MONROE, La. – The ULM Sports Hall of Fame added three new members on Saturday, Oct. 25 with the Class of 2014 inductions of Stepfret Williams, Mike Grantham and Roger Mann.
Williams, the record-grabbing receiver from Minden, was one of football program's biggest stars during the jump to Division I-A in 1994. He still holds the school career records in receiving yards (3,177) and touchdown receptions (33).
“We were in for a big challenge as we moved from I-AA to I-A ball,” Williams said. “It was a tough year for us to show we could step up and play against the big guys. We had two very big wins. In 1994 we beat the University of Kentucky, and my senior season we beat Mississippi State. That was big for the university and big for us.”
Williams signed with ULM when Dave Roberts was head coach and grew into an elite playmaker under former head coach Ed Zaunbrecher's staff.
“Coach Z came into a situation where he had to prepare his guys to go out and play those teams,” he said. “We were definitely underdogs but all of us never took it that way. We were going out to compete like anybody else.”
An NFL draft pick by the Dallas Cowboys, Williams said he returned to ULM in 2002 to finish his studies after his football career ended.
“I came here to get an education first,” he said. “After leaving my senior year, I didn't have my degree. I didn't finish what I came here to do. While I was in Dallas, I always told my mom and dad I was going to finish. I made up my mind in 2002 to come back. It took me a little less than a year and I did finish up my degree here at ULM. That was more of an accomplishment for me and I know my parents were more proud of me for that than football.”
A versatile four-year letter winner who played all over the offensive line, Grantham said he was told in high school that he'd never play a down of college football.
“But I was always hardheaded and stubborn and I wanted to know for myself if I could do it,” Grantham said.
Grantham said he almost quit at one point as a freshman but a phone conversation with his mother helped him stick it out. She was supportive, but she also interjected the words “quit” and “quitter” often during the conversation.
“I got off the phone and was kicking stuff, throwing stuff,” he said. “I stood there a minute and said, 'That old woman thinks I'm a quitter!' I'm going to show her I'm not a quitter.”
A couple of years later he learned that assistant coach Monk Tomlinson received a call from Grantham's mother shortly after their talk.
“She said, 'All you do is give him a chance like you promised him when you walked in this door here that day,'” Grantham recalled. “She said, 'I'll tend to the rest.' And she did.”
Grantham credited Tomlinson as the task master who helped mold his career. He was part of the 1982 team, in its first season in the Southland Conference, that finished in second place and the 1983 squad that claimed a share of the SLC crown with a 5-1 league mark. In all, teams he played for at ULM won 28 games.
“If it wasn't for that man right there pushing me and getting things I wouldn't do, I don't think I would have made it. He was like a father away from home. He would get the best out of you in a way that most people don't utilize. He wasn't a facemask grabber. He took you off to the side and talked to you like a man.”
Mann, who traveled from his home in Oregon for the ceremony, competed at ULM during the 1960s when track and field was huge under the late Bob Groseclose. Mann paid homage to the program's legacy during his induction speech.
“My team was in the middle 1960s,” he said. “Those guys in the early '60s were rock stars to me as a young athlete. We looked up to those guys. They were heroes, they were superheroes. Those were the guys who taught UCLA, Florida, Texas, Penn State, those other track athletes to fear the gold Northeast jerseys. That's where the track power started, with those guys.”
A three-time NAIA All-American, Mann won eight Gulf States Conference titles including three in the 120-yard hurdles, three as a member of the 400m relay team, one in the 330-yard hurdles and one in the 400m hurdles. Not surprisingly, a large contingent of track team members from those days showed up to support Mann.
“I moved 2,500 miles away to the Northwest and kind of lost touch with my teammates and guys I went to school with,” he said. “It's amazing to me that 47 years after I graduated, some of these teammates put together a conspiracy to get me into this hall of fame.”
The L Club and the Alumni Association presented the induction ceremony at the ULM Conference Center in the library. The 2014 class brings total membership to more than 130 individuals, along with the entire 1987 national championship football team. Hall of Fame plaques are displayed in the entryway of Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
2014 L Club Hall of Fame Inductee capsules
STEPFRET WILLIAMS (1992-95)
Holds career records in receiving yards (3,177) and touchdown receptions (33). Named first team all-conference in 1993 (Southland), 1994 (1-A Independent) and 1995 (1-A Independent). Minden product finished four-year career with 16 100-yard receiving games, including six during the 1994 season. Tallied 264 receiving yards against Nevada in 1995, a record that still stands. Also holds five other spots in the top-50 all-time receiving games. Third-round draft pick of the Dallas Cowboys in 1995.
ROGER MANN (1965-68)
Won eight Gulf States Conference titles including three in the 120-yard hurdles, three as a member of the 400m relay team, one in the 330-yard hurdles and one in the 400m hurdles… Three-time NAIA All-American… Set the GSC record in the 120-yard hurdles at 13.7 seconds and the 400m relay at 40.3 seconds… Placed second in the NAIA National College Championships in the 120-yard hurdles and tied for the fifth-fastest time in the world in the 120-yard hurdles at 13.4 seconds… holds the school record in the 330-yard hurdles at 36.6 seconds… competed in the 1968 Olympic trials… named co-captain his senior year… His team finished second in the Gulf States Conference all three years he was there... Coached by the legendary Bob Groseclose
MIKE GRANTHAM (1981-84)
Versatile four-year letter winner for the football program played offensive line at both the guard and tackle … Named First-Team All-American by the Associated Press in 1983 and 1984… Also earned First-Team All-Southland Conference and All-Louisiana honors as a senior in 1984… Teams he played for posted a combined win total of 28 games… The 1982 team, in its first season in the Southland Conference, finished in second place and the 1983 squad claimed a share of the SLC crown with a 5-1 league mark.
