Black College Football Hall Of Fame: Doug Williams Humbled By Latest Honor

By IRA KAUFMAN - The Tampa Tribune

TAMPA Doug Williams didn't practice his acceptance speech in advance of Saturday night, when the former Buccaneers quarterback was scheduled to be inducted into the Black College Football Hall of Fame.

Besides, how do you simulate trying to talk through all those teardrops?

Williams, the first black quarterback to win a Super Bowl, was honored along with 10 other players and coaches from historically black colleges and universities in a gala ceremony in Atlanta emceed by ex-Bucs coach Jon Gruden.

"It's a heck of a class and a heck of an honor," said Williams, who joined Pro Football Hall of Famers Mel Blount (Southern), Lem Barney (Jackson State), Bob Hayes (Florida A&M) and Art Shell (Maryland Eastern Shore) in the second induction group. "It's a first-class affair and this honor ranks right up there near the top."  CONTINUE....

Grambling Excited For Its First Baseball Urban Invitational

Image via Wikipedia

By Alden Gonzalez / MLB.com

James Cooper isn't even 30 years old, and he has only been the head baseball coach at Grambling State University for one full season. But he has already experienced some of the difficulties that come with trying to recruit the best baseball talent to a small college.

Twice he has seen an athlete essentially commit to his program, only to be spurned. One of those players went instead to Louisiana State, which guaranteed the player a walk-on spot.

And Cooper has seen potential recruits turn down baseball for basketball and football elsewhere. That has happened at least four times. CONTINUE....

GRAMBLING INVESTIGATES PHOTOS OF NOOSE LESSON

Campus-run elementary school may have taken racism lecture too far.

Officials at Grambling State University were meeting Monday after the school newspaper ran photographs of adults at a campus-run elementary school putting a noose around at least one child's neck, reports the Associated Press.

According to an article in the school newspaper, teachers at Alma J. Brown Elementary School were teaching kindergarten and first-grade students about the reasons why nooses are symbolic of racism.

The article said the children also were being taught about the "Jena Six" — black high-school students who are accused of beating a white schoolmate. The allegations were seen as racially biased and drew about 20,000 to 25,000 people to Jena, about 70 miles from Grambling, for a civil rights march in September.

A press release posted on the Gramblinite's Web site said three photographs from the event were removed after a staff conference call. Ten others were re-posted to the site Monday after the university's president ordered the removal of all the photos and the story over the weekend, according to the Gramblinite press release.

"The Gramblinite only did what our motto stands for: 'We don't make the news; we report it,'" said De'Eric M. Henry, the paper's editor in chief. "We do not approve of censorship or prior review, and we stand by our editorial decision to inform the students of Grambling State University of news events that affect them on campus, in the community and everywhere."


University President Horace Judson told The News Star of Monroe and the Ruston Daily Leader on Friday that he was starting an investigating immediately, and would meet Monday morning with everyone involved.