The year closes with the passing of some luminaries associated with LSU athletics who transcended their athletic endeavors. The Year of 2024 saw the loss of some remarkable characters who left the Earth from Louisiana.
Here are a few:
John Robinson, the legendary USC coach, died on Nov. 11 in Baton Rouge. Robinson was 89 years old and expired in a town where his Trojans of 1979 broke LSU’s heart with a 17-12 victory in Tiger Stadium in what remains one of the storied games in the history of Death Valley.
With a roster stocked with first round NFL selections, Pro Football Hall of Famers and Heisman Trophy winners Charles White and Marcus Allen, Robinson directed USC to rally from a 12-3 deficit to win 17-12 after a controversial face mask call against LSU’s Benjy Thibodeaux on Trojan quarterback Paul McDonald in USC’s final drive.
Robinson won a national championship in 1978 and captured six conference titles at Southern Cal. He twice came within a win of going to the Super Bowl as coach of the Los Angeles Rams, He grew up in Daly City where his childhood buddy and best friend was John Madden, another legendary coach.
Robinson came to Baton Rouge in 2019 where he served as an adviser to Ed Orgeron for three years, including the magical championship run with Joe Burrow winning the Heisman. Amazingly, Robinson opted to log his final years in the Louisiana Capital where he was occasionally seen at the Bluebonnet Road Library.
He was a coach who inspired rather than intimidated players and returned Charles White from a cocaine addiction to the Rams in 1987 as White rose from the scrap heap to lead the NFL in rushing. While motivating players in crucial games, Coach Robinson would implore them to look at the crowd and savor the moment.
John Alexander Robinson loved competition and was a players’ coach with an exuberant California approach to football. Baton Rouge is where it ended for Robinson, not far from where his counterpart Charles McClendon died 23 years ago.
When asked why he decided to finish his life in Louisiana, Robinson responded, “Damned if I know.”
Dub Jones was the oldest LSU Tiger and eldest NFL player when he died at 99 on Nov. 2 in Ruston. Jones played for LSU when the Tigers beat Tulane, then transferred to Tulane during WWII and played for the Greenies when they beat LSU.
Jones starred for the Cleveland Browns of Paul Brown when they entered the NFL and retains a place in the NFL Record Book with six touchdowns scored in one game. He was the second player taken in the 1946 NFL Draft, and his son, Bert, was the No. 2 pick overall in the 1973 draft.
His wife of 78 years survives him and turns 100 in December. Schumpert Barnes Jones was born 17 days earlier than William Augustus Jones, who started his life in Arcadia on Dec. 29, 1924.
Dub Jones lost his father to murder in the late ‘20s. His amazing life included survival of the Great Depression without a father, service in WWII and fathering 7 children with 22 grandchildren and 38 great grandchildren.
Jones was a key contributor to the Browns’ NFL title teams in 1950, 1954 and 1955 and was offensive coordinator for the last Cleveland championship in 1964 as Jim Brown led the league in rushing for the sevenths of times.
Clint Berry died at age 63 in Opelousas on August 13. Berry was the first Black offensive lineman for LSU as Jerry Stovall sought huge players in the trenches. Berry was enormous for his time at 6’5, 280 pounds.
Berry started three years for Stovall at tackle and was part of his coaches’ power football strategy that opened holes for Dalton Hilliard and Garry James and protected Alan Risher in the Orange Bowl season of 1982.
Berry died in Baton Rouge and is survived by his wife, three sons and three daughters.
Don Schwab died October 19 in Houma at 81. Schwab led LSU in rushing yards in 1963 and 1964, a year he paced the SEC as a bruising fullback with 683 yards. His last game for the Tigers was the 1966 Cotton Bowl as LSU upset defending national champion Arkansas 14-7 and ended the Razorbacks’ 22-game win streak. He had five career 100-yard rushing efforts when that number was rarely reached in the college game.
Schwab is survived by his wife of 60 years, Nancy, and three children. He was head football coach at Vandebilt Catholic and was on staffs at Central High In Baton Rouge, H.L Bourgeois in Gray and Sam Barthe in Metairie. Schwab was offensive coordinator at Nicholls State.
From 2004-2008, Don Schwab was president of Terrebonne Parish. He is one of a legion of players under Charles McClendon, who contributed handsomely to his state. Schwab was a native of Ladabieville.
Julia Hawkins died on October 22 in Baton Rouge at 108. At 105, “Hurricane” Hawkins was running in 100-meter deashes and setting world records for her age. She ran 50 meters in 19 seconds at 105 years old.
Hawkins graduated from LSU when Huey Long was in power and addressed students on the Parade Grounds. She was a Sunday night diner at the Piccadilly on Essen Lane and was usually in the presence of her friends Don and Patsy Lyle.
Smiley Anders died on May 31 in Baton Rouge. Smiley was 86 and wrote a daily items column for the Advocate for 45 years. Smiley was nationally recognized for the unique nature of his work and for the devotion of his reading audience.
Anders was with his wife Katherine at his home in Spanish Town when he died. Born in Natchez, he moved to Baton Rouge as a kid and was a friend and classmate of Billy Cannon at Istrouma High School. Smiley was on the sidelines working the LSU-Ole Miss game on Halloween of 1959 when Cannon made his 89-yard gallop to beat the Rebels.
Smiley Gray Anders Jr. knew Baton Rouge better than anyone and was overjoyed when he was inducted into the Manship Hall of Fame at his alma mater in 2011.
Election Recap
The 2024 presidential election has returned Donald Trump to the White House, and the man from Gotham City can thank the SEC. Trump outpointed Kamala Harris 160-0 in the 12 SEC states while Harris won 226-152 in the other 38 states and the District of Columbia.
Harris beat Trump outside the SEC 53-47 percent, but the voters in the league provided the former president with a 60-40 margin of victory in the conference.
The SEC produces most football champions and also elects presidents.
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