Hank Aaron

Hank Aaron, who faced down racism as he eclipsed Babe Ruth as baseball’s home run king, hitting 755 homers and holding the most celebrated record in sports for more than 30 years, has died. He was 86.

The Atlanta Braves, his team for many years, confirmed the death on Friday in a message from its chairman, Terry McGuirk. No other details were provided.

[photo] Hank Aaron was among the greatest all-around players in baseball history, earning his home run record in the face of hate mail and even death threats.Credit...Mark Rucker/Transcendental Graphics, via Getty Images By Richard Goldstein

Playing for 23 seasons, all but his final two years with the Braves in Milwaukee and then Atlanta, Aaron was among the greatest all-around players in baseball history and one of the last major league stars to have played in the Negro leagues.

But his pursuit of Ruth’s record of 714 home runs proved a deeply troubling affair beyond the pressures of the ball field. When he hit his 715th home run, on the evening of April 8, 1974, against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, he prevailed in the face of hate mail and even death threats spewing outrage that a Black man could supplant a white baseball icon.

Aaron was routinely brilliant, performing with seemingly effortless grace, but he had little flash, notwithstanding his nickname in the sports pages, Hammerin’ Hank. He long felt that he had not been accorded the recognition he deserved.

He played for teams far beyond the news media centers of New York and the West Coast, and his Braves won only two pennants and a single World Series championship, those coming long before he approached Ruth’s record.

Aaron did not enjoy the idolatry accorded the Yankees’ Mickey Mantle or match the exuberance and electric presence of the Giants’ Willie Mays, his outfield contemporaries and rivals for acclamation as the greatest ballplayer in major league history.

But when he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982, his first year of eligibility, Aaron received 97.8 percent of the vote from baseball writers, second at the time only to Ty Cobb, who was inducted in 1936.

Aaron grew up in Alabama amid rigid segregation and its humiliations, and he faced abuse from the stands while playing in the South as a minor leaguer. Years later, he felt that Braves fans were largely indifferent or hostile to him as he chased Ruth’s record. And the baseball commissioner at the time, Bowie Kuhn, was not present when he hit his historic 715th home run.

All that, and especially the hate mail that besieged him, seared Aaron for years to come.

As the 20th anniversary of his home run feat approached in the early 1990s, he told the sports columnist William C. Rhoden of The New York Times, “April 8, 1974, really led up to turning me off on baseball.”

“It really made me see for the first time a clear picture of what this country is about,” he said. “My kids had to live like they were in prison because of kidnap threats, and I had to live like a pig in a slaughter camp. I had to duck. I had to go out the back door of the ball parks. I had to have a police escort with me all the time. I was getting threatening letters every single day. All of these things have put a bad taste in my mouth, and it won’t go away. They carved a piece of my heart away.”

Aaron’s achievements went well beyond his home run prowess. In fact, he never hit as many as 50 homers in a single season.

He was a two-time National League batting champion and had a career batting average of .305. He was the league’s most valuable player in 1957, when the Milwaukee Braves won their only World Series championship. He was voted an All-Star in all but his first and last seasons, and he won three Gold Glove awards for his play in right field.

Aaron combined with the Hall of Fame third baseman Eddie Mathews for 863 home runs during their 13 years together on the Braves, the most ever for two teammates.

Aaron remains No. 1 in the major leagues in total bases (6,856) and runs batted in (2,297); No. 2 in at-bats (12,364), behind Pete Rose; and No. 3 in hits (3,771), behind Rose and Cobb.  He won the National League’s single-season home run title four times, though his highest total was only 47, in 1971. Matching his jersey number, he hit exactly 44 home runs in four different seasons.

[Image] On April 4, 1974, Aaron hit his 714th home run, tying Ruth’s record, during a game against the Cincinnati Reds before a sellout crowd of 52,154 at Riverfront Stadium.  Credit...Associated Press

At six feet tall and 180 pounds, Aaron was hardly the picture of a slugger, but he had thick, powerful wrists, enabling him to whip the bat out of his right-handed stance with uncommon speed.

“He had great forearms and wrists,” Lew Burdette, the outstanding Braves pitcher, recalled in Danny Peary’s oral history “We Played the Game” (1994). “He could be fooled completely and be way out on his front foot, and the bat would still be back, and he’d just roll his wrists and hit the ball out of the ballpark.”

Aaron was quick on the bases and in the outfield.

“There aren’t five men faster in baseball, and no better base runner,” Bobby Bragan, Aaron’s manager in the mid-1960s, told Sports Illustrated. “If you need a base, he’ll steal it quietly. If you need a shoestring catch, he’ll make it, and his hat won’t fly off and he won’t fall on his butt. He does it like DiMaggio.”

Aaron was a keen student of pitching and kept himself in excellent shape.

“I concentrated on the pitchers,” he said in his memoir, “I Had a Hammer” (1991, with Lonnie Wheeler). “I didn’t stay up nights worrying about my weight distribution, or the location of my hands, or the turn of my hips: I stayed up thinking about the pitcher I was going to face the next day. I used to play every pitcher in my mind before I went to the ballpark.”

Dusty Baker, later a longtime manager, was mentored by Aaron when he was a young player with the Braves.

“Nobody had concentration like he did, sitting there in the dugout, looking at the pitcher through the little hole in his cap to focus on the release point,” Baker once said. “Never saw anyone do that before Hank.”

Baker said Aaron had been hampered by sciatic nerve problems but had the ability to “think away the pain and to condition himself like no other baseball player of his time.”

The San Francisco Giants’ Barry Bonds surpassed Aaron’s home run record in August 2007 and went on to hit 762 homers. But many inside baseball and out considered Bonds’s achievement to be tainted by suspicions that he had used performance-enhancing drugs in what came to be known as baseball’s steroid era, when bulked-up players achieved stunning feats of slugging.

Aaron did not speak out on steroid use, but he declined to follow Bonds around the league to witness his 756th home run. When it came in San Francisco against the Washington Nationals, Aaron limited himself to a message on the stadium’s video board: “My hope today, as it was on that April evening in 1974, is that the achievement of this record will inspire others to chase their own dreams.”

[photo] Aaron began the 1952 season with the Negro leagues’ Indianapolis Clowns, but he was signed in June by the Braves, who were in their last season in Boston. Credit...Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, Inc.

A Path Away From Poverty

Henry Louis Aaron was born on Feb. 5, 1934, in Mobile, Ala., one of eight children of Herbert and Estella (Pritchett) Aaron. His father worked in shipyards. His mother joined with her husband in overseeing a close-knit family. She encouraged Henry (he never liked being called Hank, as he would customarily be known on the sports pages) to consider going to college.

In March 1948, a year after Jackie Robinson broke the modern major league color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Robinson was in Mobile for a spring training game. Henry Aaron was in the crowd of Black youngsters who had gathered in town to hear Robinson tell them of the possibilities that would be opening to Black people.

Robinson spoke of the need to strive for a good education. But Henry, only 14 but already a talented sandlot ballplayer, cared little for his high school studies. He idolized Robinson and envisioned professional baseball as the road to escaping poverty and segregation.

While a teenager, he played alongside men many years his senior as a shortstop for the semipro Mobile Black Bears. (Mobile over the years was a breeding ground for top baseball talent, producing Satchel Paige and later the Hall of Famers Billy Williams and Willie McCovey.) He was then signed by the Negro leagues’ Indianapolis Clowns, a barnstorming team that combined entertainment with baseball, much like basketball’s Harlem Globetrotters.

After beginning the 1952 season with the Clowns, Aaron was signed in June by the Braves, who were in their last season in Boston. They assigned him to play for their farm team in Eau Claire, Wis., and he was named the Northern League’s rookie of the year that season.

He was promoted in 1953 to play second base for the Jacksonville, Fla., team of the South Atlantic League, or the Sally League, becoming one of the circuit’s first five Black players.

Now he was back in the Old South.

“The whites used to yell from the stands and call us alligator bait,” Felix Mantilla, an infielder from Puerto Rico who roomed with Aaron at Jacksonville and later joined him in Milwaukee, told Howard Bryant in “The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron” (2010).  “Jacksonville wasn’t so bad. But places like Columbus and Macon, those places were wicked.”

Aaron led the Sally League in hitting and was voted its most valuable player. But he was a poor infielder, so he learned to play the outfield in Puerto Rican winter ball and in 1954 earned a trip to spring training with the Braves, who were in their second season in Milwaukee.

Historic Career Begins

When outfielder Bobby Thomson, newly acquired from the New York Giants (less than three years after his celebrated pennant-winning homer at the Polo Grounds), broke an ankle during the exhibition season, Aaron took his place.

He hit his first major league home run on April 23, at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis, off the Cardinals’ Vic Raschi, the former Yankee standout. Thomson returned in July, but Aaron remained a regular until he, too, broke an ankle early in September. He finished with 13 home runs and a .280 batting average.

Aaron emerged as a star in 1955, hitting .314, and he won his first batting title the following season, batting .328. When he was voted the National League’s Most Valuable Player in 1957, he came close to capturing the batting triple crown, leading the league in home runs (44) and runs batted in (132) and finishing in a tie for third place in hitting with a .322 average.

[photo] In 1957, Warren Giles, the president of the National League, presented Aaron with the award for winning the league’s batting title in 1956. Credit...Associated Press

The Braves won their first pennant in Milwaukee in 1957, clinching it with Aaron’s 11th-inning home run against the Cardinals on Sept. 23.

In the World Series, Aaron hit .393 with three home runs as the Braves defeated the Yankees in seven games. Milwaukee won the pennant again in 1958, this time losing to the Yankees in a seven-game World Series.

Aaron had his only three-homer game on June 21, 1959, at the San Francisco Giants’ Seals Stadium, their home before moving to Candlestick Park. He won his second batting title that season, hitting .355, but the Braves lost a pennant playoff to the Dodgers.

Aaron’s younger brother Tommie joined the Braves in 1962, playing regularly as a first baseman and outfielder, and on June 12, the brothers hit home runs in the same game, against the Dodgers. On Aug. 20, 1965, Aaron and Mathews became the No. 1 home run tandem in major league history, surpassing the mark of 722 homers hit by Ruth and Lou Gehrig with the Yankees.

With the Braves no longer pennant contenders and attendance declining, they moved to Atlanta in 1966. But they returned to the top of the standings in 1969, capturing the National League West after a divisional alignment and the playoff system had been put into place.

In the first National League Championship Series, Aaron hit three home runs, but the Braves were swept in three games in the year of the Miracle Mets.

Aaron became the ninth player to achieve the 3,000-hit milestone when he singled against the Reds at Crosley Field in Cincinnati on May 17, 1970. In February 1972, he became the highest-paid player in baseball history, signing a three-year, $600,000 deal (about $3.7 million in today’s money).

When he won the home run title in 1957 with 44, Aaron was slashing line drives all over the park, almost half of them having been opposite-field homers, to right field. But by the early 1970s he was pulling the ball more. He hit 34 home runs in the strike-shortened 1972 season.

A Record Nears

As Aaron chased Ruth’s record in 1973, he finally emerged as a national figure. He appeared on the covers of Time and Newsweek and was sought out for television and newspaper interviews.

Charles Schulz, whose “Peanuts” comic strip had become a staple of national popular culture, turned his attention to Aaron in August 1973 with drawings that ridiculed the bigots besieging him.

Aaron received some 930,000 pieces of fan mail, but among the good wishes were numerous racist letters. Some contained threats, and those were turned over to the F.B.I. The Braves hired two Atlanta police officers to sit in the stands while off duty, overlooking Aaron in the outfield, in the event of trouble.

Aaron was 39 years old that season and appeared in only 120 games. After he hit his 700th home run on July 21 off the Philadelphia Phillies’ Ken Brett in Atlanta, he said he was “kind of disappointed” over the failure of Commissioner Kuhn to convey congratulations. Kuhn responded by saying he was one of Aaron’s biggest rooters, and he promised to lead the celebration when he hit Nos. 714 and 715.

Aaron hit 40 home runs in the 1973 season, leaving him one shy of Ruth’s record, with 713.

Image As Aaron chased Ruth’s record in 1973, he finally emerged as a national figure. He appeared on “The Flip Wilson Show” in October of that year.  Credit...United Press International

The off-season was filled with anticipation, and it also held commercial opportunities. Though Aaron had received few promotional offers in his career, the television manufacturer Magnavox signed him in January 1974 to a five-year, $1 million contract in anticipation of his breaking Ruth’s record.

But there were troubles anew as spring training loomed. The Braves’ ownership said it intended to keep Aaron out of the team’s three-game season-opening series in Cincinnati so that he would have a chance to tie and break Ruth’s record when the team returned for its opening homestand, a presumed box-office bonanza.

Aaron seemed amenable enough. “The people of Atlanta are the people I have to please,” he said at a sports dinner. “I believe I owe it to them.”

But Kuhn told the Braves that he expected them to play Aaron in at least two of the three games in Cincinnati, citing the integrity of the game.

Aaron was in the lineup when the Braves opened against the Reds on Thursday afternoon, April 4, before a sellout crowd of 52,154 at Riverfront Stadium. He came to the plate in the first inning with two men on base and one out, facing Jack Billingham, a 19-game winner the previous season. Aaron let the first four pitches go by, the count reaching 3 and 1, and then Billingham delivered a sinker that headed toward the outside part of the plate but tailed in. Aaron lashed a rising liner that cleared the 12-foot-high wall slightly to the left of the 375-foot sign in left-center field.

No. 714 flashed on the scoreboard above the upper deck in center field as a Cincinnati police officer caught the baseball on the first bounce after it had fallen into the gap between the outfield fence and a high wall fronting the stands. Aaron trotted around the bases, his head held high, his elbows back.

Image  Bowie Kuhn, the baseball commissioner, presented Aaron with a trophy on the field in Cincinnati after his 714th home run.  Credit...Bob Johnson/Associated Press

He received a standing ovation as his teammates swarmed out of their dugout to greet him. Moments later, Kuhn and Vice President Gerald R. Ford, who had thrown out the first ball, went onto the field to congratulate him. A member of the Reds’ grounds crew retrieved the baseball from the police officer, and it was presented to Aaron.

Later in the game, Aaron was retired twice and walked. He was not in the starting lineup for the second game in Cincinnati but played in the third game after Kuhn threatened penalties against the Braves if he were held out again. Aaron went homerless in that game in any case, remaining tied with Ruth.

The Braves opened their home schedule the following Monday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers, before a record home crowd of 53,775. In the fourth inning, with a misty rain falling and nobody on base, Aaron strode to the plate, facing the left-hander Al Downing. Ball one.

Next came a fastball down the middle, and Aaron connected. He drove the ball 400 feet over the left-center field fence for home run No. 715.

Image  Aaron watched the flight of the ball on his 715th home run. He broke a record that had stood since Ruth hit his last major league home run in 1935.  Credit...Harry Harris/Associated Press

The fans erupted with an 11-minute ovation, and Tom House, a reliever for the Braves, returned the ball from the Atlanta bullpen.

The veteran Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully waited while the roars resounded, and then he spoke to the history of the moment, on the diamond and beyond it.

“What a marvelous moment for baseball,” he said. “What a marvelous moment for Atlanta and the state of Georgia. What a marvelous moment for the country and the world. A Black man is getting a standing ovation in the Deep South for breaking a record of an all-time baseball idol.”

Aaron’s parents came onto the field, and there were hugs all around. Aaron was finally receiving the adulation that he had long felt his due. In addition to the Magnavox deal, there were some 230 “Atlanta Salutes Hank Aaron” billboards posted around the city, with corporate sponsorship.

Image  Aaron held aloft his 715th home run ball after Tom House, a reliever for the Braves, had returned it to him from the Atlanta bullpen.  Credit...Associated Press

But when Aaron hit homer No. 715, Kuhn was not present. The commissioner was in Cleveland, speaking to an Indians booster organization. He sent Monte Irvin, an official in his office and one of baseball’s first outstanding African-American players, with the New York Giants, to represent him. Aaron viewed it as a snub, and he did not forget it.

In mid-June, when the Braves played the Mets in their first series of the season at Shea Stadium, Aaron was presented with New York City’s Gold Medal, its highest award, by Mayor Abraham D. Beame in a ceremony outside City Hall. He toured Harlem in a motorcade and spoke to 5,000 young people at Marcus Garvey Park.

But there were discordant notes as well. When Mathews, his slugging teammate, was fired as manager just before the 1974 All-Star Game, Aaron said he felt “a little bit insulted” at not being offered the opportunity to become major league baseball’s first Black manager.

The post went instead to Clyde King, a veteran baseball man. The following season, Frank Robinson, who died in 2019, became the first Black manager, with the Indians.

Back to Milwaukee

Aaron had little interest in continuing to play for the Braves after the 1974 season. He felt that notwithstanding Atlanta’s reputation as a progressive representative of the New South, he had received only tepid backing from the fans as he neared Ruth’s record. And he heard racial abuse from some fans that reminded him of his minor league days in the Sally League.

“I didn’t expect the fans to give me a standing ovation every time I stepped on the field, but I thought a few of them might come over to my side as I approached Ruth,” Aaron said in his memoir. “At the very least, I felt I had earned the right not be verbally abused and racially ravaged in my home ballpark.”

The modern civil rights movement made historic gains during Aaron’s career, but he knew that the road to equal treatment remained long.

“Any Black who thinks the same thing can’t happen today is sadly mistaken,” he told The Times in 1994. “It happens now with people in three-piece suits instead of with hoods on.”

Early on in his career, Black players were barred from hotels where white teammates stayed during spring training in Florida. Aaron joined with Bill Bruton, the Braves’ African-American center fielder, in pressing management for change, with no immediate success. Although Aaron wasn’t vocal on the larger civil rights scene, he became interested in the writings of James Baldwin, decrying patience in the face of racism.

Aaron contributed a chapter to “Baseball Has Done It,” Jackie Robinson’s 1964 collection of first-person accounts from baseball figures telling of their battles against racism.

“I’ve read some newspapermen saying I was just a dumb kid from the South with no education and all I knew was to go out there and hit,” Aaron wrote. “Baseball has done a lot for me, given me an education in meeting other kinds of people,” he continued. But he added pointedly, “It has taught me that regardless of who you are and how much money you make, you are still a Negro.”

Following his record-breaking 1974 season, Aaron was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers of the American League. He signed a two-year contract at $240,000 a season that enabled him to close out his major league career in the city where it began. In those two years, he hit 22 home runs, his 755th and final one coming on July 20, 1976, against Dick Drago of the California Angels.

That same year, Aaron was named the Braves’ vice president in charge of player development, overseeing their farm system. He held that post until 1989. He was later a senior vice president of the Braves and worked on behalf of the Hank Aaron Chasing the Dream Foundation, which helped gifted children develop their talent. His business interests included auto dealerships and fast-food restaurants.

The Atlanta Braves retired Aaron’s No. 44 in April 1977 and unveiled a statue, depicting him swinging, at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in 1982. They moved it to their second home, Turner Field, in 1997. The address of that facility, now known as Georgia State Stadium, is 755 Hank Aaron Drive.

A new statue that captures the moment of impact between bat and ball on Aaron’s 715th home run was created by the Atlanta-based artist Ross Rossin for SunTrust Park (now Truist Park), to which the Braves moved for the 2017 season.

Accolades in Later Years

On the 25th anniversary of Aaron’s 715th home run, Major League Baseball created the Hank Aaron Award, given annually to the players with the best overall offensive performances in each league.

Aaron received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award, from President George W. Bush in 2002. The citation said he “embodies the true spirit of our nation.” The Baseball Hall of Fame opened a permanent exhibit in 2009 chronicling Aaron’s life. His childhood home was moved on a flatbed truck to the grounds of Hank Aaron Stadium, which was the home of the Mobile BayBears, a former minor league team, and opened as a museum in 2010.

Aaron is the 10th Baseball Hall of Famer to die since last April, and the third this year alone. The longtime Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda and the pitcher Don Sutton both died this month.

Image  Aaron and his wife, Billye, at a ceremony celebrating the 40th anniversary of his 715th home run before the start of a game between the Braves and the Mets in Atlanta on April 8, 2014. Credit...David Goldman/Associated Press

Aaron’s survivors include his wife, Billye; two sons, Lary and Henry Jr., and two daughters, Dorinda and Gaile, all of whom he had with his first wife, Barbara (the marriage ended in divorce); and his daughter Ceci, from Billye Aaron’s first marriage. His brother Tommie, who played intermittently for the Braves for six seasons after his rookie year as a regular, died of leukemia in 1984 at age 45.

When Aaron celebrated his 80th birthday in February 2014, Billye Aaron and the baseball commissioner at the time, Bud Selig, hosted a party at the Hay-Adams hotel in Washington, where President Barack Obama and his family lived for two weeks before his first inauguration.

“There’s a young man who lives right over there whose life’s path was made easier by Henry Aaron,” Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said as he glanced at the White House across the street, Sports Illustrated reported.

The Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery unveiled an oil painting of Aaron by Mr. Rossin to mark the occasion.

The Braves honored Aaron at their home opener on April 8, 2014, the 40th anniversary of his breaking Ruth’s record. Though weak from a partial hip replacement after a fall, he spoke briefly. The number 715 had been mowed into the outfield grass, where 715 fans held baseball-shaped signs, each with a number and a date signifying every one of those home runs.

Aaron, Mays, Sandy Koufax and Johnny Bench were selected by fan balloting as the four greatest living players in a promotion leading up to the 2015 All-Star Game at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. They were introduced on the field before the first pitch.

Unique Among His Peers

For virtually all his major league career, Aaron competed against Willie Mays.

“It’s just not my way to be flashy or flamboyant the way, say, Willie is,” Aaron said in a 1970 interview with Sport magazine. “I have my own even rhythm, and I guess it just doesn’t attract the kind of attention that a more colorful style does.”

Both were raised in Alabama (Mays in Westfield and then Fairfield, about 225 miles north of Mobile), and they both played in the Negro leagues. But there was a perception of frostiness between them. When they were interviewed together by Bob Costas in 2008 for his HBO program “Costas Now,” they played down any antagonism. Aaron said there had been “competition” but “no resentment, no animosity.”

Aaron crossed baseball paths with Mickey Mantle in two World Series and in All-Star Games.

“If they had a choice of who they wanted to break Babe Ruth’s record, it would have been Mickey Mantle first,” he once said. “Mickey was like Marilyn Monroe. He didn’t have to be the greatest ballplayer. He had that charisma. The Yankees had won all those pennants.”

When he was inducted into the Hall of Fame, Aaron felt he had finally been accorded the respect he deserved. But he did not slight the Babe.

“It was always this player and that player and then Henry Aaron, but now I think I’m appreciated,” Aaron said. As for Ruth’s devotees: “I never wanted them to forget Babe Ruth. I just wanted them to remember Henry Aaron.”

NFL 2020

1/11/21 - Eagles fire Doug Pederson three seasons after winning Super Bowl

1/7/21 - Chan Gailey resigns as Miami offensive coordinator

1/4/21 - Jacksonville fires Doug Marrone after 1-15 season

1/4/21 - Chargers fire Anthony Lynn after four seasons

1/4/21 - Jets fire Adam Gase after two seasons

10/26/20 - NFL fines Titans for COVID-19 violations

10/11/20 - Atlanta fires Dan Quinn and GM Thomas Dimitroff

10/6/20 - Houston fires Bill O'Brien

9/13/20 - NFL displays their stance on social injustice

9/5/20 - Deshaun Watson agrees to 4 year $160 million contract exension

8/17/20 - Washington hires Jason Wright as NFL's first black team president
7/29/20 - Joey Bosa signs 5 year $135 million extension
7/23/20 - Washington to be called Washington Football Team
7/22/20 - NFL cancels preseason games
7/7/20 - Mahomes signs 10-year contract extension worth a record $503 million
6/28/20 - New England signs Cam Newton for the minimum
5/22/20 - Flacco signing with Jets
5/2/20 - Andy Dalton agrees to sign with Dallas
4/30/20 - Bengals releasing Andy Dalton
4/26/20 - Jameis Winston to sign with Saints
4/21/20 - New England to trade Gronkowski to Tampa Bay for fourth round pick
4/8/20 - Tom Brady interview with Howard Stern
3/24/20 - Carolina releases Cam Newton after getting no trade takers
3/20/20 - Todd Gurley signs with Atlanta
3/19/20 - Rams release Todd Gurley [exiting with at least 34.5 million for two years]
3/17/20 - Tom Brady reportedly will sign with Tampa Bay for $30 million per season
3/17/20 - Philip Rivers signs with Colts for one year, $25 million
3/17/20 - Carolina will sign Teddy Bridewater for three years, $63 million to replace Cam Newton
3/17/20 - Tom Brady won't return to Patriots
3/17/20 - Drew Brees to stay with Saints for $50 million, two years
3/16/20 - DeForest Buckner traded from San Francisco to Buffalo for first round pick (13th overall)
3/16/20 - Marcus Mariota headed to the Las Vegas Raiders
3/16/20 - Houston trades DeAndre Hopkins to Arizona for David Johnson and second-round pick in 2020 and fourth-round pick in 2021.
3/16/20 - Amari Cooper staying in Dallas for five years, $100 million
3/16/20 - Stefon Diggs (and a seventh round pick) traded from Minnesota to Buffalo for first-round, fifth-round, sixth-round pick, plus fourth-round pick in 2021.
1/22/20 - Eli Manning announces retirement
1/17/20 - Giants hire Jason Garrett as offensive coordinator
1/14/20 - Luke Kuechly retires at 28
1/12/20 - Cleveland hires Minnesota offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski as head coach
1/7/20 - Giants to hire Patriots wide receiver coach Joe Judge as next head coach
1/7/20 - Carolina to hire Baylor's Matt Ruhl as new head coach
1/6/20 - Cowboys to hire Mike McCarthy to replace Jason Garrett
1/2/20 - Redskins hire Ron Rivera as new head coach, Jack Del Rio as defensive coordinator
12/29/19 - Cleveland fires Freddie Kitchens after one season

2020 College Football

1/11/21 - Alabama chooses Bill O'Brien to replace Steve Sarkisian as offensive coordinator

1/6/21 - DeVonta Smith wins Heisman Trophy

12/20/20 - Committee chooses Notre Dame over Texas A&M for Playoff spot

12/13/20 - Illinois fires Lovie Smith after 5 years

12/12/20 - Arizona fires Kevin Sumlin after losing 70-7 to Arizona State

10/15/20 - Nick Saban tests positive for coronavirus

9/14/20 - Niumatalolo blasts decision to have Air Force play two games this season

8/12/20 - Big 12 still planning to play this season
8/11/20 - Pac-12 postpones fall sport through end of year
8/10/20 - Big Ten votes to cancel season

Tommy Lasorda

Tommy Lasorda, the Dodgers legend who won two World Series titles as manager during his 70-year association with the franchise, died of a heart attack on the evening of Jan. 7. He was 93.Lasorda made his major league debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1954. After retiring from playing, he worked as a scout for the franchise before eventually becoming manager in 1976. Upon retiring from the role in 1996, he continued to work for the Dodgers in various roles for the rest of his life. Times Sports looks back at Lasorda's remarkable life and what he meant to the Dodgers franchise and their fans.

***

Tommy Lasorda, the charismatic former manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers who maintained a relationship with the franchise as a player, coach, manager and executive for 71 seasons, has died at the age of 93.

"I'll never want to take off this uniform,'' Lasorda told USA TODAY Sports in a 2014 interview. "I want to keep working for the Dodgers until the day I die. That's the truth."

And that's exactly what he did. 

Lasorda suffered a sudden cardiopulmonary arrest at his home at 10:09 p.m. on Thursday. He was transported to the hospital with resuscitation in progress. He was pronounced dead at 10:57 p.m.

"In a franchise that has celebrated such great legends of the game, no one who wore the uniform embodied the Dodger spirit as much as Tommy Lasorda," Dodger president and CEO Stan Kasten said in a statement. "A tireless spokesman for baseball, his dedication to the sport and the team he loved was unmatched. He was a champion who at critical moments seemingly willed his teams to victory. The Dodgers and their fans will miss him terribly. Tommy is quite simply irreplaceable and unforgettable."

REMEMBERING A LEGEND: Lasorda was unlike any other MLB manager

Said MLB commissioner Rob Manfred in a statement: “Tommy Lasorda was one of the finest managers our game has ever known. He loved life as a Dodger. ...  His passion, success, charisma and sense of humor turned him into an international celebrity, a stature that he used to grow our sport."

Lasorda posted a career record of 1,599-1,439 (.526) as the Dodgers' manager from 1976 to 1996. During that span, his teams won eight division titles, four National League pennants and two World Series championships. 

In 1997, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Although his major league career as a pitcher lasted just three seasons from 1954-56, Lasorda found his true calling as a manager. After leading his teams to four championships in the minor leagues (and one in the Dominican Winter League), Lasorda got the call to join Hall of Fame manager Walter Alston in Los Angeles in 1973 as the team's third-base coach.

When Alston retired at the tail end of the 1976 season, Lasorda took over and began his legendary 20-year run as Dodgers manager.

Under Lasorda, the Dodgers were regular playoff contenders, which frequently put him in the media spotlight. His colorful personality -- and occasionally colorful language -- only helped to increase his popularity.

His greatest accomplishments as a manager were the World Series-winning seasons of 1981 -- with star rookie pitcher Fernando Valenzuela leading the way over the New York Yankees -- and 1988 -- when an ailing Kirk Gibson hit a game-winning pinch-hit homer in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 1 against the Oakland A's.

However, Lasorda's notoriety extended far beyond the dugout and clubhouse.

He had several memorable (and hilarious) confrontations in Philadelphia with the Phillie Phanatic mascot.

He appeared as a regular character -- The Dugout Wizard -- on the syndicated kids' TV show, "The Baseball Bunch."

He also was the voice of a canine baseball commentator in the movie "Homeward Bound 2: Lost in San Francisco."

“There are two things about Tommy I will always remember,” former Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully said. “The first is his boundless enthusiasm.  Tommy would get up in the morning full of beans and maintain that as long as he was with anybody else.

“The other was his determination. ... His heart was bigger than his talent and there were no foul lines for his enthusiasm."

In 1997, Lasorda was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in his first year of eligibility. That year, he also had his jersey number 2 retired by the Dodgers.

Four years after his retirement as a major league skipper, Lasorda returned to the dugout as the manager of the 2000 United States Olympic baseball team, leading them to the gold medal at the Summer Games in Sydney, Australia.

Johnny Manziel will be back

Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel will reportedly soon be "Johnny Football" once again in a new startup league.

Manziel, 28, told ESPN he's agreed to join Fan Controlled Football, which is scheduled to begin play in February. The new league will reportedly have 7-on-7 games in which fans set rosters, call plays and interact in varying other ways.

"The more I heard about what this was going to be, the more I felt it was going to be something that was just very fun," Manziel said. "It's going to be very fan-oriented and something I could get behind without being extremely, extremely, extremely serious, the way that my football career has been in the past."

The former first-round draft pick said he connected with FCF co-founder and CEO Sohrob Farudi through a mutual friend, comedian Bob Menery, to discuss joining the league. Manziel hasn't played football since 2019, when he appeared in the now-defunct Alliance of American Football league for the Memphis Express.

The former Texas A&M standout had previously appeared in the Canadian Football League as a member of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Montreal Aloutettes, as well as The Spring League, following a disappointing NFL tenure that only lasted two seasons.

Manziel was selected No. 22 overall by the Cleveland Browns in the 2014 NFL Draft after a decorated collegiate career. However, multiple off-field incidents coincided with lackluster play and the Browns released the quarterback in 2016.

Manziel had previously told TMZ in September that he was retired from playing football, but wouldn't completely rule out his options when asked if he planned on joining the XFL after it was purchased by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and a team of business partners.

"I think football is a little bit behind me…Football for me is not at the forefront of my mind," Manziel said. "Listen, anything ‘The Rock’ touches is gonna be gold as always."

FCF will begin with four teams, each of which currently have celebrity owners including current NFL stars Richard Sherman, Austin Ekeler and retired legend Marshawn Lynch, as well as Migos rapper Quavo and boxing legend Mike Tyson.

2020 University of Hawaii Football

12/24/20 - Hawaii defeats Houston 28-14 in New Mexico Bowl held in Texas

12/18/20 - Aloha Stadium moratorium impacts Rainbow Warrior football

12/16/20 - Muasau named All-Mountain West

12/16/20 - Miles Reed enters transfer portal

12/13/20 - Hawaii accepts invitation to play in New Mexico Bowl against Houston

12/12/20 - Hawaii runs over Nevada 38-21 to finish 4-4

12/5/20 - Hawaii falls to San Jose State 24-35

12/2/20 - San Jose State game moved to Aloha Stadium

11/28/20 - Hawaii stops Nevada 24-21

11/21/20 - Hawaii comeback falls short against Boise State 32-40

11/14/20 - Hawaii falls to San Diego State 34-10

11/7/20 - Hawaii scrambles back to beat New Mexico 39-33

10/30/20 - Hawaii run over by Wyoming, 31-7

10/24/20 - Hawaii broke the rock in defeating Fresno State 34-19 in Graham's debut

10/22/20 - Calvin Turner faced uncertainty

10/18/20 - Hawaii will play in empty Aloha Stadium (I mean actually empty)

10/18/20 - Todd Graham's salary ranks 10th out of 12 MWC teams

10/18/20 - Kim McCloud joins Hawaii staff

10/17/20 - Hawaii PPV will be $69.99 per game (no discount for the whole season?)

10/15/20 - Kody Cooke wants to be able to take people into the fifth quarter

10/13/20 - Only two Hawaii games to be nationally televised

9/30/20 - Four players test positive, team activities suspended

9/30/20 - Todd Graham says Chevan Cordeiro is our quarterback

9/25/20 - Mountain West approves season starting October 24

8/10/20 - Mountain West cancels fall football season
8/6/20 - University of Hawaii's current schedule has 10 games starting on September 26
7/23/20 - Hawaii picked to finished third in the West Division
7/19/20 - Rico Bussey picked as Mountain West newcomer of the year
7/13/20 - Robert Morris replaces Fordham on Hawaii's schedule
7/10/20 - U.H.'s three games with Pac-12 opponents are cancelled
6/28/20 - Kody Cooke is involved in everything
6/25/20 - Trent Figg has a plan
6/23/20 - Hawaii game with Fordham in jeopardy
6/21/20 - Why was Brennan Marion called 50-50?
6/19/20 - Todd Graham looking forward to training camp
6/19/20 - Abraham Elimimian sets the tone
6/18/20 - Sam Bennett has seen all the angles
6/14/20 - Laiu Moeakiola is trying to keep pace
6/12/20 - Tony Hull likes to figure how things work
6/11/20 - G.J. Kinne's move to Hawaii was a no-brainer
6/10/20 - Victor Santa Cruz and the war dogs
6/9/20 - Dan Phillips skill is the grill
6/8/20 - Bo Graham will be the eye in the sky
5/31/20 - Rico Bussey Jr., WR, transferring from North Texas
5/31/20 - Preliminary depth chart taking shape
4/20/20 - Armani Edden, QB, College of the Canyons, commits to Hawaii
4/15/20 - Adam Stack (Kamehameha 2017), K, to transfer from Oregon to Hawaii
4/2/20 - Zelly Henderson, WR, verbally commits to Hawaii
3/16/20 - Hawaii lands Jake Farrell, QB from Arizona
2/6/20 - Hawaii gets seven on signing day: Zion Bowens WR, Quin Bright WR, Cameron Lockridge CB, Sergio Muasau C, Jalen Perdue CB, Logan Taylor S, Riley Wilson WR
2/5/20 - Hawaii signs two receivers: Zion Bowens of Long Beach City College and Riley Wilson of Prestonwood Christian in Plano Texas
1/29/20 - Cameron Lockridge, DB, Reedley (CA) College and Logan Taylor, DB, El Camino College commit to Hawaii
1/5/20 - Isaiah Mays, DB, City College of San Francisco accepts scholarship offer
12/19/19 - Hawaii signs 10: Ezra Evaimalo DE, Kilohana Haasenritter SB, Dae Dae Hunter RB, Tamatoa Mokiao-Atimalala SB, Sterlin Ortiz S, Matt Shipley K, Kemon Smith DT, Micah Soliai Howlett OL, Maurice Ta'ala DT, Calvin Turner WR
12/18/19 - Dae Dae Hunter, RB, Chandler (Ariz) accepts scholarship offer
10/3/19 - Maurice Ta'ala to join brother at Hawaii
9/10/19 - Micah Soliai Howlett, OL, Kahuku, pledges to join Hawaii in 2020
8/22/19 - Isaiah Tufaga to transfer from Oregon State
6/30/19 - Matthew Shipley, K, Liberty Hill High, Texas to sign with Hawaii
6/18/19 - Kilohana Haasenritter, WR, Hilo High, accepts offer from Hawaii
6/10/19 - Jake Tuatagaloa, OL, Mililani, commits to Hawaii
5/9/19 - Ezra Evaimalo, DE, Kamehameha, orally commits to Hawaii for 2020
1/24/19 - Tamatoa Mokiao-Atimalala, DB/WR, Campbell commits to Hawaii

MLB reclassifies the Negro Leagues as major league

NEW YORK >> Willie Mays will add some hits to his record, Monte Irvin’s big league batting average should climb over .300 and Satchel Paige may add nearly 150 victories to his total.

Josh Gibson, the greatest of all Negro League sluggers, might just wind up with a major league record, too.

The statistics and records of greats like Gibson, Paige and roughly 3,400 other players are set to join Major League Baseball’s books after MLB announced today it is reclassifying the Negro Leagues as a major league.

MLB said today it was “correcting a longtime oversight in the game’s history” by elevating the Negro Leagues on the centennial of its founding. The Negro Leagues consisted of seven leagues, and MLB will include records from those circuits between 1920-48. The Negro Leagues began to dissolve one year after Jackie Robinson became MLB’s first Black player with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.

Those leagues were excluded in 1969 when the Special Committee on Baseball Records identified six official “major leagues” dating to 1876.

“It is MLB’s view that the Committee’s 1969 omission of the Negro Leagues from consideration was clearly an error that demands today’s designation,” the league said in a statement.

The league will work with the Elias Sports Bureau to review Negro Leagues statistics and records and figure out how to incorporate them into MLB’s history. There was no standard method of record keeping for the Negro Leagues, but there are enough box scores to stich together some of its statistical past.

For instance, Mays could be credited with 16 hits from his 1948 season with the Alabama Black Barons. Irvin, a teammate of Mays’ with the New York Giants, could see his career average climb from .293 to .304 if numbers listed at Baseball-Reference from his nine Negro League seasons are accurate. And Paige, who currently is credited with 28 major league wins, should add at least 146 to his total.

While some have estimated Gibson slugged over 800 homers during 16 Negro League seasons, it’s unlikely that enough records exist for him to officially pass Barry Bonds for the career record at 762.

Depending on what Elias and MLB rule, though, Gibson could wind up with another notable record. His .441 batting average in 1943 would be the best season mark ever, edging Hugh Duffy’s .440 from 1894. Gibson’s line came in fewer than 80 games, however, far short of the modern standard of 162.

“The perceived deficiencies of the Negro Leagues’ structure and scheduling were born of MLB’s exclusionary practices, and denying them major league status has been a double penalty, much like that exacted of Hall of Fame candidates prior to Satchel Paige’s induction in 1971,” baseball historian John Thorn said. “Granting MLB status to the Negro Leagues a century after their founding is profoundly gratifying.”

MLB said it considered input from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, the Negro League Researchers and Authors Group and studies by other baseball authors and researchers.

“All of us who love baseball have long known that the Negro Leagues produced many of our game’s best players, innovations and triumphs against a backdrop of injustice,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “We are now grateful to count the players of the Negro Leagues where they belong: as Major Leaguers within the official historical record.”

2021 University of Hawaii football commitments

12/17/20 - Hawaii adds seven signees: Joshu Bartholotte LB, Colby Burton DB, Jordan Johnson RB, Tariq Jones DL, Solomon Turner LB (Baylor), Sonny Semeatu LB (Mililani), Kolby Wyatt TE (Georgia)

8/26/20 - Tariq Jones, pass rusher, McDonogh 35 Senior High School (New Orleans) commits
8/6/20 - Josh Bertholotte, LB, Landry High (New Orleans) commits
7/21/20 - Tyriek Bell, LB, Saddleback Community College (Mission Viejo, CA) chooses Hawaii
7/19/20 - Brayden Schager, QB, Highland Park High (Dallas TX) accepts scholarship
7/14/20 - Jordan Johnson, RB, Allen (TX) commits
6/23/20 - Sonny Semeatu, LB, Mililani commits
6/14/20 - Peter Manuma, U, Campbell commits
5/15/20 - Cinque Williams, DB (TX) commits
4/7/20 - DQ James, RB, Lancaster High (TX)

Bill Duffy pays back Anthony Carter

Everybody makes mistakes. Not everybody makes a $3 million mistake. And very few people have volunteered to fix such a big mistake after making it.

That’s what Bill Duffy did. In 2003, he was a sports agent representing Anthony Carter, a journeyman N.B.A. player on the Miami Heat. Carter’s contract allowed him to opt into a $4.1 million contract for the next season, much more than he could have made as a free agent. Unfortunately, Duffy failed to submit the paperwork in time, and Carter lost more than $3 million as a result.

In response, Duffy promised to reimburse Carter for the lost money. As The Times’s Sopan Deb wrote, “It was an unusual and virtually unprecedented move.”

“I wasn’t even mad, to tell you the truth,” Carter, who’s now back with the Heat as an assistant coach, said. “I didn’t say, ‘What happened?’ Because I knew what type of person he was. Things happen.”

Duffy has just finished making the payments to Carter, and Sopan has told the full story — including how the mistake helped the Heat win a championship.

***

By Sopan Deb

Dec. 14, 2020

Anthony Carter is one of the most consequential figures in Miami Heat history. And it was all because of a mistake.

Sure, any Knicks fan will tell you that Carter came out of nowhere to beat their team at the buzzer in Game 3 of the 2000 Eastern Conference semifinals. But Carter was never a star. Far from it: He spent the first four seasons of his 13-year N.B.A. career as a reserve for the Heat, averaging between 4.1 and 6.3 points a game.

And as great as the Knicks shot was, it was something that happened years afterward that forever enshrined Carter in Heat lore.

After the 2002-03 season, Carter, then 27, was planning to exercise a $4.1 million player option to remain in Miami. Picking up the option was a no-brainer. Carter was coming off a disappointing season in which he averaged 4.1 points on .356 shooting in 49 games. For a player with that stat line, $4.1 million was a fortune.

Except Carter’s agent, Bill Duffy, failed to notify the Heat by the June 30 deadline that Carter was coming back. Instead of locking in another season in Miami, Carter accidentally became a free agent.

The mistake cost him at least $3 million. Carter had to settle for a minimum contract with the San Antonio Spurs — roughly $750,000 — the next season, rather than the $4.1 million he would have locked in by exercising his option.

As criticism rained down on Duffy, the agent offered to make it right. He would pay Carter $3 million out of his own pocket — through an agreed-upon payment schedule — to make up for the mistake, essentially the difference between his Spurs contract and the Heat salary he had forfeited. It was an unusual and virtually unprecedented move.

This year marked the last of those payments, with Carter confirming in an interview this week that Duffy made good on his promise.

That was hardly a surprise for Carter, who said he never considered firing Duffy in the wake of the incident.

‘I wasn’t even mad, to tell you the truth. I didn’t think anything of it until lawyers and stuff called. I didn’t jump to any conclusions.’

ANTHONY CARTER, WHO COACHED IN THE N.B.A.'S DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE BEFORE JOINING THE HEAT AS AN ASSISTANT, ON HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS AGENT.

“I wasn’t even mad, to tell you the truth,” said Carter, who is now back with the Heat as an assistant coach. “I didn’t think anything of it until lawyers and stuff called. I didn’t jump to any conclusions. I didn’t say, ‘What happened?’ Because I knew what type of person he was. Things happen.”

It was a blunder that had cascading effects.

The most noteworthy ripple was that it gave Pat Riley, the Heat’s president, an unexpected amount of cap space that summer, which he used to sign Lamar Odom as a free agent. One year later, in 2004, Odom was the centerpiece of a trade with the Los Angeles Lakers for Shaquille O’Neal.

Two years after acquiring O’Neal, Miami won its first N.B.A. championship. It was Duffy’s clerical error that, at least in part, allowed the championship to happen. That turned Carter’s contract situation with the Heat into one of the all-time “What Ifs?” in league history.

“I should’ve got one of them rings, too,” Carter, 45, joked.

Riley declined to comment for this article.

While Carter’s loyalty to Duffy may seem baffling to some, it was a result of Duffy’s previous faith in Carter.

Carter’s making it to the N.B.A. at all was a long shot. He dropped out of Alonzo A. Crim High School in Atlanta after his freshman year. He spent the next three years traveling around the city and playing basketball games for money to make a living. At one of those games in 1994, an opponent offered to send a tape highlighting Carter’s game to the coach at Saddleback College, a junior college in California. With some help of friends and family, Carter got his high school equivalency diploma and headed west. Two years later, he transferred to the University of Hawaii, a Division I program.

In 1998, months after he injured his left shoulder before his senior year at Hawaii, Carter damaged it more seriously on the first day of a camp ahead of the N.B.A. draft. The injury required surgery and other agents stopped pursuing him, assuming that his N.B.A. hopes were dead. All of them, that is, except for Duffy, who stuck with Carter and arranged for him to sign with the Heat after he went undrafted. He spent four years with the team.

Duffy’s mistake could have been as damaging to his future as it was to Carter’s. But in promising to pay back Carter, his loyalty instead became a selling point for his services.

“When this happened, I was hearing from a lot of people because I took responsibility,” Duffy said. “I took ownership of it and took care of it and he was taken care of.

“I’ve had Wall Street people call me and say: ‘Man, that happens all the time. Everybody tries to hide from it. They try to pass the buck. You stood up for it. You took care of it.’ I actually gained a lot of respect from people.”

‘When this happened, I was hearing from a lot of people because I took responsibility. I took ownership of it and took care of it.’

BILL DUFFY, AN AGENT WHOSE CLIENT LIST NOW INCLUDES LUKA DONCIC AND RAJON RONDO.

At the time, it took days for the news of the filing error to reach Carter. Duffy, who declined to go into the specifics of how the oversight occurred, first learned about it from the team. Llew Haden, Carter’s close friend and financial adviser, said he heard about it on July 4, when a reporter called looking for a comment.

“I know my emotion wasn’t anger,” Haden said. “First, I was just astounded. ‘How in the hell could something like this happen?’ And then it was, ‘What are we going to do next?’”

N.B.A. agents are known to be hypercompetitive. Yet both Carter and Haden said they did not receive any calls from Duffy’s competitors. Instead, Haden theorized, they may have been celebrating a rival’s apparent professional downfall.

“I think most of them were just dancing up and down in the halls,” Haden said. “They were going to be able to get clients who would be tempted to go with them.”

In fact, from the day they received the news, the only calls that Carter and Haden received were from lawyers offering to represent Carter pro bono to sue Duffy — offers they never seriously considered.

Duffy flew to Atlanta that week to meet with Carter and Haden and work out their financial arrangement: a series of payments — a sort of annuity lasting until 2020 — that would make Carter whole.

“He was there for me from Day 1,” Carter said. “I just knew I was going to stick with him regardless, and to this day, we have a close friendship.”

Duffy’s business survived the mistake, too. Today, he has a stable roster of N.B.A. clients, including Luka Doncic, Rajon Rondo and Goran Dragic.

After leaving the Heat, Carter stayed in the league for nine more seasons. He developed a reputation as a hard worker and was a key player on the 2008-2009 Denver Nuggets, who went to the Western Conference finals. According to Basketball Reference, Carter’s N.B.A. earnings — not including the $3 million restitution from Duffy — are estimated at $17 million, less than what many current players now collect in a single season.

Carter and Duffy have maintained an enduring relationship. Duffy has given Carter guidance on his children, including his son Devin, who is a high school basketball player currently committed to the University of South Carolina. Duffy also still looks over Carter’s contracts.

Carter says he has never brought up the filing error with Duffy, not even to joke about it. Nor has he joked about it with Riley since returning to the organization as a coach in 2016. But he says he is at peace with how things worked out.

“I got my name in the history books in two different ways,” Carter said, referring to his buzzer-beater and the contract-that-wasn’t. “I wouldn’t change anything.”

Carter is known for two things: the clerical error that cost him more than $3 million, and this buzzer-beater against the Knicks in 2000.Credit...Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images

***

The Miami Herald story by Anthony Chiang

2021 NCAA Football

 12/13/20 - McKenzie Milton to transfer to Florida State

All-Time Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football team

ALL-TIME WARRIORS: THE OFFENSE
By Lance Tominaga

There are some major questions about the upcoming University of Hawaii football season: Will the Rainbow Warriors play a full 13-game schedule? Will fans be allowed at Aloha Stadium? Will there even be a season at all? (The answer to the last question has to be “yes,” right? RIGHT?) But one thing that isn’t a question is this: The UH football program has had its share of outstanding players in its proud history. From college football record setters to All-Americans and even a Heisman Trophy finalist, Hawaii fans have been able to witness the talents and grit of many gridiron greats.

But which players are the best of the best? Who would comprise the All-Time Rainbow Warrior football team?

Selecting such a team is nearly an impossible task because there are so many deserving players to choose from. For example: Colt, Timmy or Michael Carter? Lelie, Bess or Murray? Woodcock, Noga or Sopoaga? Even attempting to put together a list like this can be considered c-r-a-z-y.

But being sheltered in place for two months makes you do crazy things.

So here’s my All-Time UH Offense. We’ll focus on the Defense later this week.

A brief explanatory note: In selecting my team, I went with a traditional football lineups. (Sorry, no run-and-shoot or spread offense here.) Also, my memories of UH football only date back to the tail end of the Dave Holmes years, so unfortunately you won’t find a Larry Sherrer or Tommy Kaulukukui on this team.

Here we go:

OFFENSE:

Quarterback: COLT BRENNAN. In his junior season in 2006, he shattered numerous UH records, including single-season passing yards (5,549) and total yards (5,915). He also set the NCAA single-season record with 58 TDs. The next season, Brennan led the program to a perfect 12-0 regular season and it’s first-ever Sugar Bowl berth. He finished third in the Heisman Trophy race.

Running Back: GARY ALLEN. Hawaii’s career rushing leader, with 3,451 net yards. More importantly, he was an electrifying centerpiece of the Rainbow Warrior teams that brought “Saturday Night Fever” to the Islands in the late 1970s-early 1980s. A UH Sports Circle of Honor inductee.

Running Back: JOEY IOSEFA. Iosefa would line up at fullback on this team. A punishing runner with nimble feet, he finished his career No. 5 on the school’s all-time rushing list (2,218) before having a brief stint with NFL’s New England Patriots.

Center: SAMSON SATELE. A four-time All-WAC selection (2x First Team), Satele anchored the UH O-line that protected both Brennan and Timmy Chang.

Guard: JESSE SAPOLU. He would go on to be win four Super Bowl rings as a member of the San Francisco 49ers, but Sapolu was a standout lineman at UH. He was an All-WAC guard for the team before being asked to switch to Center after an injury to Ed Riewerts. “I had never played center before. Taking a step back and snapping your hand back we’re totally new to me,” he once recalled. (Sapolu would become a 2x Pro Bowl selection at that position.)

Guard: VINCE MANUWAI. A standout on June Jones’ earliest UH teams, the Farrington alum didn’t allow a sack in his final 35 games. He was a 3x All-WAC selection, and College Football News named him a First-Team All-American after his senior campaign. He also enjoyed a lengthy NFL career with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Tackle: LEO GOEAS. Came to UH hoping to be a tight end, but wound up becoming an outstanding tackle for the Warriors in the mid- to late-1980s. He was later a third-round selection of the San Diego Chargers and had an eight-year NFL career.

Tackle: DAN AUDICK. At 6-2, 250 lbs., Audick was a bit undersized for his position, but his smarts and technique made him a key component on the offensive one during the Larry Price era. He was later drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers and won a Super Bowl with the San Francisco 49ers.

Tight End: JERRY SCANLAN. No, he didn’t have big numbers. He played in the 1970s for Larry Price and Dick Tomey, who emphasized the running game. But the Iolani product was a key member of the offensive line. He played briefly for the Washington Redskins before a neck injury ended his career.

Wide Receiver: ASHLEY LELIE. He’s the only UH receiver to log three 200-yard games, and all three came during his senior year in 2001. Had a combined 547 receiving yards in consecutive games that season (285 versus Air Force, 262 against BYU. Became the highest NFL Draft pick in school history (No.19 overall in 2002).

Wide Receiver: DAVONE BESS. Greg Salas had more yardage, but I’m giving Bess a slight edge because of his ability to score (Bess is the UH career leader with 41 receiving TDs; Salas had 26). He was perhaps Colt Brennan’s most reliable weapon.

*** [5/27/20] ***

Earlier this week, I presented my (very) subjective picks for the University of Hawaii’s All-Time Offensive Team. This time around, I’ll focus on the defense. As you might imagine, it was a thankless and nearly impossible task. Historically, defense has always been the heart and soul of the Rainbow Warrior football program, characterized by bone-crunching hits and goal line stands. It was tough to leave so many great defenders off this roster. But here we go.

Defensive Tackle: LEVI STANLEY. A Second-Team Little All-American selection in 1973. Led UH in total tackles in both his junior and senior seasons. Finished his career as Hawaii’s all-time leader in total tackles (366, since surpassed by Solomon Elimimian and Jahlani Tavai.

Nose Guard: FALANIKO NOGA. Longtime UH fans still remember Noga’s epic battle with Nebraska’s Outland Trophy winner, Dave Rimington. (Rimington remembers it, too.) Noga was an All-WAC honoree for all four seasons he played at UH. Honorable Mention All-American in 1981. The “original 54.”

Defensive End: AL NOGA. “The Samoan Sack Man.” Probably the greatest defensive player in program history. Hawaii’s only First-Team All-American (1986). He was also the school’s first promoted Heisman Trophy candidate. Set single-season UH records for sacks (17), tackles for loss (31) and forced fumbles (6).

Defensive End: TRAVIS LABOY. Used his uncanny speed to become a standout edge rusher. In 2003, he recorded 13 sacks and 22 tackles for loss. The Tennessee Titans drafted him in the second round of the 2004 NFL Draft.

Linebacker: MARK ODOM. The program’s all-time leader in sacks (36) and second only to Al Noga in tackles for loss (68). Played his best when the games mattered most. To wit: In Hawaii’s exhilarating 56-14 blowout of BYU in 1989, Odom sacked Cougar QB Ty Detmer four times.

Linebacker: PISA TINOISAMOA. Led the team in sacks his junior and senior campaigns. Finished his career with 15.5 sacks and 38 tackles for loss. Became a second-round draft pick of the St. Louis Rams and had an eight-year NFL career.

Linebacker: SOLOMON ELIMIMIAN. Meet the school’s all-time leader in career tackles (434). Led Hawaii in tackles both in 2007 and 2008. Was voted the Canadian Football League’s “Most Outstanding Player” in 2014. Earlier this year, he was elected president of the CFL’s Players Association.

[no Jeff Ulbrich?]

Cornerback: DANA McLEMORE. A First-Team All-WAC selection and Honorable Mention AP All-American In 1981. Snared 7 career interceptions at UH. Later won a Super Bowl ring with the San Francisco 49ers.

Cornerback: JERIS WHITE. Named First-Team All-American by The Sporting News and Time Magazine in 1973. Set the single-season record for interceptions (6, since broken by several players). Was drafted in the second round by the Miami Dolphins and won a Super Bowl ring with the Washington Redskins.

Safety: BLAINE GAISON. No, he didn’t set any school records. But there wasn’t a better leader or tougher competitor than Gaison. That’s why he’s in the UH Sports Circle of Honor. Started his career as a quarterback before transitioning to safety. Was a First-Team All-WAC selection in 1979. Later played for the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons.

Safety: RICH MIANO. The ultimate rags-to-riches story. Began his UH career as a walk-on and ended up as a First-Team All-WAC selection in 1984. Also an Honorable Mention All-American. Led his team in tackles in back-to-back seasons. Played 11 seasons in the NFL.

*** [6/3/20] ***

In football, a lot of emphasis is placed on the offense and defense, but knowledgeable fans know that special teams play often makes the difference between winning and losing a game. Special teams affect field position and can change the momentum of a contest with a blocked punt, long kick return or costly turnover. University of Hawaii football fans have been fortunate enough to witness some the game’s best special team performers display their talents while wearing a Rainbow Warrior uniform. Here are our picks for the best special teams players in UH history:

Placekicker: JASON ELAM. Can there be any doubt? Finished his collegiate career with 395 points, the most in UH and WAC history, and third in NCAA history. Successfully converted 79 of 100 FG attempts. Set the school record for longest FG (56 yards) against BYU In 1992. Later won two Super Bowl rings with the Denver Broncos.

Punter: RIGOBERTO SANCHEZ. We went with Sanchez over Matt McBriar, but you could make a case for either. Sanchez tops the list of punters with a career average of 44.84 yards a punt. Was 10th in the nation in punting average during his senior season.

Kickoff Returner: CHAD OWENS. Tops all UH returners with a 29.4-yard average in his collegiate career. Took it to the house twice. Honorable mention goes to Mike Edwards, who had returns of 90-plus yards three times in 2012.

Punt Returner: CHAD OWENS. As good as he was as a kick returner, “Mighty Mouse” was even more electrifying when returning punts. Earned Second-Team All-American honors in 2004, when he set an NCAA record with five punt returns for TDs.

Long-snapper: JAKE INGRAM. Originally a walk-on defensive lineman, Ingram made the switch to long-snapper the fourth game into his freshman season. The Mililani product started every game since then and was drafted by the New England Patriots in the sixth round of the 2009 NFL Draft. Played all 16 games that season for the Patriots.

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Ranking the U.H. coaches

Since joining the ranks of NCAA Division I, the University of Hawaii football program has seen its share of highs and lows – including a Sugar Bowl appearance (Yay!) and a winless season (@&#%!). During this span of time – 46 years – the program has had nine different head coaches, including current head coach Todd Graham. We thought it would be fun to rank the coaches from best to worst. Take a look and see whether you agree with our ranking. (Note: Graham, for obvious reasons, is not included on this list.)

1. JUNE JONES. (1999-2007). Hawaii’s all-time winningest coach in the Division I era, with a 76-41 record over nine seasons. His run-and-shoot offense put up gaudy numbers and made Hawaii relevant again in college football. His signature achievement, of course, was the 2007 season, when UH went a perfect 12-0 in the regular season, captured its first outright WAC championship and appeared in its first-ever major bowl game – the 2008 Sugar Bowl. That “sugary” season ended on a sour note, with the Rainbow Warriors getting pummeled by Georgia and Jones leaving for SMU. But no head coach has taken the program to greater heights. That’s why he’s our No. 1.

2. BOB WAGNER. (1987-1995) “Wags” did something even Jones could not do: win a bowl game on the mainland. The Rainbow Warriors’ 27-17 victory over Illinois in the 1992 Holiday Bowl remains one of the milestone moments in Hawaii football history. Wagner, who was 58-49-3 as UH head coach over nine seasons, also was the man who broke the “BYU Curse.” In fact, his teams beat the rival Cougars three times. Upon replacing Dick Tomey in 1987, Wagner brought in Paul Johnson to install the triple-option spread offense, which was as effective as JJ’s run-and-shoot system.

3. DICK TOMEY. (1977-1986) One of the most beloved coaches in UH history. Tomey arrived on campus during a tumultuous time in the football program. Hired during the summer of 1877, he didn’t have the benefit of spring practice, but was able to cobble together a unified team that went 5-6 on the season. Although known as a conservative coach, he delighted the Aloha Stadium crowds with the occasional “muddle huddle” plays, no-huddle drives and platoon substitutions. Attendance soared under his tenure, as Hawaii took on national powers the likes of USC, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Michigan, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Tomey was 63-46-3 in Hawaii over ten seasons. In 1981, he also led the program to its first-ever national ranking. He never won a conference title, and that’s because BYU always stood in his way.

4. NICK ROLOVICH. (2016-2019) Like his mentor and former coach, June Jones, Rolovich inherited a program that was in shambles. He led the Rainbow Warriors to an admirable 7-7 season in his first year, including a convincing win over Middle Tennessee in the 2016 Hawaii Bowl. In his four seasons in Hawaii, “Rolo” went 28-27 and made three Hawaii Bowl appearances. His 2019 team captured the Mountain West Conference’s West Division.

5. GREG McMACKIN. (2008-2011) Coach Mack had the unenviable task of following June Jones and Hawaii’s Sugar Bowl season. He also had the misfortune to make his head coaching debut against the No. 5 team in the country, against Tim Tebow and Florida in Gainesville. He was 29-25 in his four seasons at the helm, leading UH to a pair of Hawaii Bowl appearance (both lopsided losses). His best season was 2010, when the Rainbow Warriors won nine of their final 10 regular-season contests and captured a share of the WAC title.

6. LARRY PRICE. (1974-1976) Price’s tenure as UH head coach ushered in the school’s entry into the NCAA Division I level. Noted for his “Hula-T” offense – a veer option attack that featured a running QB – Price also employed an attacking defense that the local fans appreciated. The installation of the Hula-T serendipitously led a young QB named June Jones to transfer to Portland State, where he became an eager disciple of Mouse Davis’ run-and-shoot offense. Price went 15-18 in his three years as head coach.

7. NORM CHOW. (2012-2015) His UH tenure began with “Chow Time” and ended with “Ciao Time.” His four seasons leading the UH program – his record was 10-36 – lent credence to the adage that great assistant coaches don’t always make great head coaches. Twice went winless in the Mountain West. The low point was the 2013 season, when the Rainbow Warriors lost their first 11 games of the season before posting a win over Army in the season finale. (Note: Chris Naeole was named interim head coach after Chow was fired during the 2015 season and went 1-3.)

8. FRED VON APPEN. (1996-1998) As bad as Hawaii’s 2013 campaign was, it was still better than Von Appen’s 1998 season, when UH went 0-12. The former San Francisco 49ers assistant spent three miserable years in Hawaii, posting an overall record of 5-31. His best moment in Hawaii was the 1997 season opener, when UH defeated Minnesota, 17-3. Wrote Honolulu Advertiser columnist Ferd Lewis after the game: “Now that the Rainbows have 1996 behind them, there is, indeed, a lot to look forward to.” The best thing about the No. 8 coach on this list was his firing led to the hiring of our No. 1 on this list.

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6/17/20 - When June Jones was the enemy

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7/17/20 - Ten best players from the Wagner era

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8/27/20 - Top ten UH quarterbacks

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11/27/20 - Top ten UH receivers