“Transported … that’s the word … I was utterly transported!”
I found myself repeating those words as I pondered this book review of The 19 of Greene by Tony Barnhart. I am not exaggerating. I really was taken back to another world, one that no longer exists.
High school football, for those who have lived and breathed it, is a rite of passage.
For many, the only such ritual is available today. Players are coached, not only by the designated coach, but by the barber, preacher, music instructor, filling station attendant, waitress, and maybe a cheerleader or two. The team becomes the unconscious symbol of its often-small community.
This occurs all over America.
Add the element of earliest racial integration in the South and the plot thickens in a hurry. Tony and his unusual new buddies were the first integrated team in the history of Greene County, Georgia. The year was 1970.
Embarking on the time travel so cleverly framed and masterfully written by Tony came on me without warning. We had shared an existence more than a half-century ago in the locker rooms and gridirons of middle Georgia, with Tony at Greene County and me at College Park.
Huge difference, I was 11 years ahead of him – we did not integrate. His evocation of every player on that small (19 teammates!) team and each coach is brilliant and becomes a page-turner as the reader becomes a big fan of all concerned.
In the midst of the horror of racism and the collision of societal forces, they could not understand, those 19 kids accomplished the improbable: they mastered the miracle of “team.” Regardless of pigmentation, selfish desires were discarded because each player decided he would not let his teammates down.
I was engrossed, wishing we had integrated. I experienced it in the NFL, where men like Vince Lombardi had been the visionaries who would not tolerate racism. In this case, the coaches and teenage males had to make the leap, and we are blessed to have such a beautiful expression of the heroic job they did.
Thank you from our hearts, Tony Barnhart. You gave us a great book, and more importantly, helped us all to be better people.
Tony Barnhart will be the December “Meet the Author” presenter on his new book, The 19 of Greene: Football, Friendship, and Change in the Fall of 1970. The event will be held Tuesday, Dec. 5, at 7 p.m. (doors open at 6:30) at Georgia Writers Museum (109 S. Jefferson Ave., Eatonton).
Tailgate-style barbecue refreshments will be served at the event. Tickets are $45, or $40 each for two or more tickets, with a table for six available for $200 (saving $40).
Call Georgia Writers Museum at 706-991-5119 or visit online at georgiawritersmuseum. org for tickets and to pre-order a copy of Barnhart’s new book.
Bill Curry was the head football coach of Georgia Tech, University of Alabama, University of Kentucky, Georgia State, and a football analyst for ESPN.