The Wizard
Last night in Florence, the University of North Alabama’s athletic department put on a fund raiser for their program. It was first class with the guest speaker being Ozzie Newsome. Those of us who grew up with Ozzie near Leighton called him the Wizard of Oz, long before he arrived at the University of Alabama or the Cleveland Browns.
UNA outdid themselves. Each year, they have a sports celebrity as the keynote speaker. Former speakers have been Pete Rose, Archie Manning, Bill Walton, and Steve Spurrier. Ozzie was the first with strong connections to the Shoals area since he was a 1974 graduate of Colbert County High School. Oz and my sister, Susan, received almost every award that year.
It’s no coincidence that the Indians won the 1972 state championships in both basketball AND football. In addition to that, CCHS advanced in the state baseball playoffs also. Naturally, Ozzie was a member of all these teams.
Here were a few highlights that the Wizard talked about:
He played Little League in Muscle Shoals and was selected as an All-Star. At the time, there were fewer than 6 black players in the entire league. Ozzie came to Colbert County High as part of the freedom of choice program. From about 1965 until 1970, the black students had a choice of attending Leighton Training, the all-black school, or attending CCHS, the predominately white school. He was one of the trailblazers.
His first coach at Colbert County was my Dad as his junior high football coach. As an 8th grader, he thought he might want to play quarterback UNTIL he saw a ninth grader already at that position. The ninth grader? Phil Gargis who excelled at Auburn and is considered the best quarterback ever at CCHS.
When he got to high school, Oz got a rude awakening to the winning traditions at Colbert County. It started with the infamous CT Manley football camp at the river in August. According to Ozzie, he said he wasn’t sure football was for him. Maybe just basketball or baseball. The stories about football camp are ALL true. Here is a player who won state championships, was an All-American at Alabama, All-Pro with the Cleveland Browns, NFL general manager who went through numerous NFL training camps and was telling the audience that his high school football camp was one of the toughest things he ever had to do. In his own words: “At that camp, I learned about hard work, discipline and teamwork.”
Those of us in the audience last night or those reading this who survived the camp, make your chest puff out just a little more. He said it best with his comment about quitting but not being able to face his classmates afterwards.
So many of his stories were legendary. Ozzie rattled them off like they just happened. When CCHS left for Cullman to play the state football championship game, the bus ran in the ditch. When they got south of Leighton, the bus had a blowout. When the flat tire issue was taken care of, the bus arrived in Cullman for the state championship game, 15 minutes before kickoff. (I was there as a Bama student and fan) The score was tied 14-14 at halftime. After Jack Manley gave the team an attitude adjustment and extensive warmups, Phil Gargis hit Ozzie for a 71-yard touchdown pass and the Indians never looked back winning 41-14. To this day, every great team is always compared to the 72 team.
When Ozzie was asked about playing for Coach Bryant, he spoke in a tone of reverence. He started almost every game at Bama and his old high school teammate; Thad Flanagan was the other wide receiver. He had a couple of subtle hints about his love for Alabama. “We went 4-0 against Auburn when I was there.”
He mentioned a quick story about getting the big head before his senior year. He was already an All-American and had started cutting some corners. In the first big fall scrimmage, Oz figured the first team would get a couple of series then retreat for the sidelines while the backups got more reps.
After a quick touchdown pass to him, ALL pf the starters were pulled EXCEPT for Qzzie. He was now running with the second team. He was getting worn out. Coach Bryant kept bring in the 3rd and 4th string but made Newsome run with each of them. When he missed a fatigue-induced drop, Bryant called him over and told him if he EVER cut corners again, he was going to call Ozzie’s mother. That’s all it took and he responded with a new work ethic.
Ozzie really opened up about his relationship with the Cleveland Browns and owner, Art Modell. Modell gave the Wiz a chance when others presented closed doors. He said Modell was one of the most compassionate men he ever knew.
After Newsome went to the Baltimore Ravens, he told the 500+ crowd about drafting Jonathon Ogden and Ray Lewis in the same draft. One will go down as the best left tackle to play and the other as the most intimidating linebacker in the NFL.
My entire family has allegiance to North Alabama. My mother, dad and me all got our master’s from UNA. My brother started his college days there as a freshman basketball player. My sister went there to summer school and my Aunt Vera got her teaching certificate from UNA.
North Alabama’s population just surpassed 11,000. My good friend, Mack Mauldin, is the CEO of Bank Independent who has the naming rights to the brand new on-campus football stadium.
Nothing feels better than being able to visit with the REAL Wizard of Oz.
Walk tall Ozzie.
You made us all proud.