Black College Football: The Game that Time Forgot is an appreciation of HBCU football and all that makes it special. Carlos Lock, the author of the book, grew up in Jackson, Mississippi as a devoted fan of the Jackson State University Tigers. He attended his first Tigers game at the age of eight and fondly remembers watching Jerry Rice, Lewis Tillman, and Steve McNair coming to play at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium.
He hardly ever missed a game in his youth, as he sold football programs to the fans every weekend to earn his way into the stadium. Lock shares his early appreciation of music by listening to the Sonic Boom of the South, one of the top school bands at the HBCU level.
One of his first “away” games was a trip to Grambling with his dad. He recounts his amazement at being at a game where the legendary Eddie Robinson was coaching him. He heard his name for his whole life, but seeing Robinson on the sidelines in person was a magical moment.
Later in his life, Locke was serving in the U.S. Army and was stationed at Fort Hood. One weekend he and a young lady attended a Cotton Bowl Classic game featuring Prairie View A&M and Southern University, his fourth and fifth HBCU teams he has seen play. It was love at first sight, as the couple fell in love with the two teams on the playing field, as well as with each other.
They got married the next year… thanks to HBCU football.
The author then attended college at Hampton University in Virginia. He never missed a home game during that time, as the Pirates moved from the CIAA to the MEAC. This introduced him to two new HBCU-affiliated conferences and many more HBCU teams.
After his time in the service ended, Locke began to expand on his visits to HBCU campus-based football games. He recalls watching Steve “Air” McNair during his days at Alcorn State University and Jerry Rice when he played for Mississippi Valley State University.
In more recent years, the author has attended numerous Classics games. Classics games are typically a one-time meeting between two HBCU schools that have never played each other, as they typically play in different leagues. These classics are often put together by promoters in larger cities that are anxious to pair up two “name” schools for a game.
It also brings awareness and notoriety to the two competing schools. Lock remembers the Whitney Young Classic in 1971 vividly, not because it matched up Morgan State University against Grambling, but because it was played in Yankee Stadium, one of the most famous sports venues in the country. He recounts numerous other classics he has attended, and as more of them are scheduled, he begins to see that they often match up with very unevenly matched squads. He feels that this expansion of the concept has watered down the contests from “unforgettable” to very mundane affairs.
This later chapter leads us to the title of Lock’s book. We’ve talked about the excitement, the great matchups, the iconic players and coaches… so why “The Game that Time Forgot”? The author sees that many of the things that made Black College football unique and special have been lost over time. We’ve already discussed the overuse of the word “Classic”.
A second issue, ironically, is the integration of colleges and universities following desegregation during the Civil Rights era. Great African American players in the 1950s and 1960s had no choice but to attend HBCU schools, so the quality of football played at the HBCUs was top-notch. Once state schools started to integrate, they lost these star players to the bigger NCAA schools. Another point made is that the general exposure and awareness of HBCU schools went down, as black professional football players of the 1950s-1960s would always have their alma mater’s listed in their bio.
Suddenly, players were attending larger integrated schools where their football skills would be recognized by pro scouts and professional football fans much quicker. The lack of a major television contract has had a major negative impact on football teams at HBCU schools. The TV networks each have large TV contracts with each of the major football conferences, bringing millions of dollars in revenue to member schools. However, outside of the Celebration Bowl, there are very few national telecasts of HBCU games.
This heavily impacts the HBCU’s financial revenues, which are already tight to begin with. Obviously, with less exposure on TV, and less revenue from sports, it is difficult for HBCU schools to offer as many scholarships as possible to promising players. The facilities, such as the stadiums, training rooms, and locker rooms don’t have all the bells and whistles the major colleges can offer due to the limited financial resources.
The author offers several suggestions on how Black College Football can return to its glory years. One of his first suggestions is to redevelop a Black National Championship competition or playoff. Right now, most HBCUs play at the FCS level of Division I NCAA Football. The FCS level of competition offers a 24-team playoff series at the end of the season.
However, the MEAC and the SWAC choose to link their conference champions to the Celebration Bowl, a single game that is seen as the Black College Championship Game. This results in no HBCU schools getting the exposure and recognition offered by the FCA Championship Playoffs. This also leaves both the SIAC and CIAA teams totally out of consideration as the Black College National Football Champion. He suggests how a playoff system for HBCU football programs would work and names cities that have a large media presence that could serve as a permanent host for the title game.
Another suggestion is to elevate the level of coaching at the HBCU level to create stronger teams. It has always been difficult for qualified black assistant coaches to get head coaching jobs in the NFL. Lock suggests that making college head coaching jobs at HBCUs more attractive is one way for promising assistant coaches to move to the head coaching position at HBCU member schools.
Finally, former pro football players from HBCUs could become much more involved in recruiting players to attend and play football at their alma mater’s. Carlos Lock has written a very thought-provoking book that celebrates the great heritage black college football has brought to HBCUs in the past while suggesting some changes that will bring back some of the prestige the games have lost over the past few years.
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