LOOKING BACK

 It was in the mid-fifties and about 25 young boys in navy blue football jerseys scurried around to get in some kind of order for a team picture of the South Ward Wildcats.

The Wildcats played in the Corbin Little League football program. Included in that picture with his brother Billy and his close friend Phillip “Fidge” Giles was a young man who on December 2 of this year will be named a legend of the Southeastern Conference.

Rodger Bird was a two-time All-Star player as a Corbin Redhound and led the 1960 team to an undefeated season. Rodger was one of the most sought after recruits in the nation his senior year.

In his debut as a Kentucky Wildcat, he got the attention of the big blue nation by returning the opening kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown against Virginia Tech. It was the first of 27 times Bird would cross the goal line for a touchdown for the University of Kentucky.

Rodger was selected All-SEC as a junior and senior and was an All-American as a senior. Rodger was a first round draft pick of the Oakland Raiders in 1965 where he was named Defensive Rookie of the Year. Bird was a fearless punt returnee and set an NFL record for punt return yardage that stood for several years before being broken by Lynn Swann, then of the Pittsburg Steelers.

I could go on and on writing of the accomplishments of the football legend of Rodger Bird, but I have known Rodger as a man for almost his entire life and I knew his father Ruben and his wonderful mom Bonnie.

Certainly Mr. & Mrs., Bird would have been proud of the multitude of athletic achievements of Rodger and his other talented brothers, Jerry, Calvin and Billy, but most of all the quality of people from the eldest sister Shirley, who passed away a couple of years ago and sister Nancy, all the siblings are good people with whom you could be comfortable and proud to be associated with.

So, the next time you go by White’s Pro Billiards for one of those tasty hot dogs, look up on the wall for a picture of the South Ward Wildcats and a legend of the Southeastern Conference, Rodger Bird. If you would like to see the legend in person, you might try looking in a deer stand in Western Kentucky.

 ’76 state champions

The 1976 state champions of Class AA were the Corbin Redhounds. The Redhounds put on a display of awesome defense in a 6-0 win over Mayfield that year. It was a pass from Tom Horvath to Kenny Gilbert that provided the only score of the game.

As I think back, the play of Horvath, Gilbert, Burley Foley, Steve Hart, Roger Jones and the late Rusty Onkst come to mind.

Yet another player on that team thats name seldom ever comes up because of later tragedies that took play in his life is R.C. Thomas.

Thomas may well have been the most dynamic defensive player in the state of Kentucky the season of 1976.

They were a terrific group of players playing under a great coach, Archie Powers.

This championship team gathered for their 35^th reunion Friday evening at Campbell Field to watch this year’s Redhounds win over Henry County 14-7 in the first-round of the KHSAA playoffs. They got together again Saturday at the Depot Restaurant on Main Street.

 Roundball Time

As we near basketball season, two former Redhounds are on college rosters. Josh Smith is listed as a 6’3” junior guard at Union College. I saw Josh over the summer and he looked very strong with added muscle.

The other former Redhound on a college roster is Issac Wilson, a sophomore point guard at Alice Lloyd.

Alice Lloyd opened their season last week with a 92-72 win over Kentucky Christian and Wilson scored 16 points and dished out 10 assists.

Another Whitley Countian playing at the college level is Jordan Akins, a freshman, at Asbury University. He led the Whitley County Colonels to the region last year.