Newspaper Page Text
Sports
Page 11
Clark Atlanta University
October 4, 1990
MATHEWS
PHOTO BY RODNEY
Sports equipment manager Melvin Geter Lee folds football uniforms.
Geter Keeps Team In Stitches
By BILLY BLACKBURN
Staff Writer
It takes a special athlete to
play football, a gifted person
ality to coach it, and a talented
man to know it.
Melvin Geter Lee is that man
for the Clark Atlanta
University (CAU) Football
Team. Although Geter holds
the title of sports equipment
manager, he means much more
than that to the team and the
athletic department. He is also
a friend, advisor, and inspir
ation to the athletes. This is
evident by the fact that he
likes to be called Geter and not
Mr. Lee. “I like for the athletes
to be comfortable around me
and treat me like one of the
fellows,” said Geter.
Every Saturday during the
fall season when the football
teams line up for another day
of gridiron action, the
important people who made it
possible for those teams to
compete are forgotten. How
ever, at CAU Geter is not easy
to forget. A stellar performer
for the sports department for
five years, Geter is now a
fixture at the University.
The special accomplish
ments of Melvin Geter Lee, a
native Atlantan, started long
before he became the CAU
sports equipment manager. He
was first introduced to
athletics in high school when
he tried out and made the
varsity football team. As a
three-year starter at offensive
guard and defensive tackle,
Geter was named to the All-
Southern and All-South
eastern Prep teams all three
years.
After graduation, Geter
enrolled at CAU (called Clark
College at the time) in 1939
and immediately made his
presence felt on the football
team. Once again becoming a
starter on both the offensive
and defensive lines, Geter
played so fearlessly that he
earned Black College All-
American honors for two
consecutive years. Playing
against and with the likes of
Sad Sam Jones (Morris
Brown), Biff Jones (Clark), and
Pinky Haynes (now Dr.
Haynes at Morehouse College),
Geter earned the reputation of
a hard nosed, aggressive
player and was nicknamed
‘The Derailer’.
“We were playing one of
those powerful Morris Brown
teams and they had the All-
American running back Big
Train Moody,” said Geter.
“Well, the score is tied early in
ths game and Morris Brown is
on our one yard line. They give,
the ball to Big Train who comes
rumbling through the line
carrying with him about 225
pounds, and I laid every inch
of football ability I had into
him and he went flying back
wards.”
After his startling perfor
mance that day, Geter became
known as “The Derailer” and
Big Train Moody could offer
no argument to that.
In 1942, World War II would
take Geter out of football, but it
didn’t take the football out of
Geter.
He enlisted in the Navy, and
also pursued his football career
by playing for the Navy
Civilian Team for one year. In
1944, Geter was sent to Hawaii
where he would again line up
to play football, but this time it
was in the Hawaiian Semi-
Professional Football League.
There, Geter played with
several future National
Football League (NFL) players
such as: Judge Atkinson,
Indian Jack Jacobs, and John
Jaren Kimbro. Not to be
outdone, Geter won acclaim as
a hard worker and was
rewarded by being the first
black all-star in the Hawaiian
League. He played eight years
in the semi-pro league before
becoming a Navy Utility Man
in the Military Seal Command
„ until his retirement from the
service in 1984.
Steadily, throughout the
years the football fire never
burned out in Geter.
“I love football like I love
these kids,” said Geter.
To talk to Geter Lee about
football is like talking to Jesse
Jackson about the Civil Rights
Day: thorough, historical
examination of the facts. Geter
is a staunch supporter of the
football era of the 30’s, 40’s,
and 50’s.
“If football would revert to
the older days, it would be a
much better game because
today’s football game is super
ficial,” said Geter.
Melvin Geter Lee is a unique
individual. He starts his day
by arriving at the gym at 7:30
every morning. During the
course of a day he’ll wash
uniforms, clean up the locker
rooms, sort uniform pieces,
prepare the equipment and
check inventory all the while,
he is also attending to the
wants and needs of the athletic
department. Sports infor
mation director Kevin Moses
said, “Without Geter things
around here would be in such
disarray that I don’t even know
if the football team would have
on any clothes come game time
Saturday.”
Sports, The Way It Is\
By PIERCE W. HUFF
Sports Editor
Sticking Up For The Falcons
I’m not going to change my prediction about the Atlanta
Falcons, because that would be stupid, but I think it should
be known that Jerry Glanville and his coaching staff are
doing a helluva job. Granted, the Falcons are still losing,
but they’re losing close. This team has a toughness and a
competitiveness that I’ve never seen out of a Falcons team,
and I’ve been watching them play all of my life.
Overated Dolphin
It pains me to write this, but let’s face it Miami Dolphin
quarterback Dan Marino is the most overated quarterback
in the NFL. The only thing in Marino’s game that has seen
an increase in recent years is his number of interceptions.
So he threw for 48 touchdowns in 1984, last year he threw
for 24 touchdowns and 22 interceptions. What makes this
even harder to swallow is that he is throwing the
interceptions at a time when NFL announcers like Monday
Night Football’s Dan Dierdorf say “rejuvenated” and
“Dolphins” in the same sentence. I know to err is human,
but for an NFL quarterback to throw for more than 16
interceptions in a season simply isn’t divine.
Tire Busting Broncos
I’ve got an old Super Bowl joke that I’ve been meaning to
write. Let’s say you’re driving in a city that’s hosting the
next Super Bowl, and you get a flat tire. How many Denver
Broncos will come and help you change it? Give up. One,
unless it’s a blowout, then the whole team will show up.
So Far So Good
J ust in case you were wondering, most of my predictions
have been on the money. I told you the Chicago Bears
would win the NFC Central Division, and they’re 3-0 to
lead the division. I also told you to expect the L.A. Raiders
to play the Denver Broncos tough, and they beat them 14-9
in the season opener. I even told you to keep an eye on the
L.A. Dodgers, and at one point they cut the Cincinnati
Reds lead down to 3 1/2 games. Let’s face it, the old boy
knows something.
Soccer Team Kicks For Dollars
By PIERCE W. HUFF
Sports Editor
It’s the summer of 1994 and
Atlanta and the rest of the
U.S. States is preparing itself
for the World Cup. The
Cameroonian soccer team,
fresh off of their success in the
1990 World Cup, comes to
Clark Atlanta University to
use the Panthers’ soccer fields.
Then Clark Atlanta University
player-coach Dr. Carlos
Handy, wakes up.
“I envision CAU having a
soccer program that can play
host to Cameroon and other
third-world soccer power
houses when the World Cup
comes to the United States,”
Handy said.
Before CAU can dream
about having third-world
countries use the Panthers’
soccer fields, it must have a
soccer team that has the
support of the athletic depart
ment. Despite having won the
Atlanta Soccer League
Championship last fall, the
CAU international soccer team
still finds itself in -a battle for
funds from the athletic
department.
“We’d like some support from
the athletic program,” Handy
said. “We’re still having to pay
some registration fees out of
our pocket.”
According to Handy, the
soccer team has received some
support from student organiz
ations. Last year the Student
Government Association
presented the players with a
plaque during the halftime of a
CAU basketball game, and
this year provided the money
for the team uniforms.
“I think that we could attract
support for the school,” Handy
said. “There’s an increasing
desire for varsity soccer
programs in Georgia.”
As the soccer team, currently
1-1-1, attempts to defend its
championship, Handy thinks
of ways to increase funding.
“The thing that might do it
is to have an Invitational Cup
hosted by CAU,” said Handy.
“That would set the ball
rolling.”