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MS Delta to MSU football

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Bhamdawg1725

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Dec 15, 2023
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Got on a BB King and Muddy Waters kick recently on a 4 hour drive. Had me brainstorming MS Delta products to MSU football. Not just role players. But guys that had memorable careers.

I know Billy Stacy from Drew, way back when. And Kent Hull from Greenwood.
Dorsett, Pork Chop, and Ellis Wyms were delta boys. Benardrick McKinney would count from Tunica. Fletcher should count right; Yazoo.
I can’t count Batesville or Vicksburg or Memphis burbs as true delta. I’m thinking more heart of the Delta.

Clarksdale: Dapoo Williams coulda been a great one. Charles Mitchell had a great career. Mario Haggan and Elgton Jenkins with some pro bowls… JT Gray.

Greenville area:
Antonio Johnson had some years in the league.
Gerri Green more recently and Marquiss Spencer, both woulda been stars on last years’ defense.**. LaDarius Perkins always killed the Rebs. Dillon Johnson counts, I guess.

I’m struggling with 80s and 90s guys for sure.
 
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Nugdawg

Senior
Mar 3, 2008
751
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Ellis Wymms - Indianola Gentry
Toby Gollliday - Moorehead
Gotta count Rod Gibson from Greenwood just for all the contributions he’s made.
Dolla Bill - Greenwood
Mckinnley Scott - Rosa Fort
Kevin Henry - Mound Bayou
 
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Faustdog

All-Conference
Jun 4, 2007
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Not to get too far off topic here, but any of y'all ever read Confederacy of Silence by Richard Rubin? It followed the life of Handy Campbell, a quarterback from Greenwood whose life went completely off the rails. He actually came to MSU and backed up either Sleepy or Todd Jordan for a year.

The book makes him out to be one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever come out of Mississippi, but his high school career was a little before my time. Any of y'all remember watching him play? How good was he?
 
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johnson86-1

All-Conference
Aug 22, 2012
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Faustdog said:
Not to get too far off topic here, but any of y'all ever read Confederacy of Silence by Richard Rubin? It followed the life of Handy Campbell, a quarterback from Greenwood whose life went completely off the rails. He actually came to MSU and backed up either Sleepy or Todd Jordan for a year.

The book makes him out to be one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever come out of Mississippi, but his high school career was a little before my time. Any of y'all remember watching him play? How good was he?
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Did he come to State? I knew he went to Ole Miss but thought he flamed out there and came back to Greenwood and was tried for murder there. The book made it clear the author thought he had killed him but my understanding from people in Greenwood was the author wasn't exactly a reliable story teller. Don't remember anything about the case at the time or if it even made the news. Guessing it was just another murder in the delta that didn't merit attention outside of Greenwood unless people were making a big deal about him being a former football player.
 
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Faustdog

All-Conference
Jun 4, 2007
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johnson86-1 said:
Did he come to State? I knew he went to Ole Miss but thought he flamed out there and came back to Greenwood and was tried for murder there. The book made it clear the author thought he had killed him but my understanding from people in Greenwood was the author wasn't exactly a reliable story teller. Don't remember anything about the case at the time or if it even made the news. Guessing it was just another murder in the delta that didn't merit attention outside of Greenwood unless people were making a big deal about him being a former football player.
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The book said he came to State for maybe a year and washed out. I forget why. It's been a while since I read it.

I know some Greenwood folks hated the book. The author recounted private conversations that didn't reflect well and named names. I thought the book was really well-done until the author's ending, which didn't make a lot of sense to me.
 
Darryl Steight

Darryl Steight

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Sep 30, 2022
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Bhamdawg1725 said:
Got on a BB King and Muddy Waters kick recently on a 4 hour drive. Had me brainstorming MS Delta products to MSU football. Not just role players. But guys that had memorable careers.

I know Billy Stacy from Drew, way back when. And Kent Hull from Greenwood.
Dorsett, Pork Chop, and Ellis Wyms were delta boys. Benardrick McKinney would count from Tunica. Fletcher should count right; Yazoo.
I can’t count Batesville or Vicksburg or Memphis burbs as true delta. I’m thinking more heart of the Delta.

Clarksdale: Dapoo Williams coulda been a great one. Charles Mitchell had a great career. Mario Haggan and Elgton Jenkins with some pro bowls… JT Gray.

Greenville area:
Antonio Johnson had some years in the league.
Gerri Green more recently and Marquiss Spencer, both woulda been stars on last years’ defense.**. LaDarius Perkins always killed the Rebs. Dillon Johnson counts, I guess.

I’m struggling with 80s and 90s guys for sure.
Click to expand...
Eddie and Gabe Myles. Really good father-son duo from Clarksdale.
 
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Anon1665155225

Senior
Oct 7, 2022
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Faustdog said:
The book said he came to State for maybe a year and washed out. I forget why. It's been a while since I read it.

I know some Greenwood folks hated the book. The author recounted private conversations that didn't reflect well and named names. I thought the book was really well-done until the author's ending, which didn't make a lot of sense to me.
Click to expand...
I read it. The author’s contention in the book was the Ole Miss booster network got him away from State and to Ole Miss simply to keep him from State with no intention of ever playing him.
 
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DoggieDaddy13

All-Conference
Dec 23, 2017
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Anon1665155225 said:
I read it. The author’s contention in the book was the Ole Miss booster network got him away from State and to Ole Miss simply to keep him from State with no intention of ever playing him.
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Given the results, most people would say the author is correct. It worked beautifully!
 
Pilgrimdawg

Pilgrimdawg

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Aug 30, 2018
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P.L. Blake from Greenwood played back in the 1950’s then went on to play pro ball in Canada for a few years. He had some legal issues later on and currently lives in Birmingham. He is in his late 80’s now and I haven’t seen him for many years. He was always very kind to me and I enjoyed his company and stories.
 
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Willow Grove Dawg

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Nov 3, 2016
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Pilgrimdawg said:
P.L. Blake from Greenwood played back in the 1950’s then went on to play pro ball in Canada for a few years. He had some legal issues later on and currently lives in Birmingham. He is in his late 80’s now and I haven’t seen him for many years. He was always very kind to me and I enjoyed his company and stories.
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P.L. Blake having some legal issues later is a huge understatement. He was allegedly a player in the Dicky Scruggs bribery scandal. The Feds alleged that Scruggs paid PL Blake +/-$450K quarterly for over 20 years for his expertise.

He was also accused in the late 80's or 90's of using loans/grants from Federal Agencies associated with farming (Farmers Home) for business activities other than farming.
 
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Pilgrimdawg

Pilgrimdawg

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Aug 30, 2018
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Willow Grove Dawg said:
P.L. Blake having some legal issues later is a huge understatement. He was allegedly a player in the Dicky Scruggs bribery scandal. The Feds alleged that Scruggs paid PL Blake +/-$450K quarterly for over 20 years for his expertise.

He was also accused in the late 80's or 90's of using loans/grants from Federal Agencies associated with farming (Farmers Home) for business activities other than farming.
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I know, but I didn’t see a need to revisit any ugly details here. I was around him quite a bit in the mid 1970’s at a hunting camp and he was always very kind to me. I read and heard about the illegal stuff but never had any first hand knowledge of it. He was a good football player and from the Delta so that’s why I mentioned him in this thread.
 
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