From a multiple New York Times best selling author, Jeff Pearlman,the rollicking, outrageous, you-can’t-make-this-up story of the United States Football League (USFL).
The United States Football League—known fondly to millions of sports fans as the USFL—was the last football league to not merely challenge the NFL, but cause its owners and executives to collectively shudder. It spanned three seasons, 1983-85. It secured multiple television deals. It drew millions of fans and launched the careers of legends. But then it died beneath the weight of a particularly egotistical and bombastic owner—a New York businessman named Donald J. Trump. The league featured as many as 18 teams, and included such superstars as Steve Young, Jim Kelly, Herschel Walker, Reggie White, Doug Flutie, Doug Williams , Kelvin Middleton and Mike Rozier.
In Football for a Buck, the dogged reporter and biographer, Jeff Pearlman, draws on more than four hundred interviews to unearth all the salty, untold stories of one of the craziest sports entities to have ever captivated America. [Kelvin Middleton, of Macon, Georgia, a former defensive back in the USFL for the Arizona Outlaws and Wranglers for two years was interviewed by Pearlman; and, is quoted several times in the book.]
From 1980s drug excess to airplane brawls and player-coach punch outs, to backroom business deals, to some of the most enthralling and revolutionary football ever seen, Jeff Pearlman transports readers back in time to this crazy, boozy, audacious, unforgettable era of the game. He shows how fortunes were made and lost on the backs of professional athletes.
For fans of Terry Pluto’s Loose Balls or Jim Bouton’s Ball Four and of course Pearlman’s own stranger-than-fiction narratives, Football for a Buck is sports as high entertainment—and a cautionary tale of the dangers of ego and excess.
The Board of Directors, of the Community Foundation of Central Georgia, announced that MGB INC., a BIPOC community-based organization has been awarded a 2023 grant from the Linda Harriet Lane Fund, which is a component of the Community Foundation. This grant is for the project, “Kings Park Community Resilience Project”.
The Community Foundation of Central Georgia was founded in 1993 by a group of citizens interested in encouraging philanthropy and strengthening communities. Since then, the Foundation has awarded more than $90 million in grants in furtherance of the Foundation’s mission to enhance the quality of life for the people in Central Georgia.
Linda Harriet Lane was a Macon native. She graduated from Vassar College in 1950 where she received a Liberal Arts degree, and then she received a Master of Music degree from Indiana State University. After studying under pianists in New York, she returned to Macon where she began her tenure at Wesleyan College as Instructor of Piano in 1954 and eventually became Associate Professor of Music. She continued her distinguished teaching and performing career for more than 30 years. In 1995, Wesleyan College honored Linda with the degree of Doctor of Fine Arts. She was an accomplished concert pianist, and she played with the Macon, Atlanta and Savannah Symphonies and performed abroad. Above all else, she valued education, music, arts and culture, and travel. Today, Linda’s generosity lives on through the Linda Harriet Lane Fund of the Community Foundation of Central Georgia.
The community-based initiative partnered with the Kings Park Community Center staff to provide decorations, educational materials, games and programming to commemorate Black History Month.
Kings Park Community Center – Black History Month is Every Month in Kings Park DeSean Jackson, Las Vegas Raiders, All Pro Wide Receiver & Punt Return Specialist
DeSean Jackson, of the Las Vegas Raiders, and his foundation donated another shipment of culturally-diverse, age appropriate books to the Kings Park Community Center for Black History Month; and, the Kings Park Community Center staff have scheduled a field trip to the historical Tubman Museum in Macon, GA for the after school program youth on February 22nd.
Kings Park Community Center – After School Program Literacy Group Kings Park Community Development Corporation – Founders and Initial Incorporators
Another activity planned for the month is for the youth to learn about the rich cultural, historical history of the Kings Park neighborhood that includes learning about the initial founders and incorporators of the Kings Park Community Development Corporation; and, to respect their elders upon whose shoulders our history, adversity and daily struggles in Kings Park rest.
Kings Park Community Center, East Macon, was in dire need of Christmas gifts and candies for distribution during the holiday season to the youth in the community especially those who participate in the after school program. The Kings Park community is in a marginalized, disenfranchised blighted area and lacks the resources, revenue and facility infrastructure that other facilities under MBC. Therefore, collaborative partnerships with community and faith-based organizations are crucial to its sustainability.
MGB INC. a local community-based initiative, consisting of men who are dedicated towards fostering the relationships between fathers and their children, their families and the community, agreed to assist the Kings Park Community and neighborhood association with the annual Christmas Coloring Contest competition at the Kings Park Community Center.
Competition was extremely fierce and highly-competitive.
MGB INC. provided prizes for First, Second and Third Place winners.
MGB INC. provided the beautiful First Place prize.
Published on August, 7, 2021, by Mike Asti, Steelers Now
Re-Post by: Men Giving Back, Macon, GA, 8/9/21
CANTON, Ohio – It’s often said good things come to those who wait. That absolutely embodies Donnie Shell finally being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Shell, now 68-years-old, who played his last NFL game in 1987 had to wait until 2021 before experiencing the honor of being able to deliver a speech on stage in Canton, Ohio, a speech others who had to endure a long wait were not as fortunate to be alive to deliver when they finally got the call.
[The 1987 Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense that year was lead by defensive coach, Tony Dungy, and included Donnie Shell (#31), Kelvin Middleton (#37), from Macon, GA, second in the depth chart behind Shell, Chris Sheffield (#41), from Thomasville, GA.]
It’s possible having to wait only makes Shell’s induction that much sweeter for a man whose NFL career was all about conquering adversity. After going undrafted in 1974, the odds were certainly stacked against Shell from ever being immortalized in the halls of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But Shell conquered those odds and will now live forever in Canton.
Donnie Shell and his daughter unveil the 2020 HOF enshrinement bust.
Shell started his speech off by asking for the large crowd of Pittsburgh Steelers fans in attendance to wave their Terrible Towels. As fans waved their towels with furosity, Shell began thanking those who helped raise him in Whitmire, South Carolina before proceeding to tell a story of an inspirational message Hall of Fame coach Chuck Noll told him when the Steelers signed him as an undrafted free agent.
Shell, who attended South Carolina State University, mentioned how proud he is to be among the distinguished Hall of Famers from a historically Black land-grant institution.
The 4-time Super Bowl champion, 5-time Pro Bowler, 3-time First-Team All-Pro who recorded 51 career interceptions as one of the best safeties in football history, Shell can now add Hall of Famer next his name.
Donnie Shell, Pittsburgh Steelers, 2020 National Football League Hall of FamerDonnie Shell, Pittsburgh Steelers‘ 2020 NFL Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony
Congratulatory Message:
Congratulations, Donnie! It is a blessing to be your former Pittsburgh Steeler teammate; but, more important to be privileged to be considered your friend. Your hard work and dedication were an inspiration to me both on and off the field. I continue to aspire to emulate the pillars of family, service, purpose and passion that you instilled in all of the young men who looked to you for leadership, vision and wisdom during the trials and tribulations of the 1987 NFL season–the darkest in NFL history.
May the Lord continue to bless you, Paulette and your family; and, I pray that your contributions will have an everlasting impact on the lives of others as it has on mine. – Kelvin Middleton, Pittsburgh Steelers #37
[[Both Donnie Shell and Kelvin Middleton were mentored by and played under the leadership of Coach Willie E. Jeffries. Jeffries became the first Black head football coach of an NCAA Division I-A football program at a predominantly white college when he coached at Wichita State University where Middleton was an outstanding defensive back. Jeffries also served as the head football coach at South Carolina State University for 19 seasons in two stints (1973-1978, 1989-2001) were Donnie Shell was an outstanding defensive back.
Donnie, the Torpedo” Shell, Pittsburgh Steelers (1987 Photo)Donnie Shell #311987 Pittsburgh Steelers’ Defensive Coach Tony Dungy and the Defensive Backs (Kelvin Middleton is #37, 2nd in the depth chart behind #31 Donnie Shell)
Tony Dungy was the first coach to lead the Tampa Bay Buccaneers onto their new home field at Raymond James Stadium. Now Coach Dungy’s name will be added to that stadium’s façade for all future Buccaneers and fans to see, and to remember the role he played in achieving a remarkable franchise turnaround.
On Monday, September 24, 2018, Tony Dungy will be inducted into the Buccaneers’ Ring of Honor at Raymond James Stadium. The honor will come via a halftime ceremony during the Buccaneers Week Three Monday Night Football game against the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers.
“Tony Dungy’s impact on the Buccaneers and the Tampa Bay community is not measured in terms of wins and losses,” said Buccaneers Owner/Co-Chairman Bryan Glazer. “Tony transformed our entire organization and established a winning culture that set the foundation for the most successful era in our franchise’s history. Through his exceptional leadership, Tony set a new benchmark for excellence on and off the field that we still strive to achieve to this day.”
Dungy will become the 12th member of the Ring of Honor, and the third former head coach to have his name placed among the franchise’s all-time greats. Founding Head Coach John McKay was the second person inducted into the Ring, in 2010; he was joined last year by former Head Coach Jon Gruden, who succeeded Dungy at the helm and led the 2002 Buccaneers to their first Super Bowl title.
Named the sixth head coach in franchise history on January 22, 1996, Dungy has the best winning percentage among all Buccaneer head coaches. He guided the Buccaneers to a 54-42 regular-season record, with four of those six campaigns resulting in playoff appearances. Dungy’s 1996 squad started the season 0-5 but famously followed its patient head coach, stuck to the plan and began to see results by season’s end.
The ’96 Buccaneers finished 6-10 but won five of their last seven games; the ’97 Buccaneers won 10 games and broke a 15-year franchise playoff drought. That was the team’s first winning record since a 5-4 finish in the strike-shortened 1982 campaign. Dungy’s next five teams would all finish .500 or better.
Tampa Bay also record its first playoff victory in 18 years at the end of that 1997 season, beating the Detroit Lions, 20-10, in the final game played at Tampa/Houlihan’s Stadium. The Buccaneers lost to the Green Bay Packers in the divisional round to bring their 1997 run to an end, but they were on the verge of another milestone with Raymond James Stadium due to open in 1998.
Dungy’s Buccaneers won the first game in their new home, rallying from a 15-0 first-half deficit to beat the visiting Chicago Bears on September 20, 1998. That team failed to make it back to the postseason, eliminated on the final weekend despite a season-capping 35-0 blowout of the Bengals in Cincinnati, but it did deal the 15-1 Minnesota Vikings their only regular-season loss of the year.
Dungy got his first head coaching job in Tampa after four seasons as the defensive coordinator for the Vikings. (Coincidentally, his first win as the Bucs’ coach in 1996 also came against Minnesota.) After bringing former New Orleans Saints coach Monte Kiffin on board to serve as his defensive coordinator, Dungy fashioned one of the greatest defenses in NFL history over the next half-dozen years. Dungy and Kiffin so thoroughly mastered the implementation of the Cover Two defense that it is now widely referred to as the “Tampa Two.”
After improving from 27th in the NFL in defense in 1995 to 11th in Dungy’s first season, the Buccaneers began a streak of nine straight seasons in which they finished in the 10 in those rankings, including two number-one rankings and seven top-five landings. The first five years of that streak came with Dungy at the helm. His 1999 squad, led by NFL Defensive Player of the Year Warren Sapp, carried the Buccaneers to a then-franchise record 11 wins and a trip to the NFC Championship Game. The St. Louis Rams, playing on their home turf and coming off one of the most prolific offensive seasons in league history, were heavily favored in that conference championship match, but the Buccaneers’ defense ruled most of the night. Though the Rams averaged more than 30 points per game during the 1999 regular season, Sapp and the Buccaneers had a 6-5 lead late in the third quarter before a late Kurt Warner touchdown pass and a controversial no-catch ruling against the visitors led to an 11-6 win for the home team.
The Buccaneers went back to the playoffs after the 2000 and 2001 seasons, marking the first time in team history that they had made three straight trips to the postseason. Unfortunately, both of those seasons ended in playoff losses at Philadelphia, and Dungy’s’ tenure at the Bucs’ helm came to an end at the conclusion of the 2001 campaign. The Buccaneers would go on to win the Super Bowl the following season, with the defense Dungy constructed playing a big role.
Dungy would go directly from the Buccaneers to the Colts and would go on to guide Indianapolis through seven highly successful seasons. The Colts compiled an 85-27 regular-season record with Dungy at the helm and went to the playoffs after each of those seven seasons. The 2006 campaign ended with a trip to Super Bowl XLI, in which Indianapolis beat Chicago, 29-17, making Dungy the first African-American head coach to win a Super Bowl.
Those achievements in Indianapolis led to his induction into the Colts’ Ring of Honor in 2010. The Buccaneers, of course, have chosen Dungy for their own franchise honors based on his trailblazing time in Tampa. Dungy was the first head coach hired by Malcolm Glazer, who purchased the team in 1995 and made the first seminal move in reviving the moribund franchise by bringing in this new leader. The Buccaneers got new uniforms in 1997, their new playing home in 1998 and a trip to the verge of their first Super Bowl berth in 1999.
“I will always be grateful to the Glazer family for giving me my first opportunity to coach a team,” said Dungy. “It was an awesome time for me and my family as we encountered so many special players, staff members, and fans. This induction into the Buccaneers Ring of Honor puts a bow on all those great memories.”
Tony Dungy‘s role in turning the franchise around made him a popular man among Buccaneer fans who had been starving for a successful team to support. However, he also was – and remains – beloved in the Bay area for his civic involvement and service to the community. In 1997 he helped found the Tampa-based non-profit organization All Pro Dad, which uses NFL players and coaches to stress the importance of being a good father. Later, after his tenure with the Buccaneers, Dungy was appointed by George W. Bush to the President’s Council on Service and Civic participation.
That Dungy’s induction into the Buccaneers’ Ring of Honor will take place with the Steelers in the house is a sweet coincidence. Dungy played the first two seasons of his NFL career in Pittsburgh, winning a Super Bowl ring with the Steelers following the 1978 season. A running back in college at Minnesota, he converted to defensive back in Pittsburgh and was the Steelers’ leading interceptor in the Super Bowl season. After a trade to the 49ers in 1979, Dungy finished his playing career with one year in San Francisco and one with the New York Giants.
Dungy went immediately into coaching after his final season as a player, spending one year at his college alma mater before Steelers’ Head Coach Chuck Noll brought him back to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
[Coach Tony Dungy, Steelers’ Defensive Coordinator, Kelvin Middleton, #37, from Macon, Georgia, Southwest High School].
Coach Tony Dungy rose to defensive coordinator by 1984 and held that role for five years before going to the Kansas City Chiefs as a defensive backs coach in 1989, then to the Vikings as their coordinator in 1992. During those years, he used what he had learned under Chuck Noll to put his own spin on the Cover Two defense. The Vikings quickly developed into a defensive powerhouse under his guidance, and that led to his first head coaching opportunity in Tampa.
Dungy is now a broadcaster for NBC, but he continues to have an impact on the game on the field, largely through the fruits of his coaching tree. Among those who have coached on his staffs and gone on to NFL head coaching jobs of their own are Lovie Smith, Mike Tomlin, Jim Caldwell, Leslie Frazier, Herm Edwards and Rod Marinelli. Smith, Tomlin and Marinelli all began their NFL careers when Dungy hired them from the NCAA ranks as assistants on his staff.
Congratulations, Coach Tony Dungy – Kelvin Middleton
Robin Crosby, Executive Director, Campus Clubs, Kelvin Middleton, MGB INC., New City Church Macon representative
Thank you to former NFL player and Executive Director of Men Giving Back (MGB Inc), Kelvin Middleton, and members of New City Church Macon for touring Campus Clubs today! We appreciate your interest in our community development center! – Robin Crosby
For More Information About Campus Clubs: Interested in seeing what all we do? Come take a tour! Call 478-742-7794 or email Robin Crosby at rcrosbycc@gmail.com
In October 2015, Willie Jeffries Weekend was celebrated at South Carolina State, where Jeffries enjoyed his greatest successes, compiling a 128-77-4 record during two stints as the head coach and winning seven conference titles and three Black College National Championships. Officially called “Honoring the Legacy of Willie Jeffries,” the special weekend at his alma mater was simply the latest accolade of many that have been bestowed on Jeffries, who is already a member of the College Football Hall of Fame. But, the SC State gathering surely provides the perfect reason to revisit his historic achievement as a pioneer in the coaching profession.
Coach Willie Jeffries
A group of Jeffries’ former Wichita State University Shocker players attended the festivities, and linebacker Mike Johnston ’84 spoke for the team during a formal gathering. In front of a mostly South Carolina crowd, the colorful Johnston hit all the right notes.
Willie Jeffries was honored for his “coaching legacy” by
South Carolina State’s athletics department, in conjunction with the SC State
Former Athletes Association, during a special weekend of events held Oct.
16-17 in Orangeburg, S.C. Former Shocker football players in attendance
were Mike Johnston ’84, Billy Wilson fs ’82, Elwyn Holt fs ’84, Kelvin
Middleton ’88, James “Jumpy” Geathers fs ’84, Ron Horton ’90, Maurice
Foxworth ’86, Danny Jones ’81 and Jay Hull ’83. When Wichita State hired
Jeffries in 1979 from SC State, he entered the sports history books as the
first African American head football coach at a Division 1A university.
He explained WuShock, Wichita State’s “goofy mascot,” by sharing with the non-Shocker crowd the origins of the university’s Shocker nickname for its sports teams. “In the old days,” Johnston related, “farmers would cut the wheat with a scythe and make bundles of Shocks of wheat.”
He called Jeffries “a leader of men and a father to many” and he told humorous stories about Jeffries, explaining how “Coach was funny even when he was mad.” Johnston can still clearly picture a fed-up Jeffries, staring hard at the ground in the middle of a huddle, small pinch of tobacco in his cheek, berating the team for not practicing hard enough. He wanted to hear the sounds of pads crunching.
Although two other black candidates turned down the head coaching position at Wichita State, Willie Jeffries was undoubtedly the right man for such a historic moment.
Growing up in tiny Union, S.C., Jeffries learned about the value of hard work and the sting of segregation. He was born in 1937, and his father passed away when he was only 4; Jeffries got a job as a caddy at an all-white country club to help his mother make ends meet.
He began his head coaching career at Granard, the black high school in Gaffney, S.C., and led the team to three state championships and a 64-8-2 record. The success did not occur under the famed Friday night lights, however, as Granard played its games on Thursdays so Gaffney, the white school, could use the field on Fridays.
Jeffries paid his dues as an assistant coach at the collegiate level, including a stop at Pittsburgh, where he helped recruit an outstanding freshman class (including Tony Dorsett) that won a national championship four years later.
Then came the success at South Carolina State (50-13-4, five conference titles) that would earn Jeffries a call from WSU Athletic Director Ted Bredehoft and the opportunity to make history.
Interestingly, Jeffries says that he simply viewed the Wichita State position as a well-deserved promotion.
“We couldn’t do any better at South Carolina State,” Jeffries told The Shocker in mid-November. “I wanted to be like Daniel Boone and Lewis and Clark and go explore. I didn’t realize until the press people started calling and saying that I was the first black head coach, and that maybe I could open the door for others. Once I realized the pressure I had for winning, it was a lot on my shoulders, to tell you the truth.”
While Jeffries may not have fully realized the significance of the moment, others certainly did. Headlines from the time of his hiring reveal that much of the focus was on his color, not his already impressive list of accomplishments.
Read two newspaper headlines:
“WSU Hires Black Head Coach”
“Wichita State Hires Black to Run Football Program”
The intensity of the spotlight on the 42-year-old Jeffries was immense. Herman Boone, the black high school football coach made famous in the movie “Remember the Titans,” compared Jeffries’ role in sports and society to that of Jackie Robinson.
It’s certainly understandable if Coach Jeffries didn’t allow himself to appreciate the enormity of the moment when he was hired at Wichita State. Because an enormous challenge was ahead — Shocker football had produced only one winning season in the previous 15.
Progress was steady. Jeffries is rightly credited with improving the talent level at Wichita State, evidenced by the fielding of such players as James “Jumpy” Geathers fs ’84, a massive defensive end who would play in the NFL, and Prince McJunkins ’86, a dual-threat quarterback who made history of his own as the first player in NCAA history to rush for 2,000 yards and pass for 4,000; and Kelvin Middleton ’88 fs who had an outstanding career in the USFL (Oklahoma/Arizona Outlaws) and later joined the NFL Pittsburgh Steelers as a free agent. .
But, as former offensive lineman Jay Hull ’83 stresses, how Jeffries treated and coached those superior athletes is why he was able to put Shocker football on more solid footing. “Coach Jeffries cared about you as a person,” Hull says. “He would always ask how you were doing, ask you how your parents were doing. He took a sincere personal interest in everybody. That means a lot. It made you want to play hard for him.”
In season four of Jeffries’ tenure, the Shockers enjoyed a breakout season. WSU went 8-3 in 1982, including a 13-10 victory over the Kansas Jayhawks — a victory the city proudly celebrated on billboards and T-shirts all over town.
Casey Scott covered the Shockers for the Wichita Eagle during part of Jeffries’ tenure before joining the athletic department. He credits Jeffries for restoring “relevance” to the program.
“What do most people remember when they think of Shocker football? They think of the plane crash in ’70; that was a real setback for the university and, really, the entire community. Willie had an engaging personality, and because of that and some of the athletes he brought in and the offense he ran, I think he brought some excitement back to a program that really had a pall cast over it for quite a few years.”
Willie Jeffries, now 78, says with pride that he’s still active professionally four or five days a week. He does speaking engagements and helps raise funds for South Carolina State.
Looking back on his time at WSU, Jeffries says he appreciates the support he received from AD Bredehoft and university president Clark Ahlberg ’39. Unprompted, he mentions the NCAA probation for recruiting violations that clouded his history-making tenure at Wichita State before his resignation after a 3-8 season in 1983.
Shocks of the Dinner Table
• Coach Jeffries had the perfect recipe for keeping some of the out-of-state Shockers happy. He recalls having Kelvin Middleton defensive corner back ’88, defensive end Jumpy Geathers fs ’84, along with basketball players Cliff Levingston fs ’84 and Xavier McDaniel ’96, over for dinner. (Antoine Carr fs ’83 would show up, too, even though he was from Wichita.) “If they got homesick, they knew that every Sunday my wife would be cooking up a pot of pig’s feet,” Jeffries says. “We’d have a great big pot of those, plus collard greens and potato salad and cornbread. Those guys would just dig in. It was great. We knew how important it was to make somewhat of a home environment to keep them happy on the plains of Kansas.”
• According to the the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, the number of head football coaches of color at the FBS level decreased from 15 in 2013 to 14 at the start of the 2014 season. Nearly 89 percent of head coaches were white. Jeffries isn’t pleased with those numbers, but he did note that black men are getting jobs at power schools, such as Charlie Strong at Texas. “The numbers aren’t quite enough at all, but the jobs are better,” Jeffries says. “We’re getting a chance to fight with a 2-by-4 and not with a toothpick.”
• Shocker fans seem to have positive memories of Jeffries. “I think that because of the way Willie went on about his life and his career and continued to make differences in the lives of his players,” notes Wichita Eagle columnist Bob Lutz, who covered WSU football during a portion of Jeffries’ tenure. “The fact that so many of his players still talk about him, still tell stories about him and clearly revere him says a lot for what a good football coach he was and, more than that, what a good man he is.”
[Coach Tony Dungy, Steelers’ Defensive Coordinator, Kelvin Middleton, #37, from Macon, Georgia, Southwest High School]. 
MGB INC. - Men Giving Back 