Episode #23 ~Steve Spurrier

this is Miss Lizzy and I want to welcome you to the queen Lizzy podcast together we will go through the history of Rosewood Florida and watch as the once prosperous Town Rises out of the bloodshed fire and Ash to reveal the people the memory and the legacy of Rosewood watch every Thursday on Facebook and YouTube or listen to our story on Apple a Google podcast Spotify iHeartRadio or wherever you find your favorite podcasts hello everybody I am Lizzy Polly Robinson Brown Jenkins representing not only the Rosewood Foundation but the personal testimonies in history of cherished friends and family you are now watching the queen Lizzy podcast today we are talking with Coach Steve's Spurrier good afternoon Lizzy it's a pleasure to be with you today and it's an honor to have you here with me today all right I am looking forward to us going back in time and talking about the Rosewood history and all growing up uh I grew up on a farm and you grew up in the country also I understand Johnson City Tennessee yeah but I was sort of the city boy okay he was a city boy I thought he was a preacher and he had a small church and okay Athens and then Newport and then Johnson City Johnson City okay well my grandfather was a preacher okay so we do have that in in common but first of all I want to uh thank us podcast sponsors the title sponsor it's Campus USA Credit Union Jerry Benton and the bank is the bank Direct also we have a studio naming sponsor Jeffrey Melton and we have a live Road sponsor Greg Bradley and Allstate Insurance and he is the director of mirror image Leadership Academy and while you're out there okay looking at data country and thinking about data country also visit my website at rosewoodflorida.com and um make a donation I just wanted to throw that out in advance so that you will not forget that but uh Rosewood uh my mom was the sister school to the school teacher uh coach and the school teacher was my holder that's the Brown carrier and she survived the Rosewood story and told my mom about her incident what happened to her and she was too embarrassed to tell her parents and my mom said baby you cannot allow this history to go Untold because we don't want it to repeat itself yes ma'am did I want to do it no because I knew it was a full-time job I did not in fact I was upset with her but because of her passion I decided that I would research and tell the truth and she said you need a song too and she wrote me a song and I'm going to sing just some of it throughout the interview but it starts off Rosewood Florida borders Highway 24 a destroyed town no blacks live there anymore where emptiness resides in the side not sacred Breeze like there no more only Nature's moths on trees Rosewood Florida once was a growing Community until the fighting started in 1923 no one ever thought Rosewood would go down in depth that brought on so much pain and Unforgettable distress and uh that's just part of the song she wanted me to introduce the uh their history in song So as I say that's just the start of how it began and uh I've been telling this story and I've been making sure I tell it correctly making sure no one is accused of what really happened in Rosewood because she would tell me baby you didn't create Rosewood and they didn't create Rosewood so just tell the truth that's right and that's what I do I agree I agree I think it's a wonderful uh thing you're doing and we need to get that museum it's going to be built in Archer correct yes it is and uh just need to raise some money and uh I'm gonna try to help any way I can okay okay and I'm gonna make a donation also okay very much appreciate it very very much the house uh the John White House that they have donated to us that we are going to bring to Art and turn into a museum is the house when the fighting in Rosewood started he was he was a store owner John right he was the young man he and his wife married housed or sheltered the roles with survivors until the train came from Cedar Key to two days later to pick them up and bring them to Archer Gainesville Waldo but he provided shelter for them and I said the people the house has been donated to us we're going to move it and we're going to shelter that house the same as they sheltered the survivors wonderful yes and uh we as I said we we do need help or to make sure we make this happen so another verse says and the Cedar Key train conductors for told to pick up in Rosewood standing by the tracks with the lantern it's young school teacher stood waiting in desperation to carry out the sheriff plan rounding up the hidden survivors to board the midnight train and many people don't know that the sheriff played a significant role in making sure they lived they survived yes do you remember when I met you the first time I hear out here uh about a year ago or so yeah yeah and Freddie said to you uh Steve uh of course Steve this old buddy you said to him I know Lindsay Jenkins and I just read the Rosewood article uh there too yes so would you like to tell us about some of your experiences growing up you know you were talking about some of the black boys and the segregation that you live through yeah fortunately in Tennessee East Tennessee the black kids sort of stayed in their neighborhood and they had their schools and gyms and white boys and girls we had our schools and really there there was never any thought of maybe we should go to school together maybe we should all get along it just uh you know black kids had their Community white kids had their community and went to different schools I didn't even think anything about it now in the summertime uh the black kids had Carver Park which was they had a nice gym down there it was better than what the white guys had we had the the old wreck building over there so a lot of times we go down there and play basketball pick up sides you know some black kids and white kids on the same team rather you know played basketball and when the game was over they'd go back to their neighborhood and we'd go back to ours and see you next time and that was about it there was never any fight in their argument or whatever and then finally uh I guess in the late 60s mid to late 60s they integrated the schools and uh gave the you know the black kids a better opportunity to maybe get an education get go to college and things like that right so uh and there was there was never any really big trouble in Johnson City in Tennessee that much it seemed like and then when I came to University of Florida we were you know there was no black kids on the football team and that didn't happen until about 68 69 I think and uh but I had a classmate that in one of my physical education classes who later became the principal down at Edgewater High School in Orlando so in 1990 when I became head coach here he called me up uh and he said Steve I just want to thank you for being nice to me you don't have to thank me for being nice to you all the time I hope I'm nice to everybody and he said well most all those other guys weren't all that nice at Florida back in in those days but uh anyway and then I never had a black teammate in college until uh we have these All-Star games back in those days okay I played in three All-Star games we can't even get our players to play in a bowl game now because they afraid they get hurt I played three uh crazy All-Star games the first one was in Hawaii they had the hula boat and uh so they flew me and my wife Jerry out there and uh so I have finally had some black teammates and we had a big time together Floyd little uh Bubba Smith a bunch of those Michigan State guys and so forth and then later on uh tell you a quick story Tom Coughlin has a golf event over in Jacksonville fundraiser and uh uh LSC uh Floyd little was there who played at Syracuse he was at some of those All-Star games and so forth and he was talking uh to the Boston Celtic guard Sam Jones who was there and they were sitting around had a little rain delay and Floyd love said all about black guys like Steve because he hung around with us all the time and I said you know why I hung around for you guys all the time he said no I I said because y'all are more fun y'all are more fun to be around okay oh we'd laugh and play cards and do do you know this this more fun so I you know after practice where you guys going well we're gonna play a little dollar Blackjack we didn't have more ten dollars a piece back in those days but we played like a dollar little blackjack game and laugh and have the big time but anyway it was nice of Floyd little to see all of us guys really like Steve okay that was that was one of the nicest compliments I ever had right there but that's who you are well I hope so I hope so it's not hard to be nice to everybody thank you unfortunately uh I guess there's some some people have trouble with that my mother was saying it's so easy to love and respect but to hate you have to plan I am going to say this to him or her and make them feel uncomfortable but anytime she would tell me that she would always say the people that attack you the people with problems okay so when you don't attack anybody it's because you're prayerful and you know what you have been taught to do so you have to plan to hate and and that's what uh cause the uh the difficulty in Rosewood and people don't know Rosewood wants a small town not very many people when it happened like 100 between 100 25 50. but everybody respected each other got along everybody was poor po Pio couldn't afford poor okay and they got along with each other and they shared they murdered they traded eggs or whatever they had and someone else needed it that was what made Rosewood what it was it was a nice place it was just a southern town like where I'm from Archer and uh just a little southern town and people got along and uh I appreciate growing up on a farm because it was character building my mom said you got to treat everybody everybody uh alike and I grew up I tell people I grew up in the gym Pro dance on Liz you're too young to know about Jim Crow but I lived it through my parents okay I remember stepping off the sidewalk to allow the whites to pass I learned that I didn't resent it it was a way of life I probably did resent it but I didn't say anything you know yeah but uh we have come a long ways my mom said don't let this history be forgotten keep it alive for the Next Generation because history that's who we are it really is who we are and again I want to thank uh our title sponsor Campus Credit Union USA and uh our studio sponsor Melvin law Jeffrey and Greg Bradley our Road sponsor and again remember rosewoodflorida.com to donate so that's about time for our first half we are going to head to a quick break and we'll be back after a quick word from our sponsors I am black history I am Rosewood black history I am Florida and America's black history and you are too January 1st 1923 the KKK insurrectionists attacked Rosewood killing five burning it down because a white woman lied and cried a black man assaulted me Rosewood Redevelopment is on its way want to help visit rosewoodflorida.com Albert Alberta I understand you were witnesses to a crash can you tell us about the accident [Music] when you're in a crash it's important to get witness statements immediately after the accident whether you're in a car truck motorcycle scooter or even a golf cart accident at Melton law We Won't Back Down [Music] my name is Lizzie Robinson Jenkins I am the President and founder of the real Rosewood Foundation established 2003 in Archer Florida years ago in a little town called Rosewood Florida there was a massacre several people were killed all because of guns violence disrespect we cannot allow gun violence to take out our young kids we're coming together we're going to work together and we are going to put guns on the Run gnv [Music] welcome back to the queen Lizzy podcast recorded right here at spurious grid iron grill in coach spurrier's own podcast room and sitting next to me is none other than coach Steve Spurrier we are here with the head ball coach himself Steve spurrien and it's an honor I am so honored well it's an honor for me Lizzy to be with you as we reminisce back in the 60s and 70s and so forth and and hopefully we can do a good job of getting the word out about the Rosewood foundation and uh hopefully we can get that built real soon and uh and I'm like you we need to remember the past so we don't repeat it bad things happen let's honor the people who maybe paved the way so Life's a whole lot better for all of us now exactly exactly and you are an example you are a living example of where many of us need to be I mean sitting here discussing history and that you did not create and we know it was ugly but history who we are we didn't make it this way but we're going to work together to keep it real ity yes indeed and uh as as I often talk about my mom I have to because she said baby you must this is what you must do keep it keep it secret and keep it alive and write your books and tell your truth so I do have an official uh book signing on the 24th of this month at the Matheson Center and it's not my main book of my history book it's a book about my childhood because I first heard the story at age five and I talk about this in my book I talk about how I grew up my father purchase are 285 Acres of property in 1940 10 an acre the reason he did was because of segregation he knew that his children us would not be allowed to attend parks and recreation centers so he built the park out there where we live when I say a party we had a baseball diamond it was 18 families in our community in our village I'll put it that way and we had our basketball I played basketball my brothers and my sister we all play played basketball we were good too I mean excellent yes and we just grew up not knowing the the bad part of the the other side I'll put it of uh of our segregation it wasn't what my parents concentrated on so they didn't tell us about it and we didn't find out for ourselves they sure did not tell us to persuade uh our thinking about people whatever we learned or found out about people we learned that on their own on our own always respected our our people always so it has been a challenge but I have enjoyed every minute of it as I say character building so my siblings and I mom said to us at age five sit down on the city mama's gonna tell you a story about Rosewood and she did and for some reason coach that story attached itself for me because I am supposed to be the bearer of History yep and everybody is born for a reason you were born to do exactly what you have done and accomplish what you have accomplished and and meet me yeah I think you're right yeah we're all here for a purpose and uh we don't know exactly what it is until we get moving on in life and so forth I really didn't know I was going to become a football coach until I had no job and not much money had to do something and uh I just felt like well maybe maybe coachy I'd have a chance to be pretty good at it because I've been around some really good coaches and some really bad coaches you know we learned from everything in life that happens learn what not to do as well as what to do and uh so I just I'm just always thankful for the opportunity that first of all coach sticky gave me here in Florida and then Coach pepper Rogers Georgia Tech and Coach red Wilson at Duke University when I had no job I had no job those three men hired me and then we we had some success and then I got hired later on because of what I've done as a coach so anyway I I know I'm blessed and hopefully try to give back wherever I can perfect and you have touched so many lives okay and it's from Archer I know Roberto Brown is my little cousin okay and he's from Archer his whole family plays football for you you have impacted a lot of lives to help people uh get from point A to point B and that is appreciated too well hopefully uh I remember when I was talking to president Bob Bryan who hired me here I said President we need to have a way of Florida to have whatever type of major for all the players not not just white players black players but our players that maybe are not academically as good as the average student gets in and football players generally aren't but we must have a way to get these guys to graduate you know we're going to make them go to class and they will go to class and study and if they go to class and study they should graduate from the University of Florida because they're going to give all they can to helping us win on the field build honor recognition some glory to Florida because everybody loves the winter we're not going to be a loser but we've got to graduate our football players and uh and we've got that happening yeah yeah you set standards and I remember you all brought in tours yeah I remember and I appreciate that so it took all of you all working together to make things better before and a lot of times yeah a lot of times your players at that age in life they sort of they don't worry about what they're going to do after college right and most of them nowadays they all think they're going to play pro football until all of a sudden oops I'm not playing pro football what am I going to do exactly well you better have gotten your degree and hopefully our coaches are trying to emphasize that nowadays also instead of guys just hopping from one school to the other and so forth I remember and that as I said that is very much appreciated well hopefully that's what we should do is uh give our players a you know they do a lot for us what can we do for them to help out just a little bit exactly yeah so anyway one of my favorite things uh coach John Wooden who's one of the all-time great coaches he said if you've been a good coach during your tap your former players 20 25 years later will want to come out and hang out with you a little bit so we'd have all these reunions and it is uh fun to see our old guys from 20 25 30 years ago and they do like to hang around me I think and my wife Jerry so we get along reminisce about some big games and so forth but it is neat being around a lot of your former players and see these are activities of such are will keep us from hating on each other and disliking each other just respect each other like you said they come back they have fun because they too don't want it to be another Rosewood and the one thing that really bothers me these days coach is the gun violence no it's the gun fights I haven't had and it comes on in the middle of my podcast I made a gun violence and it's it's it's painful we need to work with kids and I work with a lot of kids through other organizations trying to help them okay are to be uh more focused I had a group out at my place Wednesday of this week so I'm sorry Wednesday of last week the uh Mirror Image Leadership Academy that I talked about earlier they came out and I talked to them about Rosewood and and skills or a man whose skills not really manhood skills but educational skills so that they could be uh what they desire to be or be better at what they do so there there is a lot going on out there that we need to help each other help our kids especially definitely yeah discourage guns yes and I grew up with guns in my house my dad had a certain place for them he would keep them out of our way and I remember when he purchased two brothers they were both 14 and 16 but they were not allowed to touch the guns until they were older but he purchased those guns for them and Rosewood is still on my mind and I talk about it all the time because it's who I am I'm very passionate about it I got to for my mother's sake get that museum built for our kids the Next Generation so that in the event during the summertime when we are the kids are parents teachers need some place to go we will have a place out there because we want to resurrect the town of Rosewood they had shotgun houses there we want to build at least 10 shotgun houses for summer camp okay on the property so that the kids and the teachers and parents can come out and enjoy uh life in the country we are welcome welcome to everybody and we have animals on the farm already and we're going to probably increase the amount but they need some farming skills and uh what else do I need to talk about uh the sheriff the sheriff I have already said he worked 96 hours straight but you know what uh recently I have a side of my family that's the McIntyre and I have a young lady doing research she found that I already knew they were part of Rosewood but she said to me Liz uh I found my great-great-grandfather in Cedar Key in 1848 but he didn't have any parents he was a kid and I wanted to know well who are his parents so on her and doing her research she found uh a lady by the name of Dilla love that lived with them so that she would have been my great great grandmother but I didn't know still don't know if she was his mother uh his wife's mother but anyway the most amazing thing she said to me she said Lizzy I know why the sheriff and the show the snow Merchant and the train conductor worked so hard she said do a love who was your grandfather your great-great-grandfather's mother is the mother of John Wright and John Wright was a store Merchant she has the information that we are going to be sharing so they knew each each other plus they were related to each other so that's why they work and that makes the story more interesting and we're going to close with I am continuously humbled and honored and blessed to meet people daily and invite them to join in peace building healing and Reconciliation through learning about the history of Rosewood that will wrap up today's episode thanks to coach spine I am queen Lizzy until next time goodbye [Music]