“The thing that sticks out in my mind (in the first classic) is the number of players they had,” continues Richardson. “We were warming up when they came out on the field. It looked like it took them almost an hour to come out. We had 36 or 38 players. They must have had a hundred. I had never seen that many players (on the same team) before.” The Tigers lost that game 14-8 and finished the 1961 season with a 9-2 record. The Jackson State players and coaches felt they should have won that game. On the other hand, the FAMU players felt they should have won by a larger margin. “The whole team got together after the game and said if we got invited back, we would beat them,” says Richardson. The Tigers’ affable, cigar chomping, rotund coach, John Merritt, chided after the game, “If they give us another chance next year, we will prove that we are the better team.” As it turned out, Jackson State almost didn’t get asked back. Tommy Devine, then-sports editor of the Miami News, wrote that when it came time to select the Rattlers opponent for the (1962) Orange Blossom Classic, coach Jake Gaither gave his Florida A&M players a choice of two teams. They were Morgan State of Baltimore or Jackson State. Gaither had a strong preference for the Eastern team. “Back in 1943, when we were playing with a squad that had been reduced both in talent and numbers by World War II, we played Mor-
gan State,” Gaither is quoted as saying in the Miami News. “They beat us 50–0. Ever since that time, I have tried in vain to get a game with them, but they never would schedule us. However, they were receptive to a classic bid,” Gaither relates. The players weren’t concerned with ancient history, continues the Miami News story. They recalled the great game they had with Jackson State a year earlier, but some observers were not convinced they were the superior team. The Rattlers wanted to prove they were, so Jackson State was given the return bid. The rest, as they say, is history. ‘WE HAD THE BETTER TEAM’ FAMU, with its baritone-voiced coach, Gaither, had taken the college football world by storm. The Rattlers were on a 21-game winning streak and ranked No. 1 in small colleges by The Associated Press. They had the world’s fastest backfield in Robert Paremore, Hewrit Dixon and Bob Hayes (Olympic sprinter who ran the 100-yard dash in 9.2 seconds and was known as the world’s fastest human). All three went on to NFL careers. Football pundits had tabbed the Rattlers a two-touchdown favorite over the Tigers. FAMU – with all its tradition, all-star athletes and 200-piece marching band – was sup-
posed to crush little upstart Jackson State. But on this evening, Dec. 8, 1962, the stars were aligned just right for the Tigers. Jackson State had the right coach, the right staff, the right players, at the right time. There would be no denying the Jackson State team on this day. Merritt and his core staff of Joe Gilliam (defensive coordinator) and Alvin “Cat” Coleman (offensive coordinator) had assembled a talented, speedy team with depth. In addition to Richardson, the Tigers fielded an all-star quarterback in Roy Curry, and a super backfield in fullback Louis McRae and halfback Edgar “Chico” Jordan. Other blue chippers on the team included Leslie “Speedy” Duncan (defensive back), Ben Magee (defensive lineman), Verlon Biggs (defensive lineman), Albert Greer (wide receiver), and guards Harold Cooley and James “Big Daddy” Carson. Jackson State cruised through the regular season, winning nine of its 10 games. The Tigers won the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship the second straight year. Jackson State averaged 38.9 points per game. The only blemish on the Tigers’ record was a 19–14 loss to Southern University. During that two-year span, the Tigers won 18 of their 21 games. Now the Tigers were poised to take on the mighty Rattlers in the 30th Annual Orange Blossom Classic. Black college football supremacy was at stake. “We knew we had the better team,” says Curry, who was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers after the game. “We went into the game with the attitude, ‘Let’s take care of business.’ ” Jackson State College quarterback Roy Curry receives a trophy after being named the MVP against Florida A&M University in 1962.