Minggu, 25 Oktober 2009

Black Cool and the Other Bernard King



Photo of Bernard King Today



Back in the 1980s SU had black guys starring in the pros such as Art Monk, Joe Morris, and Mike Charles. In addition I arrived on campus the same year as college football Hall of Famer and Heisman Runner up Don McPherson and basketball’s Pearl Washington. The basketball team also had Raff Addison a 6’ 8’’ forward and comedian who would have you rolling. This girl I became involved with introduced me to linebacker Bernard King (Griffith, Georgia). This 6’ 2’’ 230 soft spoken brother who could bench 400, run a 4.4 40, and had a 29 inch waste. At the start of the spring semester, Bernard invited me to a Friday night bible study that Paul and Sandy Jewel of Campus Bible Fellowship hosted at their home just around the corner from Manley Field House. There I met running backs Rodney Carter (Baltimore Polytechnic), and strong safety Vic Bellamy (Central, Philadelphia) as well as several other football players. These guys had several things in common: they remained committed disciples of Jesus Christ and strength coach Mike Woicik. And off the field they looked like cocked dieseled models ready to shoot a GQ casual wear layout. Particularly Bernard and Vic (also a beast), two starters on the SU defense who would go on to play pro ball, had something special about them that I liked. They had a black cool with an added dignity about them that I liked. They were not cocky just confident about who they were. In contrast up until that point in my life, I could best be described as cocky because I needed to mask my deep insecurity about who was as a student athlete with a learning disability and as a black man with a mulato ethos. For more on the other Bernard King see: http://www.cbfdelray.com/MeetthePastor.html.


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