a message from record setting qb ron hinson...

this was posted far down the thread list. i thought it deserved its own post. hope you don't mind ron.

walter geiger

hinson: The 524 yards just did put us over 2K with 2052 for the year. I was “Back of the Week” three times that year, against Troup and Jackson and Brookstone. We threw for 296 (give or take 2 or 3 yards) against Jackson and Willie Ward (Jackson HS RB and 1st team AS) rushed for well over 200 (in the 240‘s I think). Each game was anything but a blowout. Troup Co. had over 400 yards of total offence and I threw 3 or 4 INTs. to go with 6 TDs. The first was a 50+ yrd prayer that Ronnie Barkley (also 1st team All-St.) caught off his shoelaces at the goal line. Against Jackson, he literally reached over the DB and actually wrestled the ball away from him in the back of the end zone on the first pass of the night. Several others in the Troup game were 15-20 yrd throws that got turned into 50+ yrd Tds. Troup was coached by “DUSTY” MILLS and JIMMY HIGHTOWER, I’m not sure who worked for who. Coach Hightower won a championship or two with Americus and coached men like Dan Reeves and Chan Gaily. In frustration, they rushed three and covered with eight for the better part of the night when we hit a couple of big plays early on. I later played for Coach Hightower at Ga. South Western and he related to me his frustration, coaching against us that night. Coach Hightower was a good man.

Anyhow, I think we were the first to cross the 2K mark in the regular season. If not, then we were the first to do it with only six passing plays; 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, and, of course 66. We had a three step package but we rarely used it. 99% of the time we went with a seven step drop, none of that pansy-@ss 5 step crap. I was 12-15 yards deep in the pocket and all of our primary routes were broken at 15 yards. Wow. I can’t believe we did that! Our OC was a disciple of Bill Peterson at FSU in the late 60’s, he felt that rushing the ball was a blasphemy and would rather throw a 15 yrd out-route on 4th and 2 than to ever stoop to the barbarous running game.

The third “Back of the Week” award that we received was for the Brookstone game. We threw for 280+ yards and 3 TDs and, you’ll love this, Brookstone was up 20-6 at halftime! Our coaches blasted us at halftime. They let us have it; “You’re letting’ a bunch of WHITE BOYS kick your @ss out there!”, “A bunch of SLOW WHITE BOYS!” The final score was 50-27. We scored 44 points in the second half! Ronnie Barkley caught a 60+ yrd go route on the 1st play of the half (We practiced go-routes like everyone else practiced puttin’ on their uniforms). I swear, the ball went so far and so high that the poor little white DB from Brookstone looked like a buzzard circling’ road-kill. He got so turned ‘round that he fell flat on the ground. The very next series, Barkley took a sweep play (blasphemy, I know) 80 yards, out-running everyone down the sideline doin’ the Walter Payton “high-step” before anyone knew who “Sweetness” was. To this day I have never seen a more gazelle-like pure sprinter than Ronnie Barkley. He was poetry, the most beautiful running form I’ve ever seen, and I saw his brother Bobby and Gary Price when I was a freshmen. The year before they had finished 1st and 2nd in the “Class A” 100 yard dash. Against Mary Persons that year, Price ran the first two kickoffs back for scores. After that, Pitts had’em lay the ball on the ground without the tee and squib the damn thing. I don’t know if you’ve ever talked with anyone who played for Dan Pitts but you should start an entire category devoted solely to stories of that man from the men who played for him. I can tell you this, the sole reason that I was a 1st team All-State selection in 1978 was because Dan Pitts stood up and voted for me. We finished 3-7 that year and Mary Persons scored almost 50 point to our two, maybe 3 TD’s, I was terrible. However, in the three years that I competed against Dan Pitts’ teams, after the game, he always made sure that he shook my hand, put his other hand on my shoulder and said a kind word or two. We only managed 1800+ yards passing that year.

If I could go back and change anything, I'd want, more than anything else, to be a better teammate and friend to the guys I was so privileged to play with. We could have accomplished so much more if I hadn't been so naive and immature.

One final note. I’ve been disabled for the last 4 and ½ years. My body is simply deteriorating and I have a hard time doing the most simple tasks. Severe arthritis and bipolar disorder have combined to put me on the DL for good. I can’t run or throw anymore and I suffer from severe manic depression. I found out from one of my doctors that a shoulder injury which I’d suffered playing baseball my junior year had actually caused a muscle tear in my shoulder. The tear got progressively worse from that point on. I can’t lift my right arm above my shoulder anymore w/out pain and I’d be hard-pressed to throw a NERF ball to my two 7 year old son’s. My arm strength was an issue with me everywhere I went after graduation. I simply couldn’t throw with any consistency after that and it took about 25 years for me to finally understand why.

Take care,

-Ron