Chet Grimsley
Gary Corsair
Staff Writer
Three years after losing his home, his wife and sight in one eye, Chet Grimsley continues to face seemingly insurmountable challenges with the heart of a bull.
A White Golden Bull.
That’s what his teammates called him at Johnson C. Smith University when Grimsley boldly broke a color barrier by becoming the first – and only – white Golden Bulls football player in 1974.
“My dad bet me $20 I wouldn’t make it a day,” recalls Grimsley, who lives in Hayesville.
Dad lost the bet.
Chester Raymond Grimsley wasn’t the only one who doubted the resolve of the 6-foot-4, 255 pound., 18-year-old white boy who had the courage — some would say audacity — to dare play football at a historically black college and university in Charlotte, N.C.
Betting against Grimsley seemed like easy money. In 1972, a white player recruited by JCSU left on the eve of the first practice.
Undaunted, assistant football coach Charlie Cox signed three hefty white linemen from the south – Grimsley, Gary Rudd and Audie Timms.
“Chet’s signing was by accident,” recalled JSCU quarterback Luther Carter, 1972-’74. “Coach Cox happened to be in the area looking for something else when he saw Chet and offered him an opportunity.”
Naturally, a black university signing a white player made headlines. The 1968 murders of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy were still fresh in America’s conscious.
“I’m not looking for color, I’m looking for football players,” head coach Eddie McGirt told the Charlotte Observer. “It’s going to be a pretty good deal, I believe. I think they might make my offensive line move.”
Two of the white recruits did indeed move — right off the field.
“We practiced three times a day with three white freshmen on the field,” recalled Dedrick Sterling. “By the third day, two of the white players, with others, had left in cabs parked outside at midnight to make their way to the Greyhound station and back home.”
Grimsley stayed and won over his teammates with an unmatched work ethic and no-nonsense approach off the field.
“At times I loved him like a brother, and other times I hated the ground he walked on, not because he was white but because of his stubborn ‘take no guff’ attitude,” remarked William “Boobie” Taylor, Grimsley’s roommate for two years. “He never feared anybody.”
He didn’t fear being different. While other players partied, Grimsley focused on making the leap from high school to college.
“Chet lifted weights, took vitamins and got lots of rest,” Sterling said.
Grimsley’s recollection, “We didn’t drink, we didn’t smoke and we didn’t mess around.”
“He was a good guy and an awesome athlete,” Srykett says. “He was a hard worker on the field. He had character and integrity; the whole package. He got along with everybody; blacks and whites. He was used to playing around blacks. He fit in really well.”
“They didn’t know I came out of an all-black high school,” Grimsley chuckles. “Plus, I knew how to fight.”
It took time, but black teammates who had never had a white friend gradually accepted him. Some even became protective of the big boy from Atlanta.
Grimsley was riding in the back of the bus in a bad part of Charlotte when “three drunks” decided to mess with him. “A black kid with a switchblade said to his friends, ‘Let’s slice that white boy up,’” Taylor recalled. “We let that boy know, ‘If you cut this white boy’s throat, we will kill you. He is our teammate and friend.”
Grimsley had the respect of teammates, but no chance of breaking into the starting lineup. JCSU returned its entire offensive line, aka, The Funk Mob, from the previous season.
Grimsley, who abided by the motto, “Train, maintain and hit and get it,” was determined to be ready when his number was called.
He “got it” when 6-foot-1, 280 pound, center Lynwood Spindle got hurt on a play that pushed the ball to the 5-yardline.
“Our starting center got hurt and I yelled over to the sidelines, ‘Give me Chet Grimsley,’’ stated senior quarterback Luther Carter. “Just as I was about to call a play, Chet looked at me and said, ‘Follow me.’ So, I did. The result was a touchdown. Right up the middle. To say the least, Chet was our starting center from then on.”
Carter immediately became a Grimsley booster. Some Golden Bulls needed time to accept Spindle’s demotion.
“My first thought was, ‘Oh God, we are all going to die or be killed with a white boy on our line, especially at an HBCU in the mid-1970s,” remembered Larry Kelly, who had to admit that his Caucasian teammate was “one tough dude.”
In 1975, the one tough sophomore established himself as one of the best linemen in the CIAA as he helped JCSU to an 8-3 record.
Only Grimsley knows what his quest for respect fully entailed.
“There were times I never saw a white person when I played,” Grimsley said.
There were many times — at away games — where opponents and fans made it clear they didn’t want to see a white football player. Grimsley never answered back. He let his playing do his talking.
There were lots of believers by the start of Grimsley’s junior year. In a preseason poll of CIAA coaches, Grimsley was named All-Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association center.
Grimsley also made history by pledging The Groove Phi Groove Social Fellowship. Twenty-one men sought to join fraternity – only nine survived initiation.
Joining the brotherhood was a watershed moment in his momentous life.
“I saw Chet on his journey as a young man who was an average student and athlete. After the pledge period, he turned into a man who had a purpose,” remembered David W. Hughes.
Forty-six years later, Grimsley remains the only white man in the fraternity.
“To this day, I cannot believe Chet pledged. The odds of his making it through the first day was one in-a-million,” Srykett said. “I knew his faith was strong but his journey is amazing to almost unbelievable.”
The incredible journey included a return to JCSU in 1995 to be inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame.
In 2009, Grimsley put his numerous adventures – before, during and after school — in print and published “The White Golden Bull.” Two years later, Too Smart Publishing! published a revised first edition.
Today, he works as part-time janitor at Union County Middle School, where he never misses an opportunity to encourage young people to pursue dreams and be the best they can be.
He’s also working on his third book, based on the rocky road he’s traveled in recent years.
“I want to show everybody that everything can be taken away from you, but you can get back on your feet,” Grimsley said. His message, “Stop crying and whining because there are opportunities out there.”
Grimsley is obviously practicing what he preaches as he fights his way back from adversity. He will make it back. Afterall, he has the heart of a bull — a White Golden Bull.