CHARLES "TREE" YOUNG foreword from THE USC TROJANS: COLLEGE FOOTBALL'S ALL-TIME GREATEST DYNASTY
FOREWORD
By CHARLES "TREE" YOUNG
Marv Goux and the University of Southern California recruited Charles "Tree" Young out of Fresno's Edison High School in 1969. He was a member of USC's famed 1970 team, which traveled to Birmingham, defeated all white Alabama, and thus helped to effectuate integration in the American South. He was a consensus All-American on USC's 1972 national champions, considered by many to be the greatest collegiate football team of all time. A member of the National Football Foundation's College Hall of Fame, Young was a first round draft choice of the Philadelphia Eagles. He played in the 1980 Super Bowl with the Los Angeles Rams, and was a member of the 1981 World Champion San Francisco 49ers. Young's three daughters ("Charle's angels") all ran track at USC. He is an ordained minister in the Seattle, Washington area.
My friend Manfred Moore e-mailed me about Steve Travers, the author of Barry Bonds: Baseball's Superman, wanting to do a story about the 1970 USC football team that played Coach Bear Bryant's Alabama football in Birmingham. 36 years ago, I was blessed to be an important member of that team. As I look back on the canvas of time, the main hero would be none other than my friend, Sam "The Bam" Cunningham.
Hollywood's star maker and rule-breaker, USC grad John Singleton, and his production company, New Deal Productions, shouldn't have any problems finding financing to make this into a movie. I was quite honored when Steve called and we set a time to discuss this historical event. That book, September 1970: One Night, Two Teams, and the Game That Changed A Nation, will be a must read from Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Subsequently, Steve and I became friends. He asked that I write the foreword to this book, which details the entire history of USC football. Steve's books deal with historical events that expose paradigm shifts, cultures and philosophical changes through the world of athletics. Most people are aware that the University of Southern California builds leaders in all disciplines. USC is on the cuttting edge of history and that is why the great historical human right event that I was a part of - the 1970 game between USC and Alabama that helped end segregation - unfolded in our time, and is emblematic of the importance of my alma mater and her football history.
In 1875, the Rev. John R. Tansey, then presiding Elder of the Methodist Episcopal Church, proposed the organization of a college in Southern California and in 1880, that Methodist College became what is now known as the University of Southern California. I mention this to let you know that some of the early abolitionists were Methodist and it was only natural that the University of Southern California would be part of this this great event.
So, what does it mean to be a true Trojan? In God we trust and Fight On! USC was founded on that tradition. Despite the odds, you Fight On! Despite your financial or economic situation, you Fight On! So having this glorious history, it was predestined that this great team would have its beginning in times such as these.
Predestination is to foreordain by divine decree or purpose. It is true that the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the Voting Act of 1965 provided a framework for significant changes in American Civil Rights policy. There were two major aspects of these laws; the adoption of the law and the implementation of the law.
The U.S. Supreme Court issued it's ruling in the case of Plessy vs. Ferguson and established the doctrine of "separate but equal." I told you that the University of Southern California was and is on the cutting edge of historical events. This is History 570 and History is a branch of knowledge that deals with His-Story of past events.
On April 11, 1968, the Civil Rights Act of 1968 was passed with opposition from Southern Democrats. This nation's cities were ablaze, and political leaders were being assassinated. Two years later USC would be playing football in Birminghan, Alabama. A strong hold of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, a city that bombed and killed four little girls in church, and had the infamous Bull Connor. What Congress and marching took years to do, USC and the University of Alabama did in a season.
Scripture says, where there is no Vision, the people perish. Coach John McKay and Coach Paul Bear Bryant had vision. They set out to change the cultural landscape of a nation. This debate or difference of opinion wasn't acted out on the battlefield of Gettysburg, but on the gridiron of Legion Field. I am an eyewitness and I know what it is to "Fight On!" At USC, we have many great traditions, but the greatest of these is to trust God and Fight On! What does that mean? Regardless of the situation you Fight On! The odds may be against you, but you Fight On! You may be down to your last dime, but you Fight On! There isn't any "greatest" without a great trial. Greatest is born out of a great trial and because we Fought On! the 1970 Trojans soon became national champions and one of the greatest teams in the history of college football.
A few years later in 1972, if you examine the members of that team you would find at least five ministers. Offensive lineman Dave Brown helped to organized the coming together of the faithful believers in God. In my opinion that turned our team around. We were undefeated, untested and untied; we were national champions! Some of the leading sports experts believe that the 1972 USC football team was the greatest team in college history. But, the debate continues.
Coach John McKay said, " It isn't just the players that make a team great, but the mix of those players. How well do they get along? Do they respect each other?" Coach Pete Carroll did a great job of assembling and putting together a great mixture of players: Matt Leinart, LenDale White, Reggie Bush ("Thunder and Lightning") and a plethora of outstanding players.
In 1972 we not only had tremendous talent, we had the perfect blend of personalities. We had the original "Thunder and Lightning," Sam "The Bam" Cunningham and Anthony "A.D., I can do it " Davis. But, no matter how sophisticated your offense is or who is playing quarterback or tailback, if you don't have a great defensive team, it's hard to be a champion. In my humble opinion, that was where the 2005 team fell short.
Over the last hundred years, the USC Trojan football program is recognized as one of the greatest dynasties in the history of college football. USC builds leaders. I'm sure other programs such as Notre Dame, Texas, Ohio State and UCLA build their share of leaders also. Leaders like Joe Montana, Vince Young, Troy Aikman and Jack Tatum. But USC has leaders all over the NFL. I'm uncertain, but I think that every Super Bowl played had a Trojan in the game. Lynn Swann and Ronnie Lott have won four each. In the last seven straight years a Trojan has been inducted into the NCAA Hall of Fame.
A wise man once said, "What you do, speaks so well, I need not hear what you say."
Most generations in our times know of the greatest of the Trojan football program.
Charles "Tree" Young
(Trust God and Fight On!)
USC '73; USC 1972 national champs; Super Bowl XVI Champs; NCAA Football Hall Of Famer
- Login Or register To Post Comments
- Send To A Friend
- Share With:
