Arizona Wildcats football: On Solomon's injury, Grambling's incredible band, Brown's dream
- Updated
Five storylines to prepare you for Arizona's game against Grambling State on Saturday.
- Michael Lev Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Last week, when the starting quarterback job had yet to be secured, contender Brandon Dawkins gave himself a simple reminder: “Just be ready.”
Dawkins didn’t end up getting the job. Nor did he play in the Arizona Wildcats’ season opener.
But it appears Dawkins will get his chance Saturday. Starter Anu Solomon is questionable for the home opener against Grambling State because of a knee injury. It’s considered more likely than not that Solomon will sit out against the underdog Tigers.
If so, Dawkins would be in line for his first career start.
The redshirt sophomore from Oxnard, California, played extensively off the bench in the 2015 regular-season finale against Arizona State, compiling 383 total yards and accounting for three touchdowns.
Dawkins also threw two pick-sixes in the Wildcats’ 52-37 defeat. But the experience proved invaluable, giving Dawkins a jolt of confidence and respect that carried into the offseason.
“I always knew I could play. That’s just the competitor in me,” Dawkins said during training camp. “It showed me a lot about myself, and definitely showed the coaches and the team a lot about me.
“A lot of the guys take me a lot more seriously. It’s not that they didn’t take me seriously, but now that they’ve seen me in a game and seen what I can do in full-speed reps … my word holds a little more weight.”
Even though they eventually chose Solomon, UA coach Rich Rodriguez and quarterbacks coach Rod Smith repeatedly expressed faith in Dawkins.
Rodriguez said more than once that he felt he had two starting-caliber quarterbacks.
“I feel comfortable with both of them,” Smith said, “and Rich does too.”
Assuming Dawkins plays and plays well, it’ll be interesting to see how that impacts the coaches’ thinking. Although Solomon played poorly in the opener (zero touchdowns, two interceptions, four sacks), Rodriguez and Smith remained confident in him.
But Dawkins’ performance against ASU opened a lot of eyes. And remember: It only came about because Solomon was unavailable because of a concussion.
Jerrard Randall started, only to have Rodriguez pull him. He went back to Solomon for the New Mexico Bowl. Would a stellar performance by Dawkins, even against Grambling State, lead to a different outcome?
- Michael Lev Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Come for the game. Stay for the band.
The world-famed Grambling State University Tiger Marching Band will perform at halftime of the Saturday’s game.
It might be worth the price of admission.
The GSU Tiger Marching Band has been dubbed by many as “The Best Band in the Land.”
Here are seven fun facts about the band, according to its website:
1. The band was formed in 1926. Faculty member Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones, who later would become GSU’s president, obtained 17 musical instruments from a Sears and Roebuck catalog to get things started.
2. It wasn’t uncommon in the early days for football players to also be band members. They’d have to be subbed out when they got hurt playing ball.
3. The band’s popularity exploded when it performed at halftime of the 1965 AFL championship game in San Diego. Transportation expenses weren’t provided, so Jones paid for chartered buses out of his own pocket.
4. The GSU Band performed with the Pride of Arizona marching band and others during halftime of Super Bowl I in Los Angeles. The GSU Band also played at halftime at Super Bowls II, IX, XIV, XXI and XXXII.
5. The band performed at the inauguration of Liberian President William R. Tolbert in January 1972, at the United States’ bicentennial celebration in Washington, D.C., in July 1976 and at George W. Bush’s inauguration in January 2001.
6. The band goes through its own form of training camp each August. The sessions can last from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. and include jogging, calisthenics and marching at a cadence of 180 steps per minute.
7. The band has grown in size over the years. The full band now consists of 250 members, including staff, dancers and color guards.
- Michael Lev Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Eddie Robinson won a record 408 games over 55 seasons as the football coach at Grambling State University. The school’s football stadium is named after Robinson, who died in 2007.
More than 200 of Robinson’s players went on to play in the NFL, according to his New York Times obituary. Here are some of Grambling’s greatest football players, along with some of the other top athletes the school produced:
Tommie Agee: Agee hit 130 home runs and stole 167 bases for five MLB teams between 1962 and ’73. His spectacular defense in center field helped the New York Mets win the 1969 World Series.
Willie Brown: Undrafted out of Grambling, Brown went on to have a Hall of Fame career as a cornerback with the Denver Broncos and Oakland Raiders. He helped the Raiders win Super Bowl XI with a 75-yard interception return for a touchdown.
Buck Buchanan: The first pick in the 1963 AFL draft, the 6-foot-7-inch, 270-pound defensive tackle played 13 seasons for the Kansas City Chiefs en route to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. His given name was Junious.
James “Shack” Harris: Harris was the first African-American to start regularly at quarterback in pro football, playing for the Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Rams and San Diego Chargers. He later spent 20-plus years in the NFL as a personnel executive.
Charlie Joiner: A fourth-round pick in the 1969 draft, Joiner played 18 seasons for Houston, Cincinnati and San Diego, where he became a three-time Pro Bowler. He finished his career with 750 receptions and entered the Hall of Fame in 1996.
Ernie “Big Cat” Ladd: Ladd played eight seasons with San Diego, Houston and Kansas City. One of the tallest pro football players ever at 6-9, the defensive tackle helped the Chargers win the 1963 AFL championship. He later became a professional wrestler.
Willis Reed: A second-round pick in the 1964 NBA draft, Reed averaged 18.7 points and 12.9 rebounds over 10 seasons with the New York Knicks. Reed famously limped onto the court for Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals despite a bad leg injury and helped the Knicks win the game and series.
Doug Williams: Williams became the first black quarterback to start in and win a Super Bowl, earning MVP honors after passing for 340 yards and four touchdowns for Washington in Super Bowl XXII. He later had two stints as the head coach at his alma mater.
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Saturday's game will be special for UA running backs coach Calvin Magee.
Magee grew up in New Orleans, a few hundred miles from the Grambling State campus.
He played collegiately at Southern University, Grambling’s heated rival, and played in four Bayou Classics in New Orleans.
Magee’s teams went 2-2 against Grambling, then a powerhouse program led by the legendary Eddie Robinson.
“Flashbacks,” he said. “It’s a big game for me. I played them in college because of the Bayou Classic. It’s nice to be able to play them again. They were really good, and they’re playing well now.”
Magee, a tight end, went on to play in the NFL. He was enshrined in Southern’s Hall of Fame in 2000.
Magee said he never considered Grambling out of high school. Rather, he planned to attend his hometown school of Tulane.
How’d he end up at Southern?
“Larry Smith signed me, then he left after I signed and came to Arizona,” Magee said. “I got upset and didn’t want to go there anymore, so I went to Southern kinda being mad.”
Small world: Smith, Arizona’s coach from 1980-86, was posthumously inducted into the Wildcats’ Hall of Fame on Friday.
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Shun Brown always assumed he’d play at Grambling State.
His father, Vyron, was a two-time captain and two-time national champion at the historically black college and earned two degrees. Vyron Brown returned after graduation and, in nine years, rose from graduate assistant (2002) to offensive coordinator (2011).
Shun — given name: Vyron Brown Jr. — grew up a fan of the Tigers.
“We’ve got Doug Williams stuff in our house. Pretty much everything is Grambling,” Brown said. “I know everything about Grambling. It’s very special.”
But Brown picked the Wildcats over offers from Mississippi State, Alabama State, Tulsa, Arkansas-Pine Bluff and, of course, Grambling.
Now, the sophomore is one of Arizona’s four starting receivers.
“I’m just excited to play because it’s people from back home coming in to watch the game, and the band’s gonna be here,” Brown said. “So it’s gonna be a big stage.”
The message from his dad, who left Grambling in 2011? Don’t overlook the Tigers.
“He’s excited,” Brown said. “He just told me those guys are gonna come out with a lot of pride. He said, ‘You know how Grambling do it’, and I said, ‘Yessir, I’m ready to play.’”
Last week, when the starting quarterback job had yet to be secured, contender Brandon Dawkins gave himself a simple reminder: “Just be ready.”
Dawkins didn’t end up getting the job. Nor did he play in the Arizona Wildcats’ season opener.
But it appears Dawkins will get his chance Saturday. Starter Anu Solomon is questionable for the home opener against Grambling State because of a knee injury. It’s considered more likely than not that Solomon will sit out against the underdog Tigers.
If so, Dawkins would be in line for his first career start.
The redshirt sophomore from Oxnard, California, played extensively off the bench in the 2015 regular-season finale against Arizona State, compiling 383 total yards and accounting for three touchdowns.
Dawkins also threw two pick-sixes in the Wildcats’ 52-37 defeat. But the experience proved invaluable, giving Dawkins a jolt of confidence and respect that carried into the offseason.
“I always knew I could play. That’s just the competitor in me,” Dawkins said during training camp. “It showed me a lot about myself, and definitely showed the coaches and the team a lot about me.
“A lot of the guys take me a lot more seriously. It’s not that they didn’t take me seriously, but now that they’ve seen me in a game and seen what I can do in full-speed reps … my word holds a little more weight.”
Even though they eventually chose Solomon, UA coach Rich Rodriguez and quarterbacks coach Rod Smith repeatedly expressed faith in Dawkins.
Rodriguez said more than once that he felt he had two starting-caliber quarterbacks.
“I feel comfortable with both of them,” Smith said, “and Rich does too.”
Assuming Dawkins plays and plays well, it’ll be interesting to see how that impacts the coaches’ thinking. Although Solomon played poorly in the opener (zero touchdowns, two interceptions, four sacks), Rodriguez and Smith remained confident in him.
But Dawkins’ performance against ASU opened a lot of eyes. And remember: It only came about because Solomon was unavailable because of a concussion.
Jerrard Randall started, only to have Rodriguez pull him. He went back to Solomon for the New Mexico Bowl. Would a stellar performance by Dawkins, even against Grambling State, lead to a different outcome?
Come for the game. Stay for the band.
The world-famed Grambling State University Tiger Marching Band will perform at halftime of the Saturday’s game.
It might be worth the price of admission.
The GSU Tiger Marching Band has been dubbed by many as “The Best Band in the Land.”
Here are seven fun facts about the band, according to its website:
1. The band was formed in 1926. Faculty member Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones, who later would become GSU’s president, obtained 17 musical instruments from a Sears and Roebuck catalog to get things started.
2. It wasn’t uncommon in the early days for football players to also be band members. They’d have to be subbed out when they got hurt playing ball.
3. The band’s popularity exploded when it performed at halftime of the 1965 AFL championship game in San Diego. Transportation expenses weren’t provided, so Jones paid for chartered buses out of his own pocket.
4. The GSU Band performed with the Pride of Arizona marching band and others during halftime of Super Bowl I in Los Angeles. The GSU Band also played at halftime at Super Bowls II, IX, XIV, XXI and XXXII.
5. The band performed at the inauguration of Liberian President William R. Tolbert in January 1972, at the United States’ bicentennial celebration in Washington, D.C., in July 1976 and at George W. Bush’s inauguration in January 2001.
6. The band goes through its own form of training camp each August. The sessions can last from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. and include jogging, calisthenics and marching at a cadence of 180 steps per minute.
7. The band has grown in size over the years. The full band now consists of 250 members, including staff, dancers and color guards.
Eddie Robinson won a record 408 games over 55 seasons as the football coach at Grambling State University. The school’s football stadium is named after Robinson, who died in 2007.
More than 200 of Robinson’s players went on to play in the NFL, according to his New York Times obituary. Here are some of Grambling’s greatest football players, along with some of the other top athletes the school produced:
Tommie Agee: Agee hit 130 home runs and stole 167 bases for five MLB teams between 1962 and ’73. His spectacular defense in center field helped the New York Mets win the 1969 World Series.
Willie Brown: Undrafted out of Grambling, Brown went on to have a Hall of Fame career as a cornerback with the Denver Broncos and Oakland Raiders. He helped the Raiders win Super Bowl XI with a 75-yard interception return for a touchdown.
Buck Buchanan: The first pick in the 1963 AFL draft, the 6-foot-7-inch, 270-pound defensive tackle played 13 seasons for the Kansas City Chiefs en route to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. His given name was Junious.
James “Shack” Harris: Harris was the first African-American to start regularly at quarterback in pro football, playing for the Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Rams and San Diego Chargers. He later spent 20-plus years in the NFL as a personnel executive.
Charlie Joiner: A fourth-round pick in the 1969 draft, Joiner played 18 seasons for Houston, Cincinnati and San Diego, where he became a three-time Pro Bowler. He finished his career with 750 receptions and entered the Hall of Fame in 1996.
Ernie “Big Cat” Ladd: Ladd played eight seasons with San Diego, Houston and Kansas City. One of the tallest pro football players ever at 6-9, the defensive tackle helped the Chargers win the 1963 AFL championship. He later became a professional wrestler.
Willis Reed: A second-round pick in the 1964 NBA draft, Reed averaged 18.7 points and 12.9 rebounds over 10 seasons with the New York Knicks. Reed famously limped onto the court for Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals despite a bad leg injury and helped the Knicks win the game and series.
Doug Williams: Williams became the first black quarterback to start in and win a Super Bowl, earning MVP honors after passing for 340 yards and four touchdowns for Washington in Super Bowl XXII. He later had two stints as the head coach at his alma mater.
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
Saturday's game will be special for UA running backs coach Calvin Magee.
Magee grew up in New Orleans, a few hundred miles from the Grambling State campus.
He played collegiately at Southern University, Grambling’s heated rival, and played in four Bayou Classics in New Orleans.
Magee’s teams went 2-2 against Grambling, then a powerhouse program led by the legendary Eddie Robinson.
“Flashbacks,” he said. “It’s a big game for me. I played them in college because of the Bayou Classic. It’s nice to be able to play them again. They were really good, and they’re playing well now.”
Magee, a tight end, went on to play in the NFL. He was enshrined in Southern’s Hall of Fame in 2000.
Magee said he never considered Grambling out of high school. Rather, he planned to attend his hometown school of Tulane.
How’d he end up at Southern?
“Larry Smith signed me, then he left after I signed and came to Arizona,” Magee said. “I got upset and didn’t want to go there anymore, so I went to Southern kinda being mad.”
Small world: Smith, Arizona’s coach from 1980-86, was posthumously inducted into the Wildcats’ Hall of Fame on Friday.
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
Shun Brown always assumed he’d play at Grambling State.
His father, Vyron, was a two-time captain and two-time national champion at the historically black college and earned two degrees. Vyron Brown returned after graduation and, in nine years, rose from graduate assistant (2002) to offensive coordinator (2011).
Shun — given name: Vyron Brown Jr. — grew up a fan of the Tigers.
“We’ve got Doug Williams stuff in our house. Pretty much everything is Grambling,” Brown said. “I know everything about Grambling. It’s very special.”
But Brown picked the Wildcats over offers from Mississippi State, Alabama State, Tulsa, Arkansas-Pine Bluff and, of course, Grambling.
Now, the sophomore is one of Arizona’s four starting receivers.
“I’m just excited to play because it’s people from back home coming in to watch the game, and the band’s gonna be here,” Brown said. “So it’s gonna be a big stage.”
The message from his dad, who left Grambling in 2011? Don’t overlook the Tigers.
“He’s excited,” Brown said. “He just told me those guys are gonna come out with a lot of pride. He said, ‘You know how Grambling do it’, and I said, ‘Yessir, I’m ready to play.’”
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