Jan. 8, 2011
Dec. 27, 2010
by Roscoe Nance -
Charlie Granger had an outstanding career as a two-way lineman and track athlete for Southern University from 1957-60. He was a two-time All-American and three-year starter for the Jaguars, who won the 1960 Black College National Championship under coach A.W. "Ace'' Mumford. But Buck Buchanan and Ernie Ladd, who played for arch-rival Grambling State and were the two most widely publicized linemen in the SWAC during that time, seemed to always overshadow him.
Granger is now getting his due. He is one of six members of the 2010 SWAC Hall of Fame Class, which also includes Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd (Jackson State, baseball), Clyde Duncan (Texas Southern, track and field), Aaron James (Grambling, basketball), Willie "Rat" McGowan (Alcorn State, baseball / football), and Shirley Walker (Alcorn State, basketball).
"I didn't get the ink,'' Granger says, alluding to the exposure legendary Grambling sports information director Collie J. Nicholson. "This is a great and phenomenal thing to happen to me.
Granger, who went on to play in the NFL for the Dallas Cowboys and St. Louis Cardinals after graduating from Southern, isn't modest about his selection. He says unabashedly that he deserves to be in the Hall alongside Buchanan, Walter Payton, Doug Williams and all of the other SWAC greats.
"As far as my accomplishments and the dues I paid and my production in sports, I should be in any Hall of Fame,'' he says. "This is fantastic. I'm going in with the greats from the SWAC.''
Granger was also an All-American track athlete, competing in the discus and shot put. He learned to throw the discus during summer of his freshman year after tossing it 147 feet in the spring the first time he picked it up.
Granger takes great pride in having played in the SWAC during the pre-integration era even though he and his peers didn't have the type of facilities and media exposure that are afforded athletes who currently compete in the conference. He points out that talent was concentrated in HBCUs because black athletes in the South for the most part had no alternatives.
"We will never be able to duplicate what we were doing at that time,'' he says. "During that we were the best of the best.''
Granger came to Southern as a 189-pound lineman after Grambling told him he was too small to play for the G-Men. He didn't dress for a single game his freshman season; he was third-team until midway through his sophomore and made his mark covering kickoffs before working his way into the starting lineup.
Granger eventually bulked up to 235 pounds but retained his speed and quickness, which made him difficult for opponents to handle him.
"He was full of spirit,'' says L.A. Haynes, a guard/linebacker and team captain for the Jaguars when Granger played. "He had a little speed with him. He was agile, strong and fast.''
As team captain, Haynes called defensive signals for the Jaguars. At times he would go outside the box call a scheme that the team hadn't practice. He says Granger excelled in those situations, which essentially called for execute what is akin to a delayed rush in today's game.
"When I wanted something done real crazy, I would call on him,'' Haynes says. "I knew I could always depend on Charlie.''
But it was as an offensive lineman that Granger made his mark. He says he never missed a block in his career.
"He was a hardnosed dedicated guy,'' says Granger's teammate Jesse Jackson, a flanker back/defensive back who also played against him in high school. "He was a good teammate, and he was super consistent. When he was pulling out of the line, you knew he was going to clean and open up the hole. He was Mr. Reliable. He was lean and mean. When he went to the pros, no one was surprised.''
One of the highlights of Granger's career was the Jaguars winning all three games that they played against Grambling. Jackson says the Jaguars won mainly because the offensive line, led by Granger, outplayed Buchanan and Ladd, who had a considerable size advantage.
"Mumford thought speed was more important then being huge in the offensive line,'' Jackson says. "The offensive linemen wore low cut shoes and taped their ankles. I think gave speed more than those cumbersome shoes. Even with Buck Buchanan and Ernie Ladd and those monsters guys, Charlie and those were able to block them. We beat them three times. Obviously the line was blocking them well. We survived and won, they didn't eat our quarterback and running backs.''
