MACHIAVELLI
March 16th, 2007, 05:04 PM
Press Release:
“Collie J”
Grambling’s Man with the Golden Pen
By Michael Hurd
Foreword by Jerry Izenberg
Collie James Nicholson, who overcame growing up in segregated Winnfield , Louisiana , did not want to settle for second best in anything. He became the first black combat correspondent in the U.S. Marine Corps and then went on to become a celebrated sports publicist. In 30 years of promoting Grambling football and head coach Eddie Robinson, as well as the wildly popular marching band, Nicholson was the guiding force in making the tiny, obscure school (originally called “Louisiana Negro Normal and Industrial Institute”) into an international attraction and an icon for black college football.
Nicholson wrote feature stories, game stories, and advances – primarily for black media publications, and produced award-winning press guides. In 1976, he took a crash course in Japanese in order to negotiate a deal for Grambling to play Morgan State in Tokyo in the first regular season NCAA football game played outside of the United States . Collie J. originated the “classic” game model in the 1960s by booking Grambling games in arenas such as Yankee Stadium, the Los Angeles Coliseum, and other big city stadiums, taking the Grambling product nationwide. He is also acknowledged as the founder of the Bayou Classic, Grambling’s annual game against Southern University, played in the New Orleans Superdome and the only black college game with a national TV contract (NBC).
Nicholson set a standard of integrity and professionalism for both black and white sports information directors everywhere.
The first white reporter to venture onto Grambling’s campus and explore the school’s football legacy was Jerry Izenberg, an award-winning columnist now of the Newark Star-Ledger. Izenberg and Nicholson first met back then and began a lifelong friendship. From that first meeting, Izenberg won critical acclaim for producing the 1968 ABC-TV special, “ Grambling College : 100 Yards to Glory.” In his foreword to “Collie J.,” Izenberg writes that Nicholson is “… a unique story that is neither black nor white but pure American … Collie Nicholson remains a modern-day Joshua who made un-rebuttable music with his battered old Royal typewriter so honest so fascinating and so in step (and sometimes, a step ahead) with an ever-changing calendar that every Jericho at whose walls his words hammered came tumbling down.”
It was also through Nicholson’s relentless efforts of sending stories and press releases to the national media, as well as to National Football League teams, that dozens of Grambling’s players were noticed by pro scouts, including ground-breakers Paul “Tank” Younger – the first black college player to make a pro roster, defensive tackle Buck Buchanan – the first black college player taken as the first overall pick in the draft (1963 Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs), James Harris – the first black quarterback to become a regular starter in the NFL, and Doug Williams – the first black college quarterback named the Associated Press’ first team All-America, and also the first black quarterback to lead a team to the Super Bowl.
The book – ISBN 987-1-878282-48-4, paperbound, $24.95 – is available through Amazon.com, Borders, and other book stores, or can be ordered directly from St. Johann Press, P.O. Box 241 , Haworth , NJ 07641 . (Add $4 shipping when ordering from the publisher. Credit card orders accepted at 201-387-1529)
Michael Hurd has a long career as a sports writer with the Houston Post, the Austin American-Statesman, the San Francisco Examiner, and was a member of the founding staff of USA Today, where he worked for 11 years. He is also the author of Black College Football, 1892-1992, and a member of the National Football Foundation’s Honors Court for Divisional Players, the group that selects Div. 1-AA and small college players to the College Football Hall of Fame. Mr. Hurd, a native of Houston , Texas , now resides in Los Angeles , California .
“Collie J”
Grambling’s Man with the Golden Pen
By Michael Hurd
Foreword by Jerry Izenberg
Collie James Nicholson, who overcame growing up in segregated Winnfield , Louisiana , did not want to settle for second best in anything. He became the first black combat correspondent in the U.S. Marine Corps and then went on to become a celebrated sports publicist. In 30 years of promoting Grambling football and head coach Eddie Robinson, as well as the wildly popular marching band, Nicholson was the guiding force in making the tiny, obscure school (originally called “Louisiana Negro Normal and Industrial Institute”) into an international attraction and an icon for black college football.
Nicholson wrote feature stories, game stories, and advances – primarily for black media publications, and produced award-winning press guides. In 1976, he took a crash course in Japanese in order to negotiate a deal for Grambling to play Morgan State in Tokyo in the first regular season NCAA football game played outside of the United States . Collie J. originated the “classic” game model in the 1960s by booking Grambling games in arenas such as Yankee Stadium, the Los Angeles Coliseum, and other big city stadiums, taking the Grambling product nationwide. He is also acknowledged as the founder of the Bayou Classic, Grambling’s annual game against Southern University, played in the New Orleans Superdome and the only black college game with a national TV contract (NBC).
Nicholson set a standard of integrity and professionalism for both black and white sports information directors everywhere.
The first white reporter to venture onto Grambling’s campus and explore the school’s football legacy was Jerry Izenberg, an award-winning columnist now of the Newark Star-Ledger. Izenberg and Nicholson first met back then and began a lifelong friendship. From that first meeting, Izenberg won critical acclaim for producing the 1968 ABC-TV special, “ Grambling College : 100 Yards to Glory.” In his foreword to “Collie J.,” Izenberg writes that Nicholson is “… a unique story that is neither black nor white but pure American … Collie Nicholson remains a modern-day Joshua who made un-rebuttable music with his battered old Royal typewriter so honest so fascinating and so in step (and sometimes, a step ahead) with an ever-changing calendar that every Jericho at whose walls his words hammered came tumbling down.”
It was also through Nicholson’s relentless efforts of sending stories and press releases to the national media, as well as to National Football League teams, that dozens of Grambling’s players were noticed by pro scouts, including ground-breakers Paul “Tank” Younger – the first black college player to make a pro roster, defensive tackle Buck Buchanan – the first black college player taken as the first overall pick in the draft (1963 Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs), James Harris – the first black quarterback to become a regular starter in the NFL, and Doug Williams – the first black college quarterback named the Associated Press’ first team All-America, and also the first black quarterback to lead a team to the Super Bowl.
The book – ISBN 987-1-878282-48-4, paperbound, $24.95 – is available through Amazon.com, Borders, and other book stores, or can be ordered directly from St. Johann Press, P.O. Box 241 , Haworth , NJ 07641 . (Add $4 shipping when ordering from the publisher. Credit card orders accepted at 201-387-1529)
Michael Hurd has a long career as a sports writer with the Houston Post, the Austin American-Statesman, the San Francisco Examiner, and was a member of the founding staff of USA Today, where he worked for 11 years. He is also the author of Black College Football, 1892-1992, and a member of the National Football Foundation’s Honors Court for Divisional Players, the group that selects Div. 1-AA and small college players to the College Football Hall of Fame. Mr. Hurd, a native of Houston , Texas , now resides in Los Angeles , California .