Herman "Ike" Boone
Herman "Ike" Boone |
In the recent blockbuster movie "Remember the Titans," Academy Award-winner Denzel Washington, portrays Boone who the head football coach at T.C. Williams High School in northern Virginia.
"Chad Oman brought the story to my attention," said the movie's producer Jerry Bruckheimer. "He was very enthusiastic and I responded right away. It's an emotional story and the fact that it's true made it even more important to tell."
The year was 1971 and the integration of the Alexandria, Va. high school opened the door for Boone to be the head coach of the Titans. Under great racial tension, it was thought that maybe the football program could act as a conduit for the segregated community.
In his no-nonsense manner, Boone did more than teach his young football players the ways of tolerance, but also how to become successful. The Titans completed their first campaign under Boone 15-0, winning the state championship. Washington said he read the script early during the development process and indicated that he would be very interested in it if the filmmakers ever gave the green light, which they did.
"I just thought it was a fascinating story," the actor says. "The emotional core of the story is with the kids. I was also impressed with coach Boone as a man, a coach and a father."
Another example of what seeds the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association institutions plants for our society.
"They (NCCU's professors) weren't going to let you fail, because they knew the sacrifice our families were making for us to be there," recalls Boone. "It would have been a disgrace to return home because you flunked out, and so they weren't going to take any mess and definately weren't going to give you anything."
Most of the tough love shown in the movie was poured on young Boone as he walked the Durham yard on the campus of NCCU. Some of those yards, Boone had to cut, as he had to pay his $55.00 tuition, $40.00 was made during his campus job as a drink filler and the difference was made up cutting the grass of Durham residents.
As a quasi-student-athlete, Boone made the Eagles' 1955 squad, but before the first game he quit because he had to work as a result of both parents dying in the same month. Even in his disappointment, he still used his strategy - he didn't quit until the school took the team picture.
Dr. Ross Townes, who taught all upper classman physical education, was a great influence on Boone. "Dr. Townes gave substance to physical education. It was more than just throwing a ball," he said. "He taught his pupils critical thinking, you had to fill in the answer, his tests were fill in the blanks. "When you studied you had to study the whole paragraph, not just key words, you had to see the whole picture."
There was also a professor that gave a list of government agencies to his students and they were to report to the professor for five minutes and tell him what they knew about each. "You couldn't pass the class until you had signatures beside each agency," Boone said. "No tests, but learning and sharing."
Boone took that concept to the field, by writing every football player's name, each player had to tell the coach something about each of their teammates. "In order to tell me, they had to ask," Boone said. The activity gave us a chance that one might find out that that person wasn't all that bad."
The incentive was an easy one for Boone's players: "Hey I'm Father Nature, it is not nice to fool with Father Nature…'cause I can run the fool out of you."