Coach Gene Windham shares the mic with former player David Alsup. (TMP Photo by David Hunter)
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On Saturday, July 2, after 40 years of being apart, most of the members of the 1970 Murfreesboro Central state champion football team gathered together where it all started.
Today, the school is known as Central Magnet, but back then it was home to one of the best teams in state history.
That day was used as an afternoon to catch up with old classmates, relive the past and share stories about that magical year. Most of the players, coaches and other members of the team traveled from all over the nation for a chance to flashback to the undefeated season.
“We loved seeing each other,” said David Parsons, who was the starting quarterback in 1970. “It just seemed like we were back in the locker room.”
The leader of the defense that season, Terry Sneed added, “We need to have this every year.” He added it had been 40 years since he had seen some of his teammates.
It started out with all of the members of that squad, including the cheerleaders and band posing for pictures.
Then, it was time for a history lesson.
Joe Rushing, who played tailback that season, was the master of ceremonies and the man who worked behind the scenes to bring the team back after all of those years being apart.
Besides contacting all of the members that were still alive, Rushing also converted game films to DVDs. However, that evening, it was time for storytelling.
The first hour of the event was used for open microphone as the Tigers took turns sharing memories of the season. Some of the topics that were shared included a preseason game against Trinity, a school out of Kentucky.
Coach Gene Windham talked about how his players were laying under a tree after a long practice that hot summer afternoon.
Then, they saw almost 20 buses pull up to the school filled with their players and coaches.
The Central team, just stood there not saying a word, watching its opponents warm up.
The Tigers finally put on their helmets and Windham added he did not have to say a word to his players.
He knew they were ready. Central dominated Trinity that day and several of the players and coaches said after beating them, they knew they were going to have a great season.
As good as the story was, there was a different moment during the season that the players and coach said that brought the team together.
One day during practice, defensive end Tim Haigler was lined up as always against Jerry Anderson on offense.
Both players were known for giving everything they had on each play.
On that day, the players came to blows and Windham knew he had to do something or the team might come apart.
“Coach said grab hands and run,” Haigler said in front of the crowd at the ceremony.
So he had the two players, run laps around the field holding hands. The issues were fixed, and the season was saved. “We realized our egos had to go down at that point in order for us to win,” Haigler added.
But a sad moment was remembered when Haigler talked about Murfreesboro hero Jerry Anderson.
Anderson drowned in 1989 during a rescue attempt on the Stones River after two boys slipped into the water near Riverdale High School. In 1984, he saved stranded motorists from floodwaters in Tusla, Ok.
Haigler wished Anderson, who one of his coaches that season, could’ve been there. And Butch Vaughn said earlier during the event, “He was the greatest player I have ever seen,” was there to share his side of the story.
Some of the key players got up in front of crowd and introduced all of the coaches who were still alive.
They also played a tribute video of all of the ones – including Anderson, offensive coordinator Terry Morris, and Principal John Swafford – who had past away.
One of the guards that season, and a successful high school coach in his own right, David Alsup, gave a touching speech about Windham. Windham then got up and shared his thoughts about how much the players meant to him and how special that season was to everybody involved.
It was an evening to remember. |
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