PV-PRIDE
Well-Known Member
ITTA BENA ? Willie Totten, at 40, appears as trim and fit as he was 18 years ago when he kept throwing the football, Jerry Rice kept catching it and the rest of the USA learned about a tiny, obscure school called Mississippi Valley State University and its team, the Delta Devils.
Totten, now Valley's head football coach, will be in front of his TV Sunday afternoon when Rice, also 40, takes the field for the Oakland Raiders against the New York Jets in an NFL playoff game.
"I never miss one of Jerry's games," Totten says. "If he's playing, I'm watching."
Asked about Rice's career longevity, Totten smiles, shakes his head and answers with one word: "Remarkable."
Totten, you see, exercises regularly. He often works out with his players and other coaches. He plays in the yard with his two daughters. He teaches P.E. classes at Valley. He's constantly on the go.
"I stay in shape, but sometimes I wake up and my bones ache," he says. "I feel my age sometimes. And then there's Jerry, still out there playing and still playing at such a high level. Guys much younger than him are slowing down, but he just keeps going."
This past season, Rice defied Father Time, catching 92 passes for 1,211 yards and seven touchdowns. At an age when most football players, even the greatest ones, have retired to the TV booth or the real world, Rice was voted to the Pro Bowl for the 13th time.
"I watch Jerry and I still see him doing the same things, with the same mannerisms, he did 20 years ago," Totten says. "Like if he takes a hard lick from somebody, watch him glance back to see who it was. It won't be a long stare. There won't be any trash talking, but he'll glance back to see who it was, and he'll remember."
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For Mississippians of a certain age, Rice and Totten always will be linked. One was known as Jerry "World" Rice. The other was Willie "Satellite" Totten. That was because Rice was more than an All-American; he was All-World. And Totten's passes were out of this world, like a satellite. Together, they astounded college football with the most gawdy statistics ever produced. At one time, they combined to hold more than 50 NCAA passing and receiving records.
At Valley, Totten once threw for over 5,000 yards in a season. Rice once caught 24 passes in a single game.
It was Chuck Prophet's job, as sports information director, to keep those statistics and report them to the NCAA. Prophet, now retired and living in Greenwood, loves to talk about those days.
"I'd send the stats to the NCAA on Saturday night, and they'd send them back to me Sunday morning," Prophet says, chuckling. "They'd tell me to go over them again; these can't be right.
"I'd call 'em back and tell them we checked and double-checked and the numbers were right. Steve Boda was the guy at the NCAA who handled statistics back then, and I don't think he ever believed me. But years later, after Jerry had set all the NFL records, I'd run into Boda at NCAA meetings and he'd grin and tell me, 'Chuck, you were right.' "
Totten grew up in tiny Coila, eight miles from Carrollton. Rice grew up in wee Crawford, near Starkville. They competed in track as high schoolers.
"I didn't know Jerry then, but I remember him," Totten says. "Jerry was a high jumper, and he didn't use the proper method. He just ran and jumped, as if he were jumping over a fence. It was weird, but he won medals jumping that way. No telling what he'd have jumped if he knew how."
The two were recruited together to Valley as freshmen in 1981. Archie Cooley, known as "The Gunslinger," was the coach.
"I remember Jerry that first day on campus," Totten says. "The freshmen were tossing the ball back and forth. Everybody was joking around, everybody except Jerry. This was before practice, but he was dead serious. He was determined not to drop a one. There was something different about him, and you could tell it right off."
Valley had 30 freshmen that year including several receivers, some who were bigger and/or faster than Rice.
"Jerry wasn't the fastest or the best, but he worked harder than all of 'em put together," Totten says. "He'd always want to race. I'll never forget. He always wanted to race, and he knew he wouldn't win.
"But, by the time he was a senior, he was winning. He just out-worked everybody."
Cooley ran an option-styled offense when Totten and Rice got to Valley. But when Cooley saw Rice run and catch and Totten throw, he switched to a spread offense and passed on nearly every down. The offense became known as "The Satellite Express."
"It was nothing for Totten to throw for 600 or 700 yards a game," Prophet says. "Jerry routinely had 200-yard receiving games."
Sports writers and TV reporters from across America took notice. Prophet, himself, became perhaps the busiest man in sports.
The two phones in Valley's sports information office rang and rang and rang. Sports Illustrated would call one minute, The New York Times the next.
"Try telling someone from the New York Times how to get to Itta Bena, Mississippi," Prophet says, again laughing. "First off, they couldn't understand me, and I couldn't understand them."
Rice and Totten often shoved Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Southern Miss off the front page of Mississippi sports sections, too. When an Alcorn-Valley game was switched from Itta Bena on a Saturday to Jackson on a Sunday, 64,000 people jammed Veterans Memorial Stadium, despite statewide TV coverage.
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The dream, Totten says, was for him to follow Rice to the NFL where they would continue to set records.
It didn't happen.
After struggling early as a rookie first-round draft choice, Rice did become one of pro football's all-time greats. He holds NFL records for pass receptions, receiving yardage and touchdowns. He is the first player in NFL history to score 200 touchdowns.
Totten went undrafted after his senior year. He played a couple seasons in the Canadian Football League and then played four games as a replacement player with the Buffalo Bills during the 1987 season when NFL players went on strike.
He played five seasons, quite successfully, in the Arena Football League.
"But the money wasn't as good back then as it is now in indoor football," Totten says.
He retired in 1991 and entered coaching. This past season was his first as head coach at his alma mater. Winless the year before, Valley finished 5-6 this season and Totten was voted Mississippi's college football coach of the year by Clarion-Ledger sports writers.
Yes, Totten says, he does sometime regret that he never got what he considers "a fair shot" at the NFL.
But, he says, "I firmly believe in destiny, and I believe I'm where I'm supposed to be. I believe I was supposed to be a coach and I was supposed to coach here."
He and Rice remain close friends. They talk on the phone often. When Rice makes his annual visit to Mississippi, the two get together and play golf.
When Totten became Valley's head coach, Rice negotiated a deal with Nike for more than $100,000 in equipment and uniforms for Totten's team.
The two are planning a huge reunion of the 1984 team, perhaps for the 2004 season.
Prophet, perhaps better than anyone, understands how deep the mutual respect between Totten and Rice goes. Prophet, who also served MVSU as athletic director, was in that capacity in 1999 when Valley renamed its stadium.
"We were going to name it Jerry Rice Stadium," Prophet says. "We called Jerry to tell him and he wouldn't have it. He flat said no.
"He said, 'If it's gonna have my name on it, it's gonna be Totten-Rice Stadium.' "
And so they remain forever linked, Jerry "World" Rice and Willie "Satellite" Totten.
Totten, now Valley's head football coach, will be in front of his TV Sunday afternoon when Rice, also 40, takes the field for the Oakland Raiders against the New York Jets in an NFL playoff game.
"I never miss one of Jerry's games," Totten says. "If he's playing, I'm watching."
Asked about Rice's career longevity, Totten smiles, shakes his head and answers with one word: "Remarkable."
Totten, you see, exercises regularly. He often works out with his players and other coaches. He plays in the yard with his two daughters. He teaches P.E. classes at Valley. He's constantly on the go.
"I stay in shape, but sometimes I wake up and my bones ache," he says. "I feel my age sometimes. And then there's Jerry, still out there playing and still playing at such a high level. Guys much younger than him are slowing down, but he just keeps going."
This past season, Rice defied Father Time, catching 92 passes for 1,211 yards and seven touchdowns. At an age when most football players, even the greatest ones, have retired to the TV booth or the real world, Rice was voted to the Pro Bowl for the 13th time.
"I watch Jerry and I still see him doing the same things, with the same mannerisms, he did 20 years ago," Totten says. "Like if he takes a hard lick from somebody, watch him glance back to see who it was. It won't be a long stare. There won't be any trash talking, but he'll glance back to see who it was, and he'll remember."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For Mississippians of a certain age, Rice and Totten always will be linked. One was known as Jerry "World" Rice. The other was Willie "Satellite" Totten. That was because Rice was more than an All-American; he was All-World. And Totten's passes were out of this world, like a satellite. Together, they astounded college football with the most gawdy statistics ever produced. At one time, they combined to hold more than 50 NCAA passing and receiving records.
At Valley, Totten once threw for over 5,000 yards in a season. Rice once caught 24 passes in a single game.
It was Chuck Prophet's job, as sports information director, to keep those statistics and report them to the NCAA. Prophet, now retired and living in Greenwood, loves to talk about those days.
"I'd send the stats to the NCAA on Saturday night, and they'd send them back to me Sunday morning," Prophet says, chuckling. "They'd tell me to go over them again; these can't be right.
"I'd call 'em back and tell them we checked and double-checked and the numbers were right. Steve Boda was the guy at the NCAA who handled statistics back then, and I don't think he ever believed me. But years later, after Jerry had set all the NFL records, I'd run into Boda at NCAA meetings and he'd grin and tell me, 'Chuck, you were right.' "
Totten grew up in tiny Coila, eight miles from Carrollton. Rice grew up in wee Crawford, near Starkville. They competed in track as high schoolers.
"I didn't know Jerry then, but I remember him," Totten says. "Jerry was a high jumper, and he didn't use the proper method. He just ran and jumped, as if he were jumping over a fence. It was weird, but he won medals jumping that way. No telling what he'd have jumped if he knew how."
The two were recruited together to Valley as freshmen in 1981. Archie Cooley, known as "The Gunslinger," was the coach.
"I remember Jerry that first day on campus," Totten says. "The freshmen were tossing the ball back and forth. Everybody was joking around, everybody except Jerry. This was before practice, but he was dead serious. He was determined not to drop a one. There was something different about him, and you could tell it right off."
Valley had 30 freshmen that year including several receivers, some who were bigger and/or faster than Rice.
"Jerry wasn't the fastest or the best, but he worked harder than all of 'em put together," Totten says. "He'd always want to race. I'll never forget. He always wanted to race, and he knew he wouldn't win.
"But, by the time he was a senior, he was winning. He just out-worked everybody."
Cooley ran an option-styled offense when Totten and Rice got to Valley. But when Cooley saw Rice run and catch and Totten throw, he switched to a spread offense and passed on nearly every down. The offense became known as "The Satellite Express."
"It was nothing for Totten to throw for 600 or 700 yards a game," Prophet says. "Jerry routinely had 200-yard receiving games."
Sports writers and TV reporters from across America took notice. Prophet, himself, became perhaps the busiest man in sports.
The two phones in Valley's sports information office rang and rang and rang. Sports Illustrated would call one minute, The New York Times the next.
"Try telling someone from the New York Times how to get to Itta Bena, Mississippi," Prophet says, again laughing. "First off, they couldn't understand me, and I couldn't understand them."
Rice and Totten often shoved Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Southern Miss off the front page of Mississippi sports sections, too. When an Alcorn-Valley game was switched from Itta Bena on a Saturday to Jackson on a Sunday, 64,000 people jammed Veterans Memorial Stadium, despite statewide TV coverage.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The dream, Totten says, was for him to follow Rice to the NFL where they would continue to set records.
It didn't happen.
After struggling early as a rookie first-round draft choice, Rice did become one of pro football's all-time greats. He holds NFL records for pass receptions, receiving yardage and touchdowns. He is the first player in NFL history to score 200 touchdowns.
Totten went undrafted after his senior year. He played a couple seasons in the Canadian Football League and then played four games as a replacement player with the Buffalo Bills during the 1987 season when NFL players went on strike.
He played five seasons, quite successfully, in the Arena Football League.
"But the money wasn't as good back then as it is now in indoor football," Totten says.
He retired in 1991 and entered coaching. This past season was his first as head coach at his alma mater. Winless the year before, Valley finished 5-6 this season and Totten was voted Mississippi's college football coach of the year by Clarion-Ledger sports writers.
Yes, Totten says, he does sometime regret that he never got what he considers "a fair shot" at the NFL.
But, he says, "I firmly believe in destiny, and I believe I'm where I'm supposed to be. I believe I was supposed to be a coach and I was supposed to coach here."
He and Rice remain close friends. They talk on the phone often. When Rice makes his annual visit to Mississippi, the two get together and play golf.
When Totten became Valley's head coach, Rice negotiated a deal with Nike for more than $100,000 in equipment and uniforms for Totten's team.
The two are planning a huge reunion of the 1984 team, perhaps for the 2004 season.
Prophet, perhaps better than anyone, understands how deep the mutual respect between Totten and Rice goes. Prophet, who also served MVSU as athletic director, was in that capacity in 1999 when Valley renamed its stadium.
"We were going to name it Jerry Rice Stadium," Prophet says. "We called Jerry to tell him and he wouldn't have it. He flat said no.
"He said, 'If it's gonna have my name on it, it's gonna be Totten-Rice Stadium.' "
And so they remain forever linked, Jerry "World" Rice and Willie "Satellite" Totten.
) at Valley during that time. Archie Cooley didn't earn his checkered reputation overnight. There's a reason why many SWAC schools were leary of him after he left Valley. LOL. I particularly recall rumblings concerning Valley's '84 playoff game with LA Tech, in which Totten threw a couple of 'questionable picks' to wide open linebackers.
