What About Bob?
April 27, 2008 12:57 PM | General
April 27, 2008
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Bob Gresham wasn’t sure what to think when he picked up the telephone and a man on the other line said his name was Ed Pastilong and was informing him that he was being inducted into the West Virginia University Sports Hall of Fame.
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| Bob Gresham held the WVU single-season rushing record for 24 years from 1969 to 1993.
WVU Sports Communications photo |
“I was totally shocked when the athletic director called me,” Gresham laughed. “I thought it was an April fool’s joke for a minute.”
Gresham’s credentials at WVU were certainly worthy of induction. In 1969 as a junior he led the Mountaineers in rushing with 1,155 yards – a school record that lasted 24 years. Gresham is the one great Mountaineer running back sometimes forgotten because his career was sandwiched between Garrett Ford, Jim Braxton, Kerry Marbury and Artie Owens.
During Gresham’s junior season West Virginia had arguably its best-ever backfield that also included Braxton, Eddie Williams, Eddie Silverio and Pete Wood. Gresham and Braxton played in the NFL, and Williams later left school to play in Canada.
“When I played Braxton was the big deal back then and I didn’t mind playing second fiddle,” Gresham said.
Gresham came to WVU from the southern West Virginia coalfields in McDowell County. Before the mines began to close and the region sustained a massive population exodus that area was producing college football players on par with any place in the state.
There were five players on West Virginia’s roster within a 15-mile radius of Gresham’s home in the small mining camp of Yukon. At Big Creek High School there was Gresham, end Oscar Patrick and tackle Randy Flinchum. Just up the road in Welch came center Dick Roberts and Danny Smith. And over in Bluefield in nearby Mercer County there were Pete Wood, Dick Ward and Ron Goodwin, giving WVU eight players from southern West Virginia on its 1969 football roster.
The region also boasted outstanding coaches. WVU graduate Joel Hicks was at Big Creek when Gresham played and Merrill Gainer won four state titles from 1959-67 coaching at Bluefield High School. And Richard Walden was regularly producing college-caliber players at nearby Welch.
Gresham admits Hicks and WVU assistant coach Marshall Taylor influenced him greatly.
“We lived right on the line in Virginia. Basically Coach (Marshall) Taylor came down and talked to me. I was focusing on the University of Tennessee. I kind of wanted to stay in my home state and Coach Taylor just talked plain to me and I got to know him real well,” Gresham said. “I talked to Coach Carlen and he said, ‘Son we’re going to make sure you get your college education.’ That was the selling point.”
Gresham also had thoughts about playing college basketball.
“I went for a visit to Alderson-Broaddus but Coach Carlen and Coach Hicks really influenced me that it would be better to play football,” Gresham said.
Gresham was part of the second wave of African-American football players at WVU following the successful integration of Dick Leftridge and Roger Alford in the early 1960s. When Gresham came to campus in 1967 the African-American population at West Virginia was still primarily made up of football and basketball players. Yet he didn’t experience any issues on campus and felt welcomed at all times.
“I loved every minute that I was at West Virginia,” Gresham said. “To me, that’s why I was so anxious for all of my kids to go to college. I thought those were some of the best times in my whole life. It was just a very rewarding experience to go to West Virginia University.”
The fact that he played on some outstanding football teams probably didn’t hurt either. During Carlen’s final year in 1969 West Virginia produced a 10-1 record and wiped out South Carolina in the Peach Bowl. Had West Virginia performed better in a 20-0 loss at Penn State Carlen believes the Mountaineers would have been invited to the Orange Bowl.
Gresham remembers Carlen always having a positive outlook on things.
“Coach Carlen was more like a cheerleader,” Gresham said. “He wanted to make sure everybody was on their game. He was just a phenomenal person and he was always upbeat.”
Carlen had a defensive background and preferred to stay on that side of the field. He left the offense up to Bobby Bowden.
“He was an offensive guru,” Gresham recalled of Bowden. “He could change the offense easily like we did for the Peach Bowl. We turned into a completely different team the year we won the Peach Bowl and I thought he was one of the smartest coaches I had ever been around.”
Following Gresham’s senior season in 1970 when he once again led the team in rushing with 866 yards, he was an eighth-round draft selection by the New Orleans Saints. Gresham went to New Orleans in the same draft class with Archie Manning.
“My rookie year I can remember in spring camp I thought I did real well and was going to make the team and then I was on put on the Taxi Squad. Then all of the sudden a couple of the running backs got hurt,” Gresham recalled. “About midway through the week before the first game (against the Rams in the ‘71 opener) Coach (J.D. Roberts) said, ‘Bob we’re going to move you up to play this weekend. Not only that, you’re going to start.’ It just blew me out of the water.”
Gresham had two productive seasons in New Orleans in 1971 and 1972 before being traded to Houston. Gresham had his best pro campaign with the Oilers in 1973, rushing for 400 yards and scoring a pair of touchdowns. He finished his career with the New York Jets in 1976.
“Basically out of the six years that I played I would say five of those years were excellent and I just really enjoyed playing football,” Gresham said. “The bad year was my last year when I ended up getting hurt and my knee just wouldn’t function. I was about all they had at that particular time with the Jets. But the ice packs just weren’t working anymore.”
After retiring from professional football Gresham got a job as a teaching assistant at Garinger High School in Charlotte. Since 1978, he has served as the recreation center director/facility manager for the Mecklenburg County Parks & Recreation Department in Charlotte. He is retiring after thirty years of service this July.
Through the years Gresham has been involved in many community service initiatives such as Special Olympics, Habitat for Humanity, the Muscular Dystrophy Association and the Right Moves for Youth Program.
Gresham earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education from WVU in 1972 and he has been married for 36 years to the former Joyce Sloan. They have three children and three grandchildren. All of them and several of his teammates will be in Morgantown when Gresham takes part in the 18th annual hall of fame induction ceremonies at Milan Puskar Stadium on Oct. 4.
“My wife has already reserved the room. I think we have reserved about five rooms up there,” Gresham laughed. “I’ve already gotten a lot of emails from some of them - Mike Sherwood and a lot of the other guys. I can’t wait to see them.”
