May 1999 Unofficial MSU Football Skuttle-Butt

05/31/99 - Here are a couple of interesting Alabama (AL) Live articles about the upcoming football season.

Article 1
Article 2

05/31/99 - MSU has its first football camp this coming Saturday and Sunday. Expect quite a few of the top players in the South to attend. Also look for players such as Tupelo's George Purnell to be at the camp. George, like so many other players in Mississippi as well as the South for that matter, played behind a great player last season but will have the opportunity to showcase his talent this coming season.

05/29/99 - According to someone who was at the Simpson County Bulldog Club (Magee, MS.) meeting Wednesday night, Simpson county nearly doubled their Bulldog Club members. Like Straton Karatassos said at the meeting, the cost of joining the Bulldog Club is no more than the cost of one pizza a month. I was also told between 15 and 16 season tickets were sold. MSU running back coach Glenn Davis mentioned that to be great you have to give up just being good and that redshirt freshman running back Justin Griffith, who is from Magee, MS., has made that kind of commitment. MSU AD Larry Templeton showed the people in attendance pictures of the stadium expansion. That brought a great deal of excitement from the crowd. It was mentioned that football season ticket sales are up about 18% when compared to this time last year.

BTW, if you are interested in joining the Bulldog Club, click here to go to an online application. Just fill it out and mail in your money or pledge a monthly amount which you can pay in monthly installments.

05/28/99 - If any of you attended the Magee, Mississippi, Bulldog Club meeting Wednesday night, please email me with your observations. About all I know is that approximately 75 Bulldog fans attended and quite a few of those became Bulldog Club members for the first time. Looking forward to receiving emails from those of you who attended.

05/28/99 - It's called Inside the Lines and it's the newest sports talk show in the Memphis area. It will be hosted by Conference Call executive producer Mark Healy. His co-hosts will be Rob Meridieth and Keith Easterwood. Mark, Rob and Keith will be covering all of the major sports (pro, college, high school and recruiting) in Memphis and the surrounding area. Unlike some sports talk shows out there, these guys want to be positive. Give them a listen beginning Monday, May 31st. You can find the show on your radio at 1430 AM, WOWW "The Buzz", from 7 to 9 a.m., Monday through Friday. Once again, it's called Inside the Lines.

05/28/99 - Ready for SEC football? Ready to read about SEC football? Well, the magazines are starting to appear on the magazine shelves. Come next week, one of the best will be hitting the shelves. It's called Phipps' SEC Football '99 and you will be able to find it at BARNES & NOBLE, WALDENBOOKS and B. DALTON bookstores. Check it out. It has lots and lots of great info. If you purchased one last year, get ready for double the info this time. Larry Phipps told me it is almost twice as thick as last year's.

05/27/99 - Here are tidbits from Tuesday's Delta Bulldog Club Meeting thanks to several folks that were there:

05/24/99 According to Border Wars and Bulldog Bytes, Poplarville HS linebacker Skylor Magee, one of the top 3 or 4 senior-to-be linebackers in the state of Mississippi, has committed to LSU. I would not set this commitment in stone just yet.

05/23/99 - Here's the latest on South Panola HS's (Batesville, MS.) outstanding senior-to-be quarterback Chris Young. Chris, who has an excellent chance to be one of the top 5 to 10 players in Mississippi next season, has drawn interest from MSU and numerous other colleges. Chris' vital statistics: 6-0, 190, 4.4. Supposedly, Chris has a solid interest in MSU.

05/21/99 - Complete Delta Bulldog Club Meeting details:

When: May 25th (Tuesday).
What: Delta Bulldog Club Meeting (Counties included are Bolivar, Sunflower, Humphreys, Leflore, Carroll and Washington).
Where: St. James Catholic Youth Center (CYO) on Deer Creek Drive, Leland, MS. (right across the street from Leland HS).
Time: Social hour is at 6 pm with a Rib Eye Steak dinner beginning at 7 pm.
Special Guests: Larry Templeton, Jackie Sherrill, Sparky Woods, Melvin Smith and other MSU athletic department officials.
Cost: Admission is a current membership in the Bulldog Club. New and inactive members may join at the door.
Contact: For more information, call Bill Allen (378-2167 or 335-4990), Gene Tarsi (843-8727), Mitchell Pearson (247-3358), Jamie Taylor (686-4621 or 686-4518) or Tony Adams (453-7112 or 453-1663).

05/20/99 - I mentioned him once before but just thought I would again. A youngster who has a chance to be a good one is Lee Academy's DL/FB Sparky Luster. Sparky, who is 6-3, 220-lbs., runs the 40 in 4.7 seconds.

Another player who is a D-I prospect is Fort Walton (FL) HS's OT/LB Michael Sims. Michael is 6-4, 240-lbs. and very quick and fast for his size.

Both of these players are seniors-to-be.

05/20/99 - The Delta area Bulldog Club (Counties include Washington, Bolivar and Sunflower) is having a meeting on May 25th. Social is at 6 p.m., with the dinner beginning at 7. Special guests will be Larry Templeton, Jackie Sherrill, Sparky Woods, Melvin Smith and other MSU athletic department officials. If anyone has additional details, please email them to me. Need a name or names of people to contact, location of the meeting and the cost.

05/19/99 - MSU signee Jason Myers has been charged with statutory rape according to a story in CNNSI. Click here for details.

05/18/99 - The word is MSU coach David Wilson was at the Taylorsville jamboree and MSU coach Glen Davis was at the Louisville jamboree.

05/15/99 - According to a source of mine, Madison Central HS (Madison, MS) has been a busy place for recruiters this past week. So far, South Carolina, Georgia Tech, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Tennessee, Florida State, Southern Miss and Ole Miss have visited, primarily to check out offensive lineman Doug Buckles who has that rare combination of speed, agility and speed. Add that to his work ethic, aggressiveness and attitude and you have a big-time player.

05/15/99 - Coach Jackie Sherrill will be in Tupelo, MS. Thursday, May 20th, to sign copies of Greatest Moments in Mississippi State Football History at the Books-A-Million.

05/15/99 - Coach Sherrill spoke at Hazel Green Middle School (15 miles north of Huntsville, AL) yesterday. The event was a fund raiser for athletic facilities at the school.

Coach Sherrill gave a good talk to the kids on how to be successful. After his talk, he opened the floor to questions.

05/05/99 - Just found out about another recruiting website yesterday. Coach Bryan Shumock maintains a site called Football Prospects, which allows high school players to build their very own recruiting profile at no cost to them. These player profiles are viewed by college coaches throughout the country. Check it out. If you know of a high school player you think would like to add his profile, let him know about this site.

05/05/99 - Just a note to let you know the Birmingham Alumni Chapter is up and running with their own web page. The address is http://www.birminghambulldogs.com. You will find photos of the UAB game and the Left Field Lounge East on the site. BTW, Coach Sherrill and others will be at the little Professor Book store in Homewood on the night of May the 13th for a book signing. They would like a big crowd there.

05/05/99 Here is info on a few upcoming MSU events for those of you in the Tupelo, MS., West Point, MS. and Muscle Shoals, AL. areas:

May 6th (Thursday):
What: MSU Bulldog Club 10-County Meeting.
Where: Tupelo Coliseum, West Entrance.
Time: Crawfish Boil & Silent Auction, 6:30 - 7:30 p.m.; Program 7:30 - 9:00.
Guest Speakers: Coaches Joe Lee Dunn, Sparky Woods, David Wilson, Craig Stump and Rick Stansbury.
Cost: $15 per person.
Contacts: (By county) Alcorn - Bill Williams 287-1433; Pontotoc - Rich McCraw 489-2415; Chickasaw - Mike Colbert 456-3756; Prentiss - Manfred Saylors 728-9595; Itawamba - Drew Homan 862-2125; Tippah - Jody Steverson 837-7815; Lee - Mike Armour 680-1464; Tishomingo - Donnie Brown 423-5931; Monroe - (Amory) Sam Griffin 256-8208 and (Aberdeen) Roger Mitchell 369-7075; Union - Bobby Coltharp 534-4303.

May 11th (Tuesday):
What: MSU Alumni Association, Muscle Shoals, AL. chapter meeting.
Where: Logan's Roadhouse, Muscle Shoals.
Time: 6 p.m.
Guest Speakers: Assistant Football Coach and Recruiting Coordinator David Wilson.
Cost: Dutch Treat.
Contact: R.S.V.P. by May 10th to Andrea Booker at 718-7252.

May 13th (Thursday):
What: Clay County Bulldogs Spring Cookout.
Where: Mossy Oak Outlet Mall, 3, 1999, Highway 45 South, West Point, MS.
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Guest Speakers: AD Larry Templeton, Sparky Woods, Other Assistant Coaches.
Cost: $5.00 per person. Everyone is invited!
Contacts: For more info call Robbie Robinson 494-3124 or Stan Maynard 494-1079.

05/05/99 - Received this via email last night. Thought you would enjoy it.

James Johnson took long road to NFL

By CRAIG BARNES

At the end of Mississippi State's 1998 spring football practice, James Johnson asked coach Jackie Sherrill if he could address the team. Sherrill was shocked because Johnson normally led by example, not words. "He told them when he was growing up that he didn't have shoes and (that) people made fun of him. He told them his house didn't have a bathroom so he took baths in a backyard tub, and people laughed at him," Sherrill said. "But he told them the one place people couldn't laugh at him was on the football field because he was as good or better than everyone else." As Johnson spoke, tears were streaming down his face. It wasn't easy to do, but he felt that it was necessary. "It needed to be said," said Johnson, a team captain. "It wasn't just their team. I was counting on them as much as they were counting on me. I felt that they hadn't been working hard enough. If we could talk the game, we'd all be in the Pro Bowl."

Johnson was the Dolphins' first choice (No. 39, in the second round) in the NFL Draft. "It's overwhelming to me just to be in the NFL," said the 6-foot-1, 235-pound Johnson, who led the Southeastern Conference with 1,383 yards last season on 236 carries with 12 touchdowns. "It's a game, but I'll take a more businesslike approach. I know in the NFL that it isn't what you've done in the past. It's what will you do this Sunday."

Johnson's takeoff to the NFL began while he was with the Navy in Aviano, Italy, where NATO jets now take off daily to bomb Yugoslavia. The reality of life there isn't lost on him. "I've been getting a free scholarship to play a game," Johnson said. "I've got friends risking their lives over there. That's real life. I understand the poverty of the Kosovo refugees. They have nothing. I grew up the same way."

If Johnson hadn't grown up in poverty, he might have been in the NFL earlier . As a senior at Davidson High School in Mobile, Ala., he went to take the ACT test for college. He needed a picture identification but didn't have one. "I was so poor," Johnson said. "I had never had a driver's license. The only thing I had was a social security card. They wouldn't let me in." Johnson sat on the steps of the school and cried. Three weeks later, he was in the Navy and leaving football behind. He passed the ACT while in the Navy. "I couldn't mope and whine," Johnson said. "It was time to make something out of my life. I shoot straight from the shoulder, no sugarcoating. I only understood survival, and joining the Navy was surviving. "When you're poor, nobody offers you anything. When you're rich, people offer you everything. I couldn't be like the people who go broke, go insane or have a breakdown because they can't cope. What does a man have who gains the whole world but loses his soul? You can't Pro Bowl your way to Heaven."

Johnson promised his high school coach, Tate Marsh, that he would come back from the Navy to play football. Marsh didn't expect it to happen, even though Johnson called several times to reiterate his intentions. "The Navy did a great deal for him," Marsh said. "He wasn't a troublemaker or anything. He just needed to grow up and mature."

In the summer of 1994, the USS John F. Kennedy was on assignment in the Mediterranean Sea. He had been in the Navy about nine months. While in port at Aviano, Johnson, a postal clerk, called Marsh to tell him it was time to play football. Marsh was surprised. "It was time to re-focus my life and get on with what needed to be done," Johnson said. "The Navy had been great, but I loved football. I didn't forget growing up and playing all day just to prove myself."

Marsh called Tom Goode, the coach at East Mississippi Community College, about Johnson. Goode called Johnson aboard the ship in the Mediterranean. "It was probably the longest recruiting call of my life," said Goode, who played for the Dolphins from 1966-1969. "I spoke with the ship's commanding officer for permission to talk with J.J. The call was worth it." Goode also coached Antowain Smith, the Buffalo Bills running back. He said Smith is bigger but that Johnson has better cutting ability. "With us, the light came on. J.J. became motivated to his goals," Goode said. "He did his school work, and his competitiveness made him a better player. I tell our players that this is a stopping-over place to where you want to go."

For Johnson, who was initially recruited as a linebacker, the next stopover was Mississippi State, where he gained 2,452 yards in 453 carries with 24 touchdowns in two seasons to become a consensus All-SEC player. "You're not average when you're all-conference in this league," Sherrill said. "In this kid's mind, he's supposed to put it in the end zone every time that he touches it. They talk about his speed, but there's a difference in football and track speed. When I played at Alabama with Joe Namath, they talked about the guys who outran him on the track, but they didn't outrun him on the football field. The sprinters in our league never caught J.J. He also will bend his body and run over people."

Johnson impressed SEC opponents and NFL scouts as a tough, hard-nosed competitor. He had 11 career 100-yard rushing games, including 111 yards in 23 carries against Vanderbilt last year. "He's an Emmitt Smith-type of back," said Steve Crosby, a former Dolphins assistant who is Vanderbilt's offensive coordinator. "He competes from the kickoff to the gun. He's the type of back that they want down there."

Sherrill said Johnson isn't afraid of the stiff competition he'll face with the Dolphins. There are 12 running backs on the roster. "When we were after him, he had never rushed for less than 1,500 yards," Sherrill said. "We had Keffer McGee (who drowned in 1997). J.J. told Keffer, 'I'm coming to Mississippi State because of you, not going somewhere else.' He isn't bashful."

Dolphins' coach Jimmy Johnson and assistant head coach Dave Wannstedt were on Sherrill's staff at the University of Pittsburgh in 1977-78, but they didn't call him about his No. 1 running back. "They knew what they were doing," Sherrill said. "Jimmy isn't going to tell anybody who he is going to pick. He's very secretive about it, but they did their homework. They worked J.J. out two or three times. They had their scouts and personnel people talk with our people. They know what they got."

Johnson, the third running back chosen, had 16 runs longer than 20 yards last season, an average of one every 15 carries. Edgerrin James, the first back selected in the draft, had 13 runs of longer than 20 yards, one every 14 carries. The Dolphins have his 40-yard speed at 4.65 seconds. "He's big, tough, runs north and south, can take a hit and has enough speed to break it," said Joel Collier, the Dolphins' running back coach. "The maturity factor is also important. He'll see things that he never saw in college, and they might be things that we haven't gone over. He'll need good instincts to make the right decisions. We think he has them."

It's important to Johnson that he succeed in the NFL. He and his girlfriend, Erica Pippen, plan to marry soon. They have a 2-year-old son, Keyshawn. He wants to improve his family's living situation. He has two sisters and three brothers. His mother, Carolyn, and father, James Sr., are divorced. "Hard work and determination will be difference," Johnson said. "I'll keep my head on straight, stay pointed forward and away from the distractions of nightlife and parties. I'm 24. This might be my only chance. When others are tired and the coach needs someone to run one more play, I'll be there."

05/04/99 - Got a name wrong yesterday. The name of one of the Clarksdale HS players was actually Adari Haulcy. BTW, if you would like to read more about the Clarksdale HS players, visit Rob Haralson's Bulldog Bytes recruiting site by clicking here.

05/03/99 - Clarksdale HS (MS) has at least a couple of junior players MSU is very interested in. Adari Halcy, OLB, 6-1, 195, 4.6, is being recruited the hardest by MSU, Ole Miss and LSU, with MSU and LSU his favorites. He will camp at MSU and possibly Ole Miss this summer. He is a good student who recently made the honor roll. Greg Gaston, DL, 6-3, 345, 5.2, is being recruited by MSU, Kentucky, Auburn and Ole Miss with Ole Miss in the lead for his services at the moment. He plans on attending camps at MSU and Ole Miss this summer.

05/02/99 - The following former MSU players are playing for the Mississippi Pride (Jackson, Miss.) of the Regional Football League:

05/01/99 - Received this email from someone who attended the Corinth Bulldog Club Meeting:

"Gene, the 4/29/99 Bulldog Club meeting in Corinth was great!. We had 116 in attendance. Bulldog Club membership and season ticket sales were discussed along with comments from Joe Lee Dunn, Sparky Woods and Craig Stump. Strat and Wesley Reed (Bulldog Club officials) were also in attendance. Everybody is really excited and hopefully this will show in increased ticket sales and Bulldog Club membership."

(For those of you who organize (or attend) these meetings, please email me info about your Alumni or Bulldog Club meeting. If you have the info available, include this year's and last year's attendance figures - Gene.)