Preston Powell, Winn Parish, Louisiana Greggory E. Davies 120 Ted Price Lane Winnfield, LA 71483 ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** Pinecrest High School, Winnfield's school for black students prior to its closing in 1969 due to integration, produced some of the greatest athletes and athletic teams Louisiana has ever known. One of the great athletes, Preston Powell is still a huge, physically fit man. His brothers, the late Haston and the late Narvin, were both great athletes as well. The third brother, Bobby, blind since childhood and unable to compete athletically, is a long time national recording artist. Another generation of the Powells passed through the Winnfield Senior High School system and like their fathers, were great athletes. Preston Powell is now 58 years old and lives in Cleveland, Ohio. he graduated from Pinecrest in 1957 and was the "Yellowjacket" quarterback. His senior year, Pinecrest lost to Zachary in the state finals. His junior year, they lost to Haynesville in the state semi-finals. Another great athlete from Pinecrest, or Winn Training School as Pinecrest was initially named, was Fred Hobdy who had a good career at Grambling, later becoming the basketball coach, still later the athletic director. Hobdy saw talent in Preston Powell and signed him to play basketball for Grambling. A feud erupted when Powell arrived at Grambling as the football coach, the legendary Eddie Robinson, basketball coach Hobdy, and baseball coach and college president Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones, Jr., argued over which sport Powell would play for the school. Naturally, President Jones won the argument and Powell played baseball, but was allowed to play football as well. Powell states today that his greatest regret is that he fell twenty-one hours short of graduation. Powell played quarterback for two years at Grambling before moving to running back where he earned All-America honors two years in a row. Drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the 6th round, he played there under the legendary Paul Brown for two years. The Browns traded Powell to the Dallas Cowboys where played a season under Tom Landry before being traded to Chicago where he played under still another legend, George Halas. The Browns won the world championship the year Powell left and the Bears won while he was on that squad, but he was injured and had to watch the game from the sidelines. Football was not the only sport Powell excelled in. He is enshrined in the National Softball Hall of Fame in Ohio, and the St. Louis Cardinal baseball organization tried to steal him from Grambling, but President Jones refused to allow him to sign a contract. Following a football career ending injury, Powell was given the opportunity to play minor league baseball but refused as he thought it would have taken him too long to make the "big show". Powell said he loves coming home to what he calls "a fine place, Winnfield, where I have a lot of good friends." Eleven games short of an NFL pension, Powell has worked in public service since leaving the game. He has spent eleven years with the Cuyahoga County, Ohio Sheriff's Office, two years with the Ohio State Parole Department, and the past fifteen years with the City of Cleveland Rehabilitation & Probation. Powell said football had opened up so many opportunities for him and that he had been fortunate enough to have met and played for many legends. He added that Jim Brown was the greatest player he has ever known, having missed only five minutes of nine seasons, and only then Powell said "because he was knocked out cold." He went on to say that today's athletes were faster, stronger, more physical, and that is the reason for so many injuries. "I was given $ 3,500 as a signing bonus, and the most I ever made in a year was $ 40,000. A career can end in a split second so I strongly emphasize to young people to stay in school, get educated, and do something with their lives." (The above article was extracted from the Winn Parish Enterprise/News-American column entitled "Winn-Then", and was written by the submitter, Greggory E. Davies, Winnfield, LA.)