For the second time in as many years, Grambling’s two most famous quarterback products have given a $10,000 gift to the Eddie G. Robinson Museum.
James “Shack” Harris and Doug Williams made the announcement on Sunday night at their foundation’s annual benefit auction at the Horseshoe Casino in Bossier City. A celebrity golf tournament continues today at Southern Trace in northwestern Louisiana.
Harris played for Robinson in the 1960s. Williams would become a Heisman Trophy candidate for Robinson a decade later. Between them, they helped Grambling to a total of six league crowns.
Robert Clark, representing the Friends of the Eddie Robinson Museum, accepted the second donation. The James Harris and Doug Williams Foundation presented $10,000 in 2008 to Robinson’s wife Doris and son Eddie Jr. (Click here for a slideshow of images from last year.)
“The world had a chance to really understand who Coach Robinson was — and what his legacy was all about,” Williams said. “With Eddie Robinson out there for everybody to see, people found out that he was no ordinary football coach. He was about more than winning 400-something games. This museum keeps that going.”
Robinson retired a decade ago after 57 seasons at Grambling as the winningest football coach in college history with 408 wins. A museum in his honor was first proposed in 1999 — two years after Robinson left the bench at Grambling and several before the onset of the Alzheimer’s-related symptoms that ultimately led to his death in 2007.
Since, the project has quickly gained momentum. Louisiana’s Bond Commission approved $1.3 million in funding — the first state dollars ever allocated to the project — in May of 2008. That came just weeks after a proposal to house the exhibits in the former women’s gymnasium on Grambling’s campus received final approval from the university’s oversight board.
A groundbreaking followed in September, and ongoing renovation efforts at the gym have already completely redrawn the space.
“When we talk about celebrating heroes, you can’t find an better individual to celebrate,” Williams said. “We want to honor and to help keep that legacy alive. This is a museum that will serve Louisiana and so many people around Louisiana, but will also educate those who are just passing through.”
Among those in attendance on Sunday were former Grambling standout athletes Willis Reed, the NBA hall of famer; Frank Lewis and Everson Walls, Super Bowl champions with the Steelers and Giants, respectively; and former GSU All-America fullback Henry Dyer, a first-ballot inductee into the new Grambling Legends Hall of Fame.
The coaches included: Former Robinson assistant Doug Porter, inducted into the College Hall of Fame last summer; Herman Boone, inspiration for the film “Remember The Titans”; and Rod Broadway, in his third year at Grambling.
Lewis, Dyer and Porter are pictured at left signing Grambling memorabilia in Bossier.
Harris helped Grambling to a 24-5-1 record between 1965-68, winning four straight Southwestern Athletic Conference titles. A Heisman Trophy finalist, Williams claimed league championships in 1974 and ’77, a run that included offensive player of the year honors in his final collegiate campaign.
Harris then became the first black to be drafted into the NFL as a quarterback, the first to start a pro season, and then a playoff game. Williams was the first black passer to start a Super Bowl, the first — and still only — one to win the game and to collect most valuable player honors.
Harris was hired as senior personnel executive with the NFL’s Detroit Lions last February, while Williams — who succeeded Robinson as coach at Grambling — has promoted the same month to coordinator of pro scouting with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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TheDerisoReport.com’s photo slideshow from this year’s event can be found here.
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