Read more about the article Timing right to reexamine Bryant folklore, 1970 USC-Alabama fiction and dispossessed true 1960s pioneers

Timing right to reexamine Bryant folklore, 1970 USC-Alabama fiction and dispossessed true 1960s pioneers

Cover photo (L-R): Kentucky's Walter Hackett, Tennessee's Lester McClain, Michigan State's Jimmy Raye, SMU's Jerry LeVias, and Auburn's James Owens. PHOTO GRAPHIC: Ashley S. Creative Visit my home page, TomShanahanReport EIGHTH OF AN EIGHT-PART SERIES. The first seven parts are listed at the end of the story. Although no one in the documentary says it, there seems to be a feeling that Southern Cal’s rout of Alabama was the shock that the University and a majority of the…

Continue ReadingTiming right to reexamine Bryant folklore, 1970 USC-Alabama fiction and dispossessed true 1960s pioneers
Read more about the article Auburn’s James Owens and overshadowed history as state of Alabama’s first Black player

Auburn’s James Owens and overshadowed history as state of Alabama’s first Black player

By TOM SHANAHAN The old adage “History is written by the victors” validates any thoughts to add an epilogue to the James Owens story. Owens, who died in 2016, was Auburn’s first black football player (1970-72). He arrived a year prior to Alabama’s first black player, Wilbur Jackson (1971-73), but try explaining that to those in the state and beyond that believe Jackson -- through no fault of his own -- was the first through the door. Alabama…

Continue ReadingAuburn’s James Owens and overshadowed history as state of Alabama’s first Black player