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“Turf” Talk From GSU/ULM Legends

“Turf” Talk From GSU/ULM Legends

Football Aug 31
By ULMWarhawks.com Online Columnist Paul Letlow
 
MONROE, La. – The school administrators at ULM and Grambling were late arrivals to this party.

The neighboring football programs meet for the fourth time on Saturday (7 p.m. at Malone Stadium), but the rivalry has existed on the playgrounds of South Monroe since the 1960s.

"It's been in existence since I was a teenager in junior high," said Sammy White, a Richwood product who played for Grambling. "Guys from my neighborhood went to ULM. When I was in college and high school, behind the Johnson Recreation Center, we always played football and competed – we'd race each other. It's been there – Grambling and ULM."

Proud legacy products like Joe Profit and Rubin Jones carried the torch for Northeast Louisiana – now ULM. 

"I never thought it would happen in my lifetime, to be honest with you," said Profit, the first black football player in the state of Louisiana. "There are a lot of positive things that are happening, and that's one of them."

The primary instigator for Grambling was always James "Shack" Harris, the star quarterback who played in the NFL and went on to a front office career in pro football.   

"We would have been very excited to get the opportunity to play back then," Harris said. "We used to have our conversations about it. Of course, it never happened, but we used to talk about it. We were very well-equipped back then." 

The social barriers had to come down first. That process began as pioneers like Profit broke the color line at Northeast in 1967. Profit's arrival opened the doors for other great black players to follow.

"The guys at ULM always used to tell us how they would beat us," said Grambling product Dale Zimmerman, a quarterback in the mid-1970s. "How they'd tear us up and all. James Harris would always kick it off. … Joe Profit would always tell everybody how he'd run over Grambling."  

Profit also became the best recruiter the school had to tap into the rich local pool of great talent. He carried the torch for ULM in a community that had historically pipelined players to Grambling.   

"I never could figure out how two schools so close together never played – until I went to college and then I realized the divisions and those type of restrictions," Profit said. "In track and field, we could run against Grambling and Southern in the playoffs.

"But in football, we never did. I think it's really a blessing for the entire community."

The old school rivalry carried an even greater meaning in the Zimmerman household. 

Older brother Don Zimmerman played wide receiver for the former Northeast Louisiana in 1970. Younger brother Dale Zimmerman was a quarterback at Grambling from 1971-75.

"Back in the day, Grambling has always been the ones that talked," Don Zimmerman said. "We never said very much."

As an added bonus, baby brother Robert Zimmerman played for both teams. He originally signed with ULM before transferring to Grambling. 

Don Zimmerman originally signed with what is now Arkansas-Pine Bluff, but transferred to ULM. One of the first black players in the program's history, he led the team in receiving with 25 catches for 392 yards and two touchdowns in 1970 before a four-year NFL career.

His favorite college memory is a 28-21 win over Louisiana Tech in 1970 – when he caught an 81-yard touchdown pass from Wayne Matherne. He never got a chance to do the same to his Grambling buddies.

"This game has been talked about for 30 years," Don Zimmerman said. "When we were at Northeast, this game was talked about. This was a game that everybody would want to see."

The matriarch of the Zimmerman household never picked sides. Now deceased, Ola Marie covered the walls of their home with photos of her boys.  

"My mother didn't get to see us play college ball," Dale Zimmerman said. "She worked nights as a nurse. She never got a chance to go. She never got off." 

The Grambling teams of yesteryear were coached by the late Eddie Robinson. Under Robinson, the school built its own grand tradition of winning and producing NFL products. 

These athletes mixed and mingled – and yes, competed through the 1960s and '70s. Instead of packed stadiums with whirling turnstiles, they played pick-up basketball, ran footraces and tossed around a football at lower-profile locales like the Johnson Recreation Center. 

"Don (Zimmerman) was an outstanding talent," Harris said. "He had size and speed. He really had the ability to play anywhere. Of course, Joe was an outstanding player and a first-round draft pick from our neighborhood. They were talented guys."

Local legends from other sports like ULM basketball stars Henry Steele, Jesse Burnette and Andrew Harris also were involved in turf wars that reinforced mutual respect.  

"The guys from Grambling would team up and pick their team," says Don Zimmerman. "They'd play five-on-five. It was ULM versus Grambling, even back then"   

Said Dale Zimmerman: "Henry Steele was the best trash talker in the world when it came to ULM and Grambling. He'd get everybody worked up." 

Truthfully, the athletes rooted for each other – as long as it wasn't personal. 

"We always supported each other," Dale Zimmerman said. "But peace went out the window when we all came home for the summer. Everybody wanted to get each other."

Editor's note: This is an updated version of a story that Letlow wrote prior to the first ULM-Grambling game. The first meeting between the two schools drew 30,101 fans to ULM's Malone Stadium on Nov. 20, 2007. ULM won 28-14. 


 
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