Red Shirts in Pro Sports
Everyone at Ouachita knows that the Red Shirts and Ouachita athletics are practically synonyms, but few know that some of the Red Shirt athletes have gone on to play professional sports.
The earliest pro prospect from Rho Sigma was Joe Strickland. The Strickland brothers, Joe and Fred, were two of Ouachita's standout athletes in the early Thirties -- and both charter members of Rho Sigma. Known as the "Strychnine Brothers," they dominated opponents in basketball and were repeatedly named all-state. Fred was also all-state in football, while brother Joe was a star of Tiger baseball teams of the early Thirties. Joe Strickland was given a tryout with the Cleveland Indians in May 1935 before graduation. Whether or not he made the team is not known, but he doesn't seem to be on any of the Indian rosters of the era.
C.W. (John) Floyd, a Rho Sigma Founder of Record and one of Ouachita's all-time greatest football players, was next in line for the pro ranks. Floyd was unanimously selected all-state in football all four years at Ouachita and was as team captain of both the Tiger and all-state teams as well. He also set records in the discus throw and was one of Arkansas track stars of the era. After graduation in May 1935, Floyd went to the Boston Redskins, forerunner of today's Washington Redskins and the 1936 NFL champion. His hometown newspaper reported that Floyd became homesick for cornbread and greens and left Boston to return home to Nashville, Arkansas. However, it's more likely that Floyd left because he was unlikely to get any playing time with the Redskins. Floyd was behind NFL Hall of Famer Cliff Battles at fullback. Battles was probably the best player in the NFL at the time.
Ouachita fielded some of its best football teams in the early Forties. William H. (Big Ed) Neal, 6-4 and up to 300 pounds, was a nightmare for opponents. His size, although commonplace today, was enormous for a small college team in the Forties. Neal transferred from Ouachita to LSU, and then to Tulane, where he finished his collegiate career. He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in 1945 and played six seasons with the Pack before being cut. He was recruited by Green Bay's arch-rival Chicago Bears and played there until he was injured in 1951. A colorful 27-year-old rookie in 1945, Neal terrorized quarterbacks. Bulldog Turner, who played for the Chicago Bears in the Forties and Fifties, described him: "Ed Neal weighed 287 pounds stripped. His arms are as big as my legs and hard as a table." Neal broke Turner's nose five times during the course of their many encounters. Neal, who worked as a blacksmith in Wichita Falls, Texas during the off season, used to break two or three of the then-new plastic helmets every week. He was said to be the kind of guy who could pop the top off a beer bottle with his bare thumb.
Carl Blanchard (Snoz) Allen was another early Forties Red Shirt who went on to the big leagues in football. Allen was all-state in 1941 and 1942 and honorable mention Little All-American in 1943. After World War II, Allen was recruited and played one season (1948) for the Brooklyn Dodgers, an All-American Football Conference team. The AAFC, along with the later American Football League, were the only serious rivals to the National Football League. The AAFC operated from 1946-49. Several of its teams were absorbed into the NFL when the AAFC ceased to exist.
Ouachita's football program slumped in the Fifties due to cutbacks and lack of money for scholarships. It wasn't until the Sixties that Red Shirts began to enter the pro ranks again.
Walter (Jigger) Ramsey Jr. played for the Tigers from 1963-66. Ramsey, son of Tiger football player and Red Shirt Walter (Jiggs) Ramsey Sr., was the team captain of the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference championship team of 1966. He was a linebacker for three years and then was moved to nose guard before his senior season. As a nose guard, he was selected All-AIC. After graduating, Ramsey went on to a stint with the Minnesota Vikings, but a knee injury cut his pro career short.
Cliff Harris, one of Jigger's team-mates on the 1966 AIC championship team, is undoubtedly Ouachita's most famous professional athlete. All-AIC as a defensive back at Ouachita (1966-69), Harris was a dark horse walk-on for the Dallas Cowboys. His reckless -- and devastating -- spear tackles earned him the nickname Captain Crash. The son of Red Shirt football player O.J. (Buddy) Harris, Cliff went on to a stellar career as one of the most popular players on Coach Tom Landry's "Americas Team." He played ten years for the Cowboys, appeared in five Super Bowls, and was named All-Pro six times. Harris is a member of the Cowboys Ring of Honor and was recently nominated to the Professional Football Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the NAIA Hall of Fame and the OBU Athletic Hall of Fame.
One of Harris' teammates, Red Shirt Barry (Hot Dog) Bennett of Aberdeen, Maryland, was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers around 1971, but there is no record of him playing with them. Bennett played quarterback and handled kicking chores for the Tigers.
Gary Benson, son of long-time OBU football coach Jesse (Buddy Bob) Benson, is another Red Shirt athlete who has been involved in professional sports. All-AIC at Ouachita, Gary had tryouts with a couple of NFL teams and played briefly in the Canadian Football League. Ironically, his greatest professional sports success came in a sport he didn't play in college, basketball. Benson has had a long and colorful career as a professional referee in the National Basketball Association. By the end of the Nineties, he was even selected as the most-hated official by fans who both feared and respected him.
This list of Rho Sigma's pro sports figures probably is incomplete. However, for a small private college and a small local fraternity, the few named here are a solid record of athletic achievement. When it comes to athletics, Red Shirts don't run; they run things!
