We lost another great former Tiger, who played for Coach Howard. He was my dad's roommate and who my dad called, "my best friend in life".
He was from Lanett, AL and grew up in row houses. My dad told me he showed up with all of clothes in a sack and he took a bus because his parents couldn't make the trip to drop him off at Clemson. He ended up going to Duke for law school and was an attorney in Columbus.
A couple of funny stories:
- Coach Howard told my dad and Joe that he'd had players leave early because they were too dumb but never had any leave because they were too smart. My dad was going to medical school and Joe was going to Duke for Law School.
- My dad was always first up and to the shower in the mornings and one morning Joe had glued my dad's shower sandals to the floor and my dad fell face first on the floor
- The starters rarely went "1 on 1" as my dad would say, "at practice we always did 1 v 2", meaning the starters were against the second string. One practice Coach Howard had the 1's vs each other at the goal line. My dad was starting center and his best friend, Joe, who played LB lined up in front of him. Joe knocked my dad on his ass and my dad asked him, "what was that about?" and Joe gave him a lesson he lived with forever, "It' better to give than receive"
RIP Uncle Joe
He was from Lanett, AL and grew up in row houses. My dad told me he showed up with all of clothes in a sack and he took a bus because his parents couldn't make the trip to drop him off at Clemson. He ended up going to Duke for law school and was an attorney in Columbus.
A couple of funny stories:
- Coach Howard told my dad and Joe that he'd had players leave early because they were too dumb but never had any leave because they were too smart. My dad was going to medical school and Joe was going to Duke for Law School.
- My dad was always first up and to the shower in the mornings and one morning Joe had glued my dad's shower sandals to the floor and my dad fell face first on the floor
- The starters rarely went "1 on 1" as my dad would say, "at practice we always did 1 v 2", meaning the starters were against the second string. One practice Coach Howard had the 1's vs each other at the goal line. My dad was starting center and his best friend, Joe, who played LB lined up in front of him. Joe knocked my dad on his ass and my dad asked him, "what was that about?" and Joe gave him a lesson he lived with forever, "It' better to give than receive"
RIP Uncle Joe
