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ULM Welcomes Home Trailblazer Joe Profit

ULM Welcomes Home Trailblazer Joe Profit

Football Aug 20
By ULMWarhawks.com Online Columnist Paul Letlow

MONROE, La. – Joe Profit enjoyed seeing familiar sights like Brown Stadium as he toured the ULM campus on Monday. 

But beyond the nostalgia, Profit was also amazed by the growth and new facilities he saw too as he revisited his old stomping grounds. 

"I'm happy to be home and back in this community," Profit said. "It's a community that gave me an opportunity when I was out. They stepped up and helped me. My commitment now is to help this university go to the next level. I'm committed to helping our new athletic director to increase our budget and get prepared for the battle of recruiting in Division I." 

The ULM All-American returned as the keynote speaker for The Pursuit at the Bayou Pointe Student Event Center. The University's premier kickoff event for the upcoming football season as well as the 2019-20 academic year, is sponsored by BancorpSouth.

"What I can see on this campus is tremendous growth, which brings about opportunity," Profit said. "I'm very excited about the course that we're on right now. A lot of new things, the medical center and this facility, Bayou Pointe. These are great things, not only for ULM but the community." 

A graduate of Richwood High School in Monroe, Profit was a trailblazer in 1967, becoming the first black to play football at a predominantly white Louisiana college as well as the first black football player to compete in the Gulf States Conference. He led the team in rushing and all-purpose yards for three seasons in a row from 1968-70. Profit, who still ranks among ULM's all-time Top 10 in rushing (2,818 career yards) and all-purpose yards (3,661 combined), was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the first round (No. 7 overall) of the 1971 National Football League Draft.
 
Profit, a candidate for Georgia's 7th U.S. Congressional District, used his platform at Monday's event to encourage ULM's supporters to get even more involved.

"Get more involved with the things we're doing at this university," Profit said. "Here's a country boy, who lived about five miles from here. I could have run up here on a good day. They welcomed me here in a way that no other university did at that time. The University of Louisiana at Monroe gave me an opportunity and invested in my dreams. Every opportunity I get, I'm going to try to re-invest into the university's future."
 
Program highlights included comments from ULM President Nick J. Bruno and Athletics Director Scott McDonald as well as a season preview from head football coach Matt Viator.
  
The event benefited the Warhawk Club, formerly the ULM Athletic Foundation.
 
The Pursuit is named in honor of the Curtis P-40 "Warhawk" fighter planes, flown by Gen. Claire Lee Chennault's Flying Tigers during World War II. The ULM Warhawk mascot takes its name from the planes, which featured the iconic noses painted with an open shark's mouth with jagged teeth.
 
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