BLACK HISTORY
By BARRY HALVORSON bhalvorson@journal-spectator. com
The story of Black History includes a number of chapters involving athletic competition and one of Wharton's own is among the list that wrote up the record books. A former player for the Wharton Training High School Wolves, Jim Kearney is a member of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame (inducted in 2004) and is a co-holder of two NFLrecords, most interception touchdown returns in a season, 4; and most interception touchdown returns in a game, 2. But as a youngster, he only saw sports as a way out of poverty in a then segregated Texas. "The only way out for most people was either through athletics or music," he said. "Growing up, they gave me a football, a basketball and a saxophone. My brothers have a pretty successful band in Wharton and I was the one that got them started at that." But it would be football that was Kearney's ticket to a better life. And a sport he dedicated himself to early in life. "I remember being a freshman in high school and walking home along the dirt road because it wasn't paved in our part of town," Kearney said. "I looked to the side of the road and saw the shotgun houses and the small kids running around and when I got home I told my family I'm going to get out of here some day." Kearney said that growing up he didn't have any local sports heroes but did admire such NFLgreats as Jim Brown and Lenny Moore. "Not only did you have segregation in Wharton but you also had a class system among the blacks," he said. "And my family was part of the lower class blacks and who they chose to play was based in part on what class you belonged to then." "But we never had any problems with the White players in town even when we were successful," he said. "We did our thing and they did their thing and we didn't cross paths that much so there were no conflicts. "Being raised in a small town like Wharton was actually good for that. We got the support of the people and they'd find ways to give us jobs in high school." He got his start on the road out of Wharton based on his high school achievements on the gridiron as the Wolves' quarterback. He led the school to the state playoffs in 1960 and set the stage for the school winning the state championship a year later. That success also earned him the respect of people of all ethnic backgrounds. "There were a lot of White people who supported me back in those days," he said. "There was a Mr. Chamberlain and a Mr. Davidson who owned a grass farm and gave me a job. And I picked cotton for a Mr. Kiel. While I was in college, every once in a while Mr. Davidson would stop by my parents' house and slip them some money for me. After I signed with the pros I came back and told him how much that meant to me." Despite being a playoff team, the Wolves still suffered as the result of the practice of "separate but equal schools" but Kearney never allowed that to bother him. "We'd get the hand-me-down equipment from Wharton High School. We had the old hightop shoes and only one ball but it never bothered us. To us, the equipment was new and we appreciated just having the opportunity to play."

And Kearney played his way to all-state honors which earned him a spot in the first Black East-West All-star game, played that year in Beaumont. Given a proper stage, Kearney made the most of the opportunity attracting the attention of a number of college scouts. Taking the advice of his parents, Kearney accepted a scholarship offer to attend Prairie View A&M. "Back then, it seems like parents had a little more influence over their children and they wanted me close to home so they could see me play." And while NAIA member Prairie View was probably the biggest school in the state he could have played at because segregation was still part of the old Southwest Conference, his talents did attract attention from around the country. "Actually, there was a recruiter from the University of Iowa (Hawkeyes) who actually enrolled me in the school they wanted me so bad," he said. But staying close to home proved to be the right choice as the decision paired him with receiver Otis Taylor. The two earned second team All-American honors both in 1963 and 1964. Post-season performances again were important to Kearney as his squad reached the 1963 NAIA playoffs. Prairie View downed Kearney State (Neb.) 20-7 in the semifinals before dropping a 33-27 heartbreaker to St. John's (Minn.). Following his college career, Kearney was drafted by the Detroit Lions as a running back in the 11th round of the draft despite his success under center at the college level. It would be with the Lions he would find himself on the other side of the ball. "We had some injuries in the defensive backfield and then starting cornerback Dick LeBeau got hurt," Kearney said. "The defensive coach came over and said since I had a lot of athletic ability, I was going into the game. I argued I'd never played defense but they put me in. They must of have been impressed because the next Monday they came to me and said I should concentrate on working out with the defensive backs." After two years with Detroit he moved on to Kansas City where he was a backup for a year before finally earning a starting spot at safety in 1968. A year later, he was a significant contributor to the Chiefs World Championship team that defeated the Minnesota Vikings in the Super Bowl 23-7, giving Kearney that championship he missed out on in high school and college. Making it even better was being able to share it with Taylor, who was one of the offensive stars for the Chiefs in the game. It was with Kansas City that he also fully understood the power sports had of bridging the gap between the races. "When I was on a team, color was a distinction but not a factor," he said. "I never really saw teammates as being black or white on the field or in the locker room. Now outside the locker room things might have been different. But on a team, it was always based on skill and if someone was a good player or a bad player." He also said that Kansas City Coach Hank Stram was blind when it came to considering race. "Everyone knows about Gale Sayers and Brian Piccolo being the first integrated roommates," Kearney said. "But with our team (linebackers) Jimmy Lanier and Jim Lynch roomed together and they were black and white. They were the second integrated roommates in the league." If he had any regrets about his career, Kearney said it was probably never being able to play quarterback during an NFLgame. "Len Dawson was a great quarterback for us," Kearney said. "But I had the best arm on the team and everyone knew it. It was kept secret but I was the third team quarterback and actually asked to play the position for the scout team. If we had lost Len and Mike (Livingston) in a game, I would have been the next in line." As for his individual records, Kearney is justifiably proud of both and in particular the season interception touchdown record, sent in 1972. "The year before (1971), Kenny Houston with the Oilers set the record at four," he said. "And Kenny and I had played together at Prairie View. In fact, he was my center for a while. But those Prairie View teams had some great athletes. Then in 1993 Eric Allen tied the record so there are only three of us sharing it." The two interceptions in a game record is shared by 23 players, including both Houston and Kearney. Kearney's is the eighth name on that list.

Athletic skills gave Wharton's Jim Kearney a way out of poverty during the era of segregation in Texas. An All-American at Prairie View A&M, Kearney spent more than a decade in the NFLand was voted to the Missouri Sports Hall-of-Fame in 2004. A Hall-of-Fame middle linebacker, Willie Lanier was a NFLpioneer as one of the first Black players to room with a white teammate, Jim Lynch. The two were NFLteammates of Wharton standout Jim Kearney.