Sez Me …
No other sports news last week even threatened to part my gray hair. It was joyful. It was deserved. The vintage port had rested long enough and was ready to drink.
Art Powell, San Diego High’s own, a member of one of our greatest athletic families, and a legendary AFL receiver, was named — along with Randy Gradishar and Steve McMichael — a senior finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
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The vote for official induction will come prior to the Super Bowl, but, as with Don Coryell this year, it should be a formality, with 80 percent of the vote necessary. Again, as with Coryell, Art, who passed at 81 in 2015, will not be in Canton for the ceremonies.
But Art will be an immortal, and immortals never die, Nor, despite what MacArthur said, do they fade away.
In 1882, when San Diego High was born as the Russ School, Chester A. Arthur was president, serving without impeachment, and lived out his life without indictment. This city lacked an actual mayor, meaning lawless bicyclists were allowed to fly around without restrictions.
But, for the first 60 or so years of the 20th century, it can be argued that few — if any — high schools in America could match The Gray Castle’s combination of athletics, academics and culture. My lovely school was a great, melting pot of races.
SDHS has produced giants. Gregory Peck. Harold Lloyd. Art Linkletter. Anita Loos, whose name you may not recognize, but she wrote “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” and in 1912 became the first full-time female Hollywood scriptwriter.
During that time, the then-Cavemen-now-Cavers excelled in football, basketball, track, wrestling and its baseball program easily could have been considered the nation’s best. During the 1950s, Duane Maley’s football teams won more games than any school in California.
And yet it never had produced a professional hall of famer in football, baseball or basketball. Until now.
In the early 1950s, Art followed older brothers Charlie, widely considered our greatest all-around athlete — in three years at SDHS he earned 12 varsity letters, later played in the NFL and fought Muhammad Ali — and Ellsworth (basketball).
In 1954, Art became first team All-Southern California in both football and basketball (local prep guru Rick Smith says other than Hoover great Bill McColl, he knows of no other local athlete who accomplished both). Later, younger brother Jerry, a quarterback, attended San Diego as a sophomore, transferred to Lincoln and became 1967’s CIF-San Diego Section Player of the Year.
Pete Gumina, the best QB to come out of Little Italy, and Deron Johnson, led the Cavers to the 1955 mythical national championship. Gumina was starting quarterback in 1954, Art’s senior year, and Powell was having trouble with Maley, who was terrific, but as they say, could be difficult.
“In 1954, Art checked out his football gear and joined the team for practice,” Pete says. “Two weeks later he decided he wasn’t playing football. Art leveled with me. He was upset with the coach for not lettering him the year before. I told him he was punishing his teammates, not the coach. He came back and we went to the CIF finals (losing 14-13 to Santa Monica).
“Art was a difference-maker. He belongs in the Hall of Fame.”
Powell went on to star at San Jose State. He had a 10-year NFL/AFL career, with Philly as a DB/returner (he refused to play in a 1960 exhibition game vs. Washington in Norfolk, Va., protesting when Black Eagles players had to stay in another hotel); the New York Titans (now Jets; Oakland, where he had a great five years; Buffalo; and Minnesota. He was on the AFL’s all-time team.
Powell was 6-3, 210, agile and fast. Final numbers: 105 games, 479 catches, 8,046 yards, 81 TDs.
Hall of Fame figures that figure for a Hall of Famer. …
Cowboys defensive end Sam Williams, no stranger to the problematic, has been bagged by Texas gendarmes for carrying an illegal substance and an illegal firearm. Under Lone Star State decree, the drugs could bring a jail sentence. The gun is a wrist-slap misdemeanor, but the punishment generally is much harsher in Texas if you’re not carrying a weapon. …
What constitutes an illegal firearm in Texas, a Tomahawk missile? …
Cowboys boss Jerry Jones is sloughing off the incident. This, is the NFL. “Just win, lawbreakers.” …
JaMarcus Russell and Ryan Leaf were of course two of the greatest draft quarterback busts. But when you consider all the stuff the 49ers gave up — three No. 1s and a third to Miami to move up to No. 3 in the order for Trey Lance — Russell and Leaf were inspired choices. They did make the Dolphins better, though. …
So the Niners have traded Lance to Dallas for a fourth-round pick. But look at it this way: Brock Purdy was the last pick in the 2022 draft, and he’s now their starter. …
Heismaned QB Caleb Williams says he hasn’t ruled out returning to USC in 2024. Why? To teach a class? There’s a better chance of me reliving Army basic training at Fort Bragg, N.C. …
Still, thanks to NIL Los Angeles/Hollywood money (which I told you about a long while back), Williams already is a millionaire. This could be a thing. If a high draft choice doesn’t want to go to an NFL team, he can sit out the draft in great comfort. …
I grew up loving track and field. I never thought the day would come when I would watch a World Championship 100-meter dash and think Noah Lyles’ 9.83 was slow. …
Great to see Sha’Carri Richardson winning the women’s 100 meters after being banned for marijuana. Every stoner who ever rolled a fattie knows pot is a performance-enhancer that makes you fast enough to run down a Frito-Lay truck on the I-5 at 3 a.m. …
And Mount Miguel High’s Laulauga Tausaga wins the women’s discus. A wonderful surprise. …
NBC thinks we know the metric system. You have to tell us what an event is in feet and inches, suits. I am European by heritage, not birth. ...
If the Pope gives me a detailed explanation regarding the track and field ascendancy in the short races and jumps by tiny Jamaica, I’ll say, “Thank you for your insight, Papa, but I don’t believe you.” I’ll then take his woodshed penance with me into the confessional. …
The Padres have the easiest schedule remaining in the National League. People pointing this out forget: So do the teams playing them. …
Stephen Strasburg is retiring at 35. So many what-ifs tattooed on his brilliant-but-fragile Tiffany arm. And yet very few among us achieve moments of greatness in our lives. He may have been a comet, but he did. …
Mr. Ed could have been the best horse of all time. But he talked too much, eventually put people off and fell out of the A-List loop, spending his later years sandwich-boarding a Basque restaurant in Bakersfield. …
The Yankees lose all those games in a row and George Costanza still has trouble getting Steinbrenner to fire him. …
RIP, Bob Barker. The best. And he beat the hell out of my least-favorite actor in a golf movie. …
Babe Ruth said he drank beer to keep brewery workers on the job. You’d think nobody could drink that much, but it’s the same here, with pasta and flour mill laborers. …
MLB advises the White Sox that, when they have a “Weapons Night,” it would be wise not to include ammunition. …
Imagine, people are getting shot and the game goes on. Chicago cops say Guaranteed Rate Field remains the safest place on the Southside. Guaranteed. …
Ernie Banks was a car salesman during the offseason? “Let’s buy two!” …
Do Bob Melvin critics who wanted Bruce Bochy — a great manager — believe that, if Bob were running the Rangers, he would lose eight straight? …
Colleagues in my circle know who asks the dumbest questions. Here’s one from me: “With all that ‘Hurricane’ Hillary rain falling — especially in the East County — do our water rates get lowered?” …
Even our hurricanes can’t hit anything.