Ernie Davis And The Bobby Mitchell Golf Classic; Also, Art Monk Deals With The Same Old Questions In A Different Form
It shouldn't have taken me as long to realize as it did; the mental arithmetic isn't all that complicated. Still, I had been planning to attend today's press preview of The 19th Annual Bobby Mitchell/TOYOTA Hall of Fame Golf Classic for almost a week before I put it all together.See the, golf classic (as I've exhaustively mentioned) is a benefit for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. And Redskins great Bobby Mitchell is the founder of the tournament.
Mitchell came to Washington in a 1962 trade with the Cleveland Browns. The Redskins received Mitchell and first-round pick Leroy Jackson; the Browns received standout Syracuse running back Ernie Davis. Davis died of leukemia before he could play a down of football in Cleveland, a story that recently made its way to the movies as The Express: The Ernie Davis Story.
"It was the first time I heard the word 'leukemia,' was because of Ernie," Mitchell told me when I asked about the connection. "I'd never heard of it before, and we lost him and he never got a chance to play.
"It was kinda frightening," he continued, "because I'm looking at him and -- to me -- Ernie Davis coming out of Syracuse was another Jim Brown. And I had played four years with Jim, so I knew what that meant. And all of a sudden someone's saying, 'This kid can't play. He's gonna pass.' "
And I'm saying, 'Jim Brown can't die!'
"And that was the effect. So when I got here to Washington, when I was approached by the Leukemia Society to help out, that was one of the things that got me to do something."
Mitchell was initially polite but somewhat dismissive when I asked about the movie version, shrugging and saying, "I would say fifty percent of it was right on about him."
Then he stopped and thought for a few seconds. "There will be those who say it's just another flick, but there will also be people whose families suffer with this [leukemia] who be will happy that there will be a focus coming from it. I think it helps in that sense," he said, before heading out to the putting tournament.
Redskins great Art Monk -- also a Syracuse guy -- was a bit more charitable about the movie. "I thought it was great," he told me. "I thought it was well done. The message to be got out of it, was right on point."
But, I suggested, you must've been really familiar with Davis's story, right? "To be honest, no," he said. "I knew about Ernie Davis, I knew some things about him, but the movie revealed some things that I just didn't know. I think the best thing about that movie, for Ernie Davis, is that a lot of people just didn't know anything about him, except for, maybe, his name."
I also asked Monk how it felt heading into a Hall of Fame enshrinement without having to worry about if he was ever going to get in, and he sighed. "A little different. It's not something I really thought about anyway. If it was to happen, it would happen, and if it didn't...."
As he trailed off, I realized that what he had started saying was pretty much exactly what he had said every year when the question was if he would ever get in at all, and I laughed. "I guess you figured that maybe you were done with this question, huh?" I suggested.
"No, unfortunately not," he said. "The media asks questions, so I expect it. But it's great to have the monkey off my back, I guess you could say. Being able to come to this tournament, what this means and what it supports, it's just terrific."
Vikings great Randall McDaniel, slated for enshrinement into the Hall next month, took in my Redskins shirt and shook his head. "I'm not used to seeing all these Redskins shirts and Redskins players," he said, so I told him to be glad that he hadn't been enshrined last year when Monk finally did get that monkey off his back.
"Oh, I was there," he said. " That was quite a scene."
"So," I asked, "have the long-time Hall Of Famers been hazing you? Making you carry their clubs or something?"
"I don't know," he said. "I'm gonna find out. They made me putt first today so they could see the line, but that's okay. I'm gonna take it all in as it goes and I'm gonna enjoy every moment no matter what. How can you not enjoy it? It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be amongst these guys." (McDaniel may be the only person on earth I've ever heard use "amongst" in conversation, and I'm glad I got it on tape.)
"I watched these guys," he continued. "They were my heroes that I watched play, some of them I played against and ... what an honor."
He shook his head and turned serious. "For the people that are here today, that are back every year for nineteen years, you bring in these people just to raise more awareness ... what an honor it is to be one of them. I didn't expect ... everybody says it's gonna change your life in ways, but I didn't realize how much. I mean, what an honor, that I can use this to help in any way."
Please read this earlier post for more information on attending the Bobby Mitchell Golf Classic and seeing the Hall of Famers in action.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-12-2009 @ 9:14PM
Brian Green said...
That is very touching that some Skins are involved in charity. A lot of people at their level of success & fame may not take the time. That says a lot about their character. I have actually been to charity golf outing with some former Redskins players. Most notably Brian Mitchell & Reggie (from da Starboard). They are all standup guys and I tip my hat to them. I was transferred to west coast for my job at end of last season and will not be seeing any Skins games at FedEx this year. I will miss em! Hail 2da Redskins!!!
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