Todd Gerelds - Woodlawn

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Text copyright 2015 Thomas Todd Gerelds.

Cover art from the motion picture Woodlawn , an Erwin Brothers film, is used with permission. Copyright 2015 by Woodlawn Rights, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Cover Photography and Art 2015 by Woodlawn Rights, LLC. All Rights Reserved

Scripture quotations not otherwise marked are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version (NIV). Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982, 1988 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved.

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First Howard Books trade paperback edition September 2015

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN 978-1-5011-1806-7

ISBN 978-1-5011-1810-4 (ebook)

I grew up in the Woodlawn neighborhood of Birmingham, Alabama. The backyard of my familys home was adjacent to Woodlawn High Schools football field. I can still remember hearing the sounds of the marching band and the boys practicing football over the fence from our backyard. On some days, my daddy pulled out a ladder, and he and I would climb on the roof of our garage to watch Woodlawns football team practice. My daddy loved watching football, and I loved watching it with him. Those autumn days on the roof of the garage with my father are some of my favorite memories.

In the 1940s, Woodlawn High School was the team to beat in the city of Birmingham. In fact, the Colonels were one of the best teams in the state nearly every season. Woodlawn High won three consecutive state championships from 1941 to 1943, winning 27 games in a row in the process. I loved watching Harry Gilmer, who was Woodlawns star tailback and would become an All-American at the University of Alabama. He was one of the first players to throw a jump pass, and I loved going into our backyard and trying to emulate it.

In January 1943, I was diagnosed with rheumatic fever, which was considered a very serious illness back then. Doctors told my mother that I had an enlarged heart. They ordered me to stay in bed, and I ended up being bedridden for nearly a year. I missed going to school and playing baseball and football with my friends. Every Friday night during the fall, Id turn on my radio and listen to Woodlawns football games. It was a brief escape from my illness. At least I could listen to the Colonels and imagine that I was still playing football for a few hours every week.

After spending nearly a year in a bed, I was given clearance by my doctors to return to school. I enrolled at Woodlawn High School in January 1944, but my doctors still wouldnt let me play sports. I was devastated. I joined the Woodlawn High School marching band and performed in the orchestra, but music didnt replace my love for sports. Fortunately, my mother took me to another doctor for a second opinion during my junior year in 1946. He gave me clearance to play sports again. I still remember weeping in his office because I was so happy.

I was able to play football during two seasons at Woodlawn High School. When I was a senior, I was named co-captain of my team, which was a big honor for me. We played in front of crowds of nearly twenty thousand fans at Legion Field, which felt like big-time football to me. I loved playing for Woodlawn High coach Kenny Morgan, who taught me a lot about what it meant to be a man and a leader. I graduated from Woodlawn High School in 1948 and attended Howard College (now Samford University) in Birmingham, where I played baseball and football.

Despite my illness, I wouldnt have traded my childhood for anything. I loved attending Woodlawn High School, where we started every school day with the Pledge of Allegiance and a prayer. Boy, they wouldnt let you do that today, would they? I met my wife, Ann, at Woodlawn High School, and we still get back to Birmingham for our class reunions as often as we can. Some of our closest friends were our classmates at Woodlawn High School. Weve always considered Birmingham our home.

After I coached football at South Georgia College, West Virginia University, and then Florida State University, I visited Woodlawn High School on a few occasions to recruit some of its players. During the 1970s, I was fortunate to meet Tandy Gerelds, who coached the Colonels from 1971 to 1975. I knew Tandy was a great football coach. I liked to keep up with Woodlawn High Schools progress, and I knew they were winning a lot of games in the early 1970s.

I also knew that Tandy was a man of faith and that he shared many of the same beliefs I have. When I was sick as a child, my mother told me to pray to God and ask Him to heal me. I remember my mother holding me in her arms while I prayed. I made a pledge to God. I told Him that if He healed me and allowed me to play football again, I would serve Him for the rest of my life. He did, and I did...

As a football coach for more than sixty years, I thought it was my duty to share the Word of God and be a witness to my players. I believed I had that responsibility as a Christian. Having read about Jesus in the Bible, I learned that we are saved through grace. I realized as a young man that if I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior and surrendered my life to Him, then I would go to heaven. I learned that He died on the cross for me and for my sins. There is nothing you and I can do to repay Him for that sacrifice, so we accept Him as our Savior.

I wanted the boys I coached to understand faith. More than anything, I wanted them to be good men, fathers, and husbands; and I wanted them to love their fellow teammates and fellow citizensboth black and white.

Im proud to know that Tandy Gerelds and his coaches felt the same way about their players. The civil rights struggle was one of the darkest chapters in Americas history, and Birmingham was one of the most intense battlegrounds. During the early 1970s, Woodlawn High School was plagued by racial strife after government-mandated busing brought hundreds of African American students to its campus. It was the first time white and black students attended Woodlawn High together. It was a new experience, and the kids didnt know how to relate to each other.

And of course, the racial problems extended to Woodlawn High Schools football team. Tandy Gerelds and his coaches had to teach their players how to get along and play with each other. He had to teach his kids how to become a team and how to trust and love each other. Through the salvation of Jesus Christ, Tandy found the way to bring these boys together in 1973. What transpired over the next couple of seasons was nothing short of a miracle. Thats the legacy of Tandy Gerelds and Woodlawn High School.