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| Jeff Daniels of Evergreen. |
As hard as it is to believe, yesterday (Wednesday) marked
the three-year anniversary of the death of the man who was arguably Conecuh
County’s most accomplished athlete.
Many of you will remember that Evergreen’s Wayne Frazier
passed away at the age of 73 on March 11, 2012, and many of you remember his
football playing days at Evergreen High School, Auburn University and the NFL.
Frazier, who was nicknamed “Cotton,” was a force to be reckoned with on the
football field and was one of only a few football players who could say that
they started in the very first Super Bowl.
After a stellar high school career at Evergreen High School
and several standout seasons at Auburn University, Frazier played four seasons
as a center in the AFL. He started his career with the San Diego Chargers and
was later traded to the Houston Oilers. He went on to play for the Buffalo
Bills and ended his career with the Kansas City Chiefs.
In 1966, Frazier and the Chiefs won the AFC championship,
which earned them a spot in the very first Super Bowl.
The first Super Bowl was played on Jan. 15, 1967 at the Los
Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles. The Chiefs played the Green Bay
Packers. Other famous football players and coaches who participated in that
game included Bill Curry, Jerry Kramer, Bart Starr, Jim Taylor, Buck Buchanan,
Ray Nitschke, Hank Stram and Vince Lombardi.
It’s said that when the players’ names were announced over
the loudspeaker that day during the pre-game introductions, that Frazier’s name
happened to be the very first one called out. If you stop and think about that,
it’s pretty cool that a guy from Evergreen was the first player introduced at
the very first Super Bowl.
After his playing days, Frazier coached high school football
for a while, including a four-year stint at W.S. Neal High School in East
Brewton. From 1980 to 1983, he posted three winning seasons, finishing with a
23-17 overall record during that time.
Fans of The Courant’s regular Sports Flashback feature will
know that Frazier’s name is a regular in that weekly column. Frazier’s name
appeared in the paper frequently over the years, and I suspect that the only
name that showed up more was his former football coach, Wendell Hart. For those
of you who knew Hart, that’s not bad company to be in.
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Tomorrow (Friday) also marks the four-year anniversary of
the day that Jeff Daniels of Evergreen began his 2,181-mile thru-hike of the
Appalachian Trail. Almost six months later, Daniels completed his trip, and in
my opinion, this accomplishment is arguably the greatest outdoors feat ever
accomplished by a Conecuh County resident.
I’ve also always been of the opinion that Daniels should
have been more appropriately recognized by local officials for his thru-hike of
the Appalachian Trail. From time to time, local governing bodies will issue
proclamations in honor of citizens and their accomplishments, including local
athletes. Often times, these accomplishments, while noteworthy, fall way short
of Daniels’ thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail, and it’s a shame that local
officials missed the opportunity to recognize Daniels’ achievement.
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