 players total? Coach Mac was firm on the very first meeting. He meant what he said and carried a manila envelope that contained plays and notes. He was always two plays ahead of the opposing team. In 1979, we went through camp in Athens Georgia and thought we had done everything right. Coach Mac met Coach Herman Boone in person (Remember the Titans was based upon him). I remember Coach Mac, at the beginning of camp, putting away all racial things. Everyone earned their way on the field. We were all color blind, there were not any racial tensions and our entire team was a family. Our camp was exactly like camp in the movie Remember the Titans. We opened the season with Abbeville and got beat 29-0. But during that game, I became the only center from Strom Thurmond to gain yardage on a play. Ira Hillary was smart. It was my first game at center, I snapped ball and it stuck in between my legs! Ira laid over on me and said it’s ok, let’s go and we gained a few yards. Everyone thought it was a designed quarterback sneak! After that I settled down and did fine. Ira was so humble that he would never put anyone down, he never mentioned it. For him to be the superior athlete that he was, he never acted as if he was above anyone. He was and still is such a great person. Had a bunch of misfits as offensive linemen; Lewis Mohorn, Mike Myers, John Wayne Raiford, Michael White, Kelvin Bibbs and myself. Louis made all state. Mike and I played defense the year before. John Wayne Raiford was only starter from offensive line returning. Coach Mac, out of the blue one day, came down the hall and got me out of English class. I was nervous because I had no idea what was going on, but he only asked how I felt about playing center, I said sure and that was it. After the loss to Abbeville, we had to refocus and recommit ourselves and we did. The next week we destroyed Ninety Six 40-0. Strom Thurmond has always been well blessed with running backs and 1979 was no exception. We had Curtis Burton, who went on to play at Presbyterian College, but I won’t hold that against him. He gained 212 yards by halftime. We noticed the entire defense was keying in on Curtis, so Coach Mac had a little trick up his sleeve. He got a freshman to switch jerseys with Curtis and the next play ‘the entire Ninety Six team’ went after the freshman, while Curtis went 80 yards down the sideline by himself! That was the first of 12 straight wins before we lost to Cheraw 28-7 in the state title game. I remember a big banter in Johnston on way to Hartsville High for the title game. The game couldn’t be played in Cheraw because their stadium wasn’t large enough. That was the coldest game I’ve ever played in. The temperature was in the 20’s at kickoff, and dropping. There was so much pride and unity in Edgefield County over Strom Thurmond football that season. We finished 12-2 on the season as Upper State Champs. When I think of 1979, three other games come to mind. We went into Clinton and beat the Red Devils, which was something unheard of in that era. Clinton played in seven of the previous eight state title games before 1979. This game produced what is known as “the drive”. We held the ball for most of 3rd quarter and into the 4th quarter. Finally Ira ran around end, did hurdle over a defender and sailed into the endzone for a touchdown, in front of 10,000 fans. CA Johnson had us beat with only seconds remaining in the game, Coach Mac said take a knee it’s over, but Ira threw a 35 yard touchdown pass to Joe Thurmond to tie the game with no time left on the clock. We went on to win the game in double overtime. Coach Mac said he changed his mind as to what pride, class, courage and the will to win meant. He said he had given up but the team didn’t, we exemplified what those terms meant. Versus Carolina, after being down 28-7 at halftime, we called a counter 6 (reverse). Everyone pulled except two of us. Ira got the pitch and was so fast the free safety couldn’t catch him with an angle on him. He went 60 yards untouched. With no time on clock, Ira ran left, Eric Griffin slipped into corner of the endzone and Ira hit him in the hands with all zero’s on the clock, the field flooded with fans as we won 29-28. Thank goodness we didn’t have to kick the extra point, it would have taken forever to clear all those people off the field. Newberry and Winnsboro were two of our rivals. We were all known as pulpwood communities. We used to see who had the strongest pulpwood players when we’d battle it out. But no rival was bigger than Saluda. The Saluda game brought out the best of both communities and teams. I played against many players that went on to have great college careers and even made it into the NFL: James Seawright, all American at the University South Carolina, drafted by the Buffalo Bills. He played at Hillcrest High. Ed McDaniel, Batesburg-Leesville, was an All American at Clemson and played for the Minnesota Viking. He had many Pro Bowl seasons in the NFL. Willie Scott, played for Newberry High and had 5 interceptions against us in one game! He went on to play at USC and for the New England Patriots. William Perry played at Clemson and was a star on the 1985 Superbowl Champion Chicago Bear team. He started it all at Aiken High. Dale Hatcher, punter from Cheraw, went to Clemson then played for the Los Angeles Rams and Miami Dolphins in the NFL. Ira Hillary, teammate at Strom Thurmond, played at USC and then for the Cincinnati Bengals. Curtis Burton and I met Herschel Walker at a Clemson football camp. That’s where I learned to play on the offensive side of the ball“. Superstition: Never chartered another bus after losing to Winnsboro. We purchased a blue International which we called the Mac Machine. We even took it to the state title game. We would play the song “We are Family” after each game. Didn’t wash our jerseys, wore same socks. Didn’t change a thing for 12 weeks, while we were winning in 1979. How does your team compare to today’s teams: No doubt the kids today would beat us, but we would give them a run for their money. These days they start training in January and the coaching is much more precise. They are bigger too. Our biggest guy on the offensive line was 190 pounds. It’s not unusual for today’s kids to be 300+ pounds. Not taking away from the teams of today, but I think we probably would get them in the “determination department.” We never wanted to disappoint our community, school or coaches and a lot of times we played on sheer determination. The community is now used to Strom Thurmond winning, it’s expected. Back when I was playing, we didn’t know if we would win or not and the fans didn’t either! Our team took great pride in putting opposing players on the ground. The offensive line was taught to go downfield and block safeties and the defensive secondary, but we had to stop once the running back got passed us and throw up our hands as a signal to stop what you were doing. Some thought it was a celebration, but it was just our signal to stop right there, so we wouldn’t get penalized. Hobbies/interest: Proud supporter of Rebel football, Treasurer of Booster Club, Alumni Board at Newberry College and weightlifting. I started lifting weights in 1977 and haven’t stopped yet. Brooker Strom and I started the Strom Thurmond weightlifting program, in an old ice cream shop on Main Street, which is in front of the big yellow house. We started inviting players and friends to join us and it grew. Brooker was adamant weightlifter and I wanted to be just like Brooker, he was Charles Atlas to me!! One place you would like to visit that you haven’t yet: Yellowstone National Park, because from what I’ve seen on television and read, it’s just one huge volcano! One of the most active volcano’s in the world. It would be neat, to see what walking on an active volcano feels like. I’d also like to travel thru the Midwest, viewing the beautiful country side. On the drive to Yellowstone, there would be a stop in Lincoln Nebraska to watch the Cornhuskers play. I’ve been a Cornhusker fan since 1972 when Johnny Rodgers won the Heisman. They were impressive in their day, the Cornhusker offensive line would annihilate anyone in front them. Walk to the line of scrimmage and back to the huddle [which is against the norm], but they took care of business when they got there. Although I’m a Gamecock at heart, which I became an even more hardened Gamecock after watching Ira Hillary run a kickoff back 101 yards for a touchdown against Florida State on ABC, Nebraska’s been my second team for years. End quote: Every player that has been good at Strom Thurmond has carried himself with class. That is a credit to what Coach McAlister started and is still being carried on today by Lee Sawyer. Mac planted a seed in 1978 and we are still picking fruits off of his tree. Before Mac, there was no one in the stands. But by my senior year, if you weren’t there by 7:30, you didn’t get a seat. When you speak of Strom Thurmond football, you speak of small dynasty that has been sustained for years. Strom Thurmond High and its community are Pride, Class, Courage and the Will to Win.” Robert and some teammates are attempting to start a semi annual reunion of 1978 and 1979 team. If you are interested, please get with him, David Satcher or Curtis Burton to set it up. © Copyright 2010 EdgefieldDaily.com All original
material is property of EdgefieldDaily.com and cannot be reproduced,
rewritten or
redistributed without the expressed written permission of Edgefield Daily.com
|
NOTICE:
We still need recipes for Cooking Section WEBNEWS – Send in your favorite or favorites. There is no limit to the number of recipes you can send in. Help create an exchange of local favorites, home cooking, grilling, sauces, and deserts! Send in your submissions here. |
