Newspaper Page Text
Dempsey: yesterday’s hero
By IRA BERKOW
NEA Sports Editor
NEW YORK - (NEA) -
"Last year I was on top of
the world,” said Tom Demp
sey. "Now I’m a bum.”
Last season, New Orleans
Saints fans shook the sta
dium with cheers for Tom
Dempsey, inspirational hero.
This season they threw to
matoes that splattered on his
back and beer cans that
clanked off his helmet. He
was finally cut from the
Saints and dropped out of
football for six weeks. Now
he is on the taxi squad of
the Philadelphia Eagles.
Tom Dempsey, yesterday’s
hero, is a field goal kicker.
He is unique in his profes
sion in that he was born
with half a right foot. He
must wear a special block
toe shoe. Some opponents
last season even insisted
that the shoe was an unfair
advantage. Last year he
kicked a 63-yard field goal
for New Orleans to beat De
troit 19-17 in the closing
seconds of play. It was the
longest in pro-football his
tory, breaking a 14-year-old
record by seven full yards.
Tom Dempsey became an
instant national celebrity by
his record kick. He was the
shiningest example of a
man overcoming adversity.
In the off-season he re
ceived awards ranging from
New Orleans American Le
gion Most Valuable Player
to Pro Football Writers
Most Courageous Player.
“A lot of people said I was
cocky and that I stopped try
ing,” said Dempsey by tele
phone recently. “That burns
me up. I pushed harder than
ever because I wanted to
stay on top.”
His problems began the
first day of training camp
this summer. Dempsey re
ported in at 265 pounds, 20
pounds more than coach J.
D. Roberts had wanted him
to carry.
“Tom worked hard to get
the weight off, but it was
tough,” said Saints’ publi
city man Harry Humes.
In the exhibition season,
Dempsey made but one field
goal in eight attempts.
Dempsey knew his job was
in jeopardy. So did all the
unemployed field goal kick
ers around the country. Like
vultures, they smelled a dy
ing carcass. About 20 kickers
showed up in the Saints’
camp.
Dempsey said that the
boos and the beer cans did
not bother him. “They booed
THE 1971 fT tfW
EISENHOWER f fcjn 11
— DOLLAR WX 7
.A # 'A / .... y
WHEN YOU OPEN A CHECKING OR
SAVINGS ACCOUNT AT
THE BANK OF GRIFFIN
A brand new shiny Eisenhower Dollar will be yours absolutely free when you open
a checking or savings account of $50.00 or more at The Bank of Griffin (during
November only). It pays you to bank at
ffffGnk of Griffn
433 West Taylor Street, Ph: 227-1313
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LAST YEAR, Tom Dempsey, kicking above, was boot
ing long field goals for the New Orleans Saints and
receiving lavish praise, including the message that
greeted him when he returned to his apartment after
one game, below. This year Dempsey was cut from the
Saints’ squad before the season started and dropped out
of football for six weeks before he landed a job on the
Philadelphia Eagles taxi squad.
others, too,” he said. “The
fans in New Orleans are the
greatest. Really. They’re
rabid. They pay eight dol
lars a game to see a job
done and they deserve the
best. I guess I put too much
pressure on myself to stay
on top, and that screwed me
up.”
Dempsey was cut a week
before the 1971 season
started. Coach Roberts said
that, yes, it was a little emo
tional, with Dempsey being
crippled and a hero from last
season. “You always feel a
little bad when you have to
fire someone.”
Dempsey said that he was
sure he’d come around soon,
that it was a temporary
slump. But Roberts has
noted that Dempsey has
never in his four-year pro
career been a consistent
kicker, even though he led
the Saints in scoring the last
two years. Last season, de
spite three field goals from
past 50 yards, Dempsey was
11th best out of the 13 reg
ular field goal kickers in the
National Football Confer
ence. His kicks were good
53 per cent of the time. Curt
Knight, who led the league,
had a 74 per cent cent field
goal kicking average.
Dempsey, last season’s
hero, began selling insurance
in New Orleans. He was hurt
and embarrassed. “I was
married in June,” he said,
“and I thought my wife mar
ried a hero. Now I was think
ing she married a wash-out.
But she stuck behind me.”
Dempsey continued to kick
nights at a nearby park. He
would chase the ball him
self. And he continued to call
teams, trying to hook on
somewhere. One day, six
weeks after he was cut by
New Orleans, the Eagles
said they had a job open on
the taxi squad.
A member of the taxi
squad does not suit up for
games, does not make road
trips, is not on the roster.
He practices with the team,
which means, in the case of
kicking specialists, that he
goes off by himself. Kickers
are the quirks of football
teams. Noncontact players
in a contact sport. Dempsey
is there just in case, in case
regular kicker Happy Feller
starts missing or is injured.
“You go through a year
like I went through,” said
Dempsey, “going from the
top to the bottom, and you
know that football is a plas
tic world, a fantasy land.
And you come to realize that
there are more important
things in the world than foot
ball. You come to value your
home life, for example, and
feel lucky that you’ve mar
ried the right woman. But I
still love the game. And I
still think I’m a good kicker.
I still think I can kick in this
league.”
(NEWSPAPER ENTERPRISE ASSN.)
★★★★★★
SPORTS
★★★★★★
Breakfast
to honor
coaches
Volunteer coaches who work
ed with youngsters on football
teams in the community during
the season will be honored at a
breakfast meeting Saturday at
7; 30 a.m. at Russell’s Restau
rant.
They will be guests of the Wild
Life Club of Spalding County,
sponsors of the annual break
fast event.
Bill Smith is president of the
dub. Some 75 people are ex
pected to attend.
I NBA
standings
By United Press International
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Diyision
W. L. Pct. GB
Boston 11 5 .688 ...
Philadelphia 9 7 .563 2
New York 8 9 .471 3%
Buffalo 7 9 .438 4
Central Division
W. L. Pct. GB
Baltimore 7 9 .438 ...
Cincinnati 5 9 .357 1
Atlanta 4 11 .267 2%
Cleveland 4 12 .250 3
Western Conference
Midwest Division
W. L. Pct. GB
Milwaukee 16 1 .941 ...
Chicago 10 5 .667 5
Phoenix 7 9 .438 8%
Detroit 7 9 .438 8%
Pacific Division
W. L. Pct. GB
Los Angeles 15 . 3 .833 ...
Golden State 12 6 .667 3
Seattle 11 6 .647 3%
Houston 3 16 .158 12%
Portland 2 12 .143 11
Wednesday’s Results
Baltimore 113 Cincinnati 103
Houston 118 Philadelphia 112
Seattle 112 Atlanta 104
Boston 140 Phoenix 121
Thursday’s Games
Portland at Golden State
Phoenix at Detroit
| ABA |
standings
By United Press International
East
W. L. Pct. GB
Kentucky 11 5 .698 ...
Virginia 11 6 .647 %
New York 8 9 .471 3%
Pittsburgh 810 .444 4
Floridians 7 9 .438 4
Carolina . 6 9 .400 4%
West
W. L. Pct. GB
Utah 11 7 .611 ...
Indiana 9 8 .529 1%
Memphis 8 9 .471 2%
Dallas 7 9 .438 3
Denver 5 10 .333 4%
Wednesday’s Results
Pittsburgh 122 New York 121
Kentucky 117 Virginia 112
Utah 113 Indiana 111
Carolina 113 Denver 101
Thursday’s Games
(No games scheduled)
SPECIAL!
20 - Gallon
GARBAGE
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Special
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Hardware Co.
409 West Solomon Street
Phone 227-5503
FREE Paved Parking!
Penn State eyes
Cotton Bowl game
DALLAS (UPI) - Penn
State’s Nittany Lions apparent
ly are about three days away
from an invitation to be the
guest team in the Cotton Bowl
New Year’s Day.
Bowl officials have taken on
an official mum regarding their
preference but said Wednesday
an announcement would be
forthcoming Saturday “ateither
5 p.m. or 6 p.m. Dallas time
depending upon where we make
the contract.”
Bowl representatives will be
in both the East and Central
Pete
back
ATLANTA (UPI) - The At
lanta Hawks Wednesday night
released guard Milt Williams on
waivers to make way for the
return of Pete Maravich.
Williams, 6-3, had averaged
6.7 points in 10 games with the
Hawks.
The Hawks also said that
guard Lou Hudson, the team’s
second best scorer with a 27.7
average, had entered Piedmont
Hospital as a precautionary
measure.
Tom Cousins, president of the
Hawks, said Hudson, who has
been sidelined with a bad back,
needs “complete rest” and the
best place for that was a hos
pital.
Strnto-Strenß
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Dodges, Cutlasses, Buicks, Chryslers,
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Page 13
— Griffin Daily News Thursday, Nov. 18,1971
Standard Time Zones Saturday
to watch the Penn State-Pitts
burg and Notre Dame-Louisiana
State games.
However, members of the
Notre Dame football team voted
late Wednesday not to partici
pate in any post season bowl
games this season and ap
parently left the prospects of
Cotton Bowl guest team entire
ly in the hands of the undefeat
ed Nittany Lions.
Other top contenders — Ne
braska, Auburn, and Alabama
— have been reported heading
to the Orange and Sugar bowls.
Georgia lost bowl appeal last
Saturday in its loss to Auburn
and Oklahoma has been written
off since it has already defeated
the University of Texas, the
heavy favorite to be the host
team in the Cotton Bowl, earl
ier in the season.
Texas, 8-2, has only to defeat
Texas A&M Thanksgiving Day
to claim its unprecedented
fourth consecutive trip to Dal
las.
But there are seven possible
ways the Southwest Conference
race could end and Texas A&M,
LAS VEGAS TOURNEY SET
CHICAGO(UPI)—The Ladies
Professional Golf Association
announced Wednesday a $50,000
Open tournament for Las
Vegas, May 4-7. The top prize
is SIO,OOO and an automobile.
Arkansas and Texas Christian
still have mathematical chances
to get the bowl bid.
L. L. gets
franchise
All three Griffin Little
Leagues have been franchised
for the 1972 season.
Little League officials were
notified this week that fran
chises had been approved.
Griffin operates three Little
League circuits — the Ameri
can and National, which have
eight teams each and the
Continential, which has four.
Bill Beck HI, district director,
announced the awarding of the
franchises.
Trammell
is tops
Ruby Trammell bowled a 194
game and a 545 series yesterday
in the Koffee Klub League.
Other top bowlers were:
Bonnie Rounds 196, Jerry
Gillespie 182, Margie Yates 181,
Lou A verman 177, Fab Manning
173, Peggy Whited 172, Norma
Head 168, Betty Bouchell 166,
Betty Gossett 163, Mary
Johnson 160, Carolyn Williams
159, Ann Weems 156, Martha
Johnson 154, Evelyn Downing
153, and Ruth Holt 151.