Former teammates of Jesse Jackson remember playing ball with a great
By Caitlin Ashbaugh
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GREENVILLE, South Carolina (WYFF) — Before Jesse Jackson pioneered change within the Civil Rights Movement and American politics, his close peers remember how he inspired friends and strangers to persevere.
It’s 1959, and Sterling High School is celebrating the achievement of a state championship title. Jesse Jackson bears the number 40 on his jersey as quarterback, alongside teammates John Williams with 29, Samuel “Sam” Kennedy with 59 and Richard Kerns with 36.
“That’s what made this season so special. We didn’t lose any games this year,” Williams said.
The trio recalls what it was like to play football among a great.
“He always wanted to be the star when we get down to the 1-yard line. He always wanted to be the one to make the touchdown,” Kerns said. “He always wanted to be a winner. ‘If we lose, if we come in second,’ he said, ‘that’s a loser.'”
“Coach Mathis was sort of smiling to himself a lot of times about Jesse because he knew that jewel that he had,” Williams said.
“Jesse pushed all of us to do better, and because of that, we did,” Kennedy said.
Jackson would graduate from his alma mater in 1959, taking with him the inspiration to become a trailblazer.
“When we was in school, I said, ‘I guess Jesse ought to for president because he talk all the time.’ He wrote in the book that he wanted to be the president one day,” Kerns said.
Jackson’s classmates would watch as he became a prominent civil rights leader and politician — a legacy fit for a brilliant student, a natural athlete and a monumental leader.
“When he was running for president, I would tell the fellows, I said, ‘That’s my homeboy. I play football with him, and he’s my classmate,'” Kerns said.
“Living and being raised up in the ’30s, ’40s, ’50s and ’60s, you learn to want to do better. He helped humanity. He set an example for the community of Greenville,” Kennedy said.
“He was just one of those individuals that you see large from time to time that come through just having a tremendous impact on our world. I was happy to know him, I am happy to know, have known him, and I will always think about him,” Williams said.
His peers attribute their success to being shaped by mentors in the Greenville community, including coaches, teachers and staff at Sterling High, the Canteen at Mayberry Park. They said this was their key to earning win after win at Sirrine Stadium, going to school, serving the nation as military service members and creating a legacy.
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