1
Page B4-The Chronicle, Thursclav, April 18,
1985
Pro Football
Board piins gold wit hSan Fran*cisco 49ers
By DAVID BULLA
But Ram Coach "Bighouse"
Gaines lost the scent and notified
Board after the all-star game.
Board, whose taller and older
brother John had been a standout
Chronicle Sports Editor
Novelist Ralph Ellison writes
that being invisible has its
advantages.
For
Dwaine "Pee Wee"
Board, defensive end for the San
Francisco 49ers, invisibility can
mean invincibility. It's always a
plus in the rough and tumble
world of the National Football
League.
"
invincible."
Taylor
While
has
a
stranglehold on NFL invinciblity,
Board has quietly
almost in-
pair
neiped the 49ers to a
Super Bowl
Taylor can make no such
.
J
A O-f* »- 1
1-1 n>>o1 I
iiunvu, men noi i s> neaa coacn,
took
^ if#r.
and told me not to quit now,"
Board said last week at a lun
cheon sponsored by Miller
Co. to promote the Aggies*
spring football game. "They kept
saying 1 had a lot of football left
in me and that 1 could still
injuries
C/-1
~
.
Watson
Frc >m
Page
CFL scouts were interested in
Watson, he chose to sign with the
Chicago Bears as a free agent.
"I'm happy I got another
chance," said Watson, who was
by the Bears.
situation
"It was a
where I didn't have the big
name behind me coming from a
-big school."
B3
PSV
«
&
x.
-
Karlton Watson
Johnson Should Start
high post, depending on which
offense is being employed.
The Winston-Salem product
was an important recruit for
Jobe, who lost his top two scorers
in Leafus Thomas and Calvin
Staten. Both manned positions
that Johnson can play.
MEAC Eyes Berth
MEAC resumed its annual
last year. The conference
held its eighth baseball
last week, when
upset Howard for the
"The basic reason we don't
receive an automatic bid is we
didn't have a tournament," Free
said. "We've held the
for two years, with at least
six teams participating, so I think
impressed
good thing?
with RoarH hut
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ill
WE NEED
MORE
OF YOUR
we
will annlv fnr
an
antnmatir
bid."
Howard
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BethuneCookman
already play schedules
that are competitive enough to
meet NCAA approval. However,
these schools are hard-pressed to
field winning teams against such
schedules.
B^B
BWffrTTT^?*
'««*
depend
and
II
GIVE BLOOD
according to Board, because
Steeler personnel director Bill
Free said the MEAC is one of
four Division I conferences that
do not have automatic bids.
"To the best of my knowledge,
the other conferences' individual
members don't field teams,"
Free said. "We were in the same
boat up until a few years ago.
Not enough schools played
baseball."
No current member of the
MEAC has ever been to the
NCAA playoffs.
"As far as getting the bid
goes," Free added, "it will
on the strength of our
schedules. That's the main
requisite
.PPWWBB
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tournament
Conference
according
The Mid-Eastern Athletic
hopes to be awarded an
automatic berth in the NCAA
baseball regionals next year,
to Commissioner Ken
Free.
The NCAA has made it a
for conferences to play
tournaments in order to get
automatic bids.
The conference held six
baseball tournaments before
discontinuing the championship
in 1977.
After a seven-year hiatus, the
"V
tournament
tournament
BethuneCookman
championship.
/^p >:: R y*"^«
wti.-..
difficult
JkTTE*
"
.
"
a
And where's the (ground) beef?
Well, some of it became the.
muscles that helped Board make
it in the NFL. By the time he left again," he. mused. "That's
reason I want to play
A&T, the linebacker weighed 240 another
1 want to experience that
pounds. His playing weight last again.
old
feeling one more time."
season was 248 pounds.
Board believes, despite the
"I like to keep my weight
down," said Board, whose sports team's sophistication (the 49ers
shirt barely could contain his have 66 defensive alignments and
bulging biceps. "I'm down to 240 180 passing plays), it will be
to repeat.
now, but the 49ers will want me
to be back up to 248 by kickoff of
4The schedule is tougher this
the season opener."
year," he said. "We can do it,
new
the
breed
of
tall,
Dig
but it's been a long time since
slender defensive ends. Mark anybody repeated."
Gastineau of the Jets is the most
The invincible Steelers of the
popular, but Board has made his
1970s
were the last team to win
.mark,
back-to-back Super BowlsTBoard didn't make it right
away in the NFL. He was drafted
by Pittsburgh and was the last
player cut at the Steelers' camp in
1978. They were coming off a
Super Bowl championship and
L.C. Greenwood, whom Board
was battling for a spot in the
lineup, was at the peak of his
career. The Steelers were
Nunn referred Board to the
49ers. Before the '78 season was
over, Board has become a starter,
replacing San Francisco's local
hero, Cedrick Hardman.
W
°
But since the CFL scouts were
interested last year, Watson may
fare better with B.C.
I hey go with two active
quarterbacks/' Hayes said.
"Then there's a reserve. My goal
for Karlton is that he's the
reserve the first year and then
maybe he can work his way up."
The A&M coach said that hp
expects Johnson to play a wing or
UVJl
seriously.
ed, Why change a
That was a blessing in disguise,
iftl^ f V ''
HBI
».
Alabama A&M Coach Ben
Jobe says North Forsyth's Scottie
Johnson should start for his team
next fall.
"He could step in immediately
"at any of two positions," said
Jobe of the 6-6 Johnson. "In
fact, I'll be very surprised if he
doesn't start."
JVII Ui
mm
W
Now he finds himself unable to
turn away from football.
1 know that old feeling will be
there when the season opens
years.
. .
IMMMUIMIMIIItltlMMIMIHIMIIIIIIIIIIIIMIHIIIIIIIIIMIM HtllMillllllllMIIIIIIJIIIIIItlltMllllllltlllllltllMMMIItllllllll
cut
.
contribute."
second Super
announced
i
Mondale
Brewing
claim.
An 18-1 season, a
Since he became a 49er in 1978, Bowl ring and his teammates'
the club'a record with the North pressure have convinced the
Carolina A&T alumnus in the 28-year-old Board to return for
iineup is a sparkling 48-16. his eighth NFL season.
Without him, it's 6-21.
"I feel like I'm getting that old
Despite this success, Board
feeling again," Board said. "It's
early last season that a feeling of invincibility. It's
1984 would be his last campaign when you've been playing the
on the gridiron. Two knee
game awhile and suddenly realize
and three operations had you can play with anybody."
exacted a heavy price. Board7
ItVrarely^bccn that way for the
who graduated on time with a Aggie alumnus.
degree in industrial technology,
In facl, football was not his
was ready to find a job that
first love. At 6-5, 218 pounds,
VKOCn't
11a/.ai uuud
iu
I11S
Board was good enough in
health.
basketball to make an all-star
But his teammates decided to team in his native Virginia. One
put peer pressure to good use.
school in particular was hot on
"A lot of teammates came by his trail: Winston^Salem State.
IIIHtNMMHNMNNHMHHAHHIMMNMHMMNHHMNN*
"ujii
approach Walter
an
would have envied.
"Coach Howell Said, 4Pee
Wee, if you come to A&T, we
can't give you steaks, but we can
give you hamburger."
Board says that, true to the
coach's word, it seems he ate
nothing but hamburger for four
Dwaine Board
championships.
of
Virginia State, was crushed.
George Wheeler, an assistant
football coach at A&T, also had
been keeping an eye on Board.
When it came time to sell A&T to
Board, Wheeler and Hornsby
invisible
44You feel, like your almost
Board said of how it U
when he's playing at his best.
"They talk about Lawrence
Taylor (former North Carolina
all-America and a New York
Giaat all-pro) being invisible.
He's on top of his game when
he s invisible. It's like nobody
can
block you. You're
visioiy
at
"I thank Chuck Noll for the
chance," said Board, who
befriended former East Carolina
all-America Zack Valentine in the
Steelers' camp. "One thing 1
learned in Pittsburgh was how to
be a winner. Zack was with me
when they called me and the
other rookies in for the final cut.
Noll himself broke the news."
Tw ice Board thought his career
was over with knee injuries, in
1980 and 1982. He felt good
about his progress in 1983, when
11
nprcnnol
he recorder! a ^yvi
1 J
sacks. But the doctor had told
him after his second knee injury
that he should retire.
Board took the advice
M
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