In the 1990’s, I was still living in Huntsville, Alabama, enjoying life and coaching Little League Baseball. It was a fun time; I coached baseball because I enjoyed the game, the boys and the neighborhood.
Not having children playing is the best way to coach baseball or any other sport in my opinion. You couldn’t be accused of playing your child more or letting them play the best positions.
However, you could be suckered into things by other parents. For the most part, I don’t think I ever was. The young parents would pull my leg every once in a while because I was still young and pretty innocent.
It was the first day of a practice which was always fun getting to meet new players, their parents and their grandparents. Every little boy was going to be a baseball superstar – sometimes you had to invent ways of their being heroes, but that was something I also enjoyed.
A gentleman who looked to be around 60 got out of his car with a little boy and started walking toward the practice field. It was not unusual for grandparents to bring their grandchildren to practice.
One of the young fathers who I’d known for a few years quickly came to me as the older gentleman was walking toward the field with the little boy. The young father simply asked me, “You know who that is, don’t you?”
I told him I didn’t know the older gentleman.
He didn’t tell me who the older gentleman was. The young father quickly said, “Whatever you do, don’t say anything about the tackle.”
I was confused. This was baseball practice and the young father was talking in football terms. Before I had time to ask the young father what he meant, the older gentleman and the little boy had made it to the field and were walking straight to me.
The older gentleman introduced himself as “Tommy Lewis” and he introduced me to his grandson, who was a good little ball player and played for my team for a couple of years.
“The tackle” comment was still in my mind; it just didn’t register what the young father was talking about. My mind was on baseball and a new season.
After practice, the young father explained to me, “He’s the one. He’s the one who came off the bench for Alabama and made the tackle in the 1954 Cotton Bowl against Rice. They say he still gets touchy about it.”
I then understood. I also thought the young father was still pulling my leg. However, I never mentioned “the tackle” to Tommy Lewis. I remember him for being at baseball practices, being at his grandson’s baseball games, being nice, being appreciative and his lovely wife, Helen.
That is what I remember… I was not around to see the 1954 Cotton Bowl when he came off the sidelines onto the playing field to tackle Rice’s Dicky Maegle who was headed for a touchdown. The referees of course gave Rice credit for the touchdown because Mr. Lewis was not supposed to be on the field at the time.
“The tackle” was a big deal. You can still hear about it and see it on television, the internet and in books. As a result of the play, Tommy Lewis and Dicky Maegle appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show later in 1954. That is a big deal – when I think of Ed Sullivan’s show, I think of Elvis Presley.
Mr. Lewis passed away on Sunday, October 12, 2014. He was a successful business man, a wonderful husband, father and grandfather. “The tackle” will never be forgotten.
All Alabama fans know the line Mr. Lewis used when he tried to explain why he couldn’t stay on the sidelines and watch the Rice University football player score. Tommy Lewis said he was “just too full of Alabama.” Alabama’s head coach at the time was Red Drew, who noted Tommy Lewis was “the best player we’ve got” during his senior season at Alabama.
It is 2014, we see college football players doing things that they should be embarrassed about doing. Not only should they be embarrassed, their parents should be embarrassed. Their coaches should be embarrassed.
“The tackle” was nothing to be embarrassed about, but I never mentioned it. I can only tell you what I saw in Tommy Lewis – a grandfather who loved his family and his community.
January 1, 2014 was the 60th anniversary of Tommy Lewis' famous tackle... The Dallas News has a good story about it here.
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I'm BN Heard and I like semicolons, dogs and folks who take grandparenting seriously.
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