Mini Reunion

Last Friday I drove south for the funeral of a high school teammate’s mother. Well over a hundred in the service. Many good things were said about Roger Jackson’s mother. My teammates Jessie Anthony (right), Johnny Hollingshed (left), and Jerry Anderson (hat) were there. I had caught up with Jessie and Roger ten years ago at our 40th reunion but it was the first time since high school for Jerry and Johnny – both of who work several jobs, including both at Anderson’s Diner.

Johnny was a year younger than me, and is quite the character. After the service he worked the room at the repass luncheon, and several others came up to talk to him. Hollingshed told the story of having a good game against Northeast, drawing praise from the coaches, but the ire from seniors Randy Rutherford and Ray Patterson. Randy went hard against Johnny the next week at practice, resulting ina head to head collision that left Johnny dazed. Might’ve knocked him out.

That reminded me of the 9th grade practice when Greg “Bear” Williams burst through the line and hit me just after I had kicked, catching me with my right leg in the air. I fell backwards and hit head-first, knocking me out cold. When I woke up the entire team was circled around me. Johnny said the Bear had moved back into town to take care of his parents – and called Bear up right then and there, and handed me the phone! We had a nice quick chat.

After high school Roger, Jerry, Jessie, and Johnny were recruited to play football at HBCU’s. Several other teammates were as well, included Clement Troutman and Wendell Rutherford, who played at Knoxville College with Jessie and Jerry. Johnny was being recruited by Steeler receiver John Stallworth to play at his alma mater, Alabama A&M. Johnny’s mother was scared he’s get hurt, so he took an academic scholarship to Middle Tennessee State instead. Our QB Mike Jolly was there at Middle Tennessee, a second stringer behind a lesser talented QB who was the coach’s favorite.

Jessie lives in Hampton and is retired, but stays busy with a small lawn care business. His son plays tight end and defensive end. Most days Jessie shares a Christian meme on the team text chat. At jerry’s sister’s recent funeral, Jessie read from the Old Testament. Despite all Jerry had been through, he still looks good. His slow gait may be the result of knee injuries from football.

I had gone over to speak to Roger before the meal. After we ate several people gave tributes to his mother. Roger had migrated over to speak to Jessie, Johnny, Jerry, and me. I happened to be standing next to Roger when his step brother was telling a funny story from our high school days. I was laughing right along with everyone. At one point of his story, the step brother hesitated before describing a problem teacher as white. In the gathering of 60-plus people, I was the only white person in the room. Roger put his arm around me and called to his step brother: “It’s okay – he’s cool”. I considered Roger’s gesture of acceptance as a compliment.

The luncheon was catered by a young woman who had started cooking as a side business while in the army. Fried chicken, beef tips on rice, collards, macaroni & cheese, cornbread, cakes, yams, and other Southern dishes. I walked out with Jessie, and quickly left town in an effort to beat rush hour traffic through Atlanta. I was not successful.

Denison: what Cracker Barrel has done is a textbook case of how not to rebrand. Jeff Rifkin says the company’s core message is, “We don’t care about our core audience. We’re too busy trying to appeal to everyone and satisfying no one.” Despite corporate explanations, Cracker Barrel erased the quirks and history that made people love their brand and thus lost touch with what it did best. Like many churches and denominations, we can change our theology to adapt to the popularity of LGBTQ and abortion ideologies. We can jettison our culturally unpopular belief that Jesus is the only way to salvation. despite the clear teachings of Acts 4:12, 1 Cor 3:11, and John 3:18. But if we abandon the core tenets of biblical Christianity, we lose touch with what we do best: offering the gospel, the only “power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16).