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Home > Mark Bradley > Archives > 2008 > October > 23
Thursday, October 23, 2008
The real story of the YouTube ref
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Courtesy of YouTube, more people have seen Wilbur Hackett make a tackle as a referee than ever saw him play linebacker. Hackett - invariably identified as “Wilbur Hackett Jr.” in wire-service accounts - was the SEC umpire who nailed South Carolina quarterback Stephen Garcia last weekend, and by now you’ve seen the clip.
What you might not know: Wilbur Hackett was a big deal long before Garcia tucked the ball under his arm and headed around left end.
“Hack was a great player,” said Jeff Van Note, who played alongside Hackett at Kentucky in 1968, “and he’s a wonderful leader and a great person.”
Wilbur Hackett - there was no “Jr.” attached when he was a Wildcat from 1968 through 1970 - was a terrific linebacker and an even better example. He was the first African-American to start for any Kentucky team, and he would become the first black football captain in SEC history.
Hackett had been a high-school All-American at duPont Manual High in Louisville and, according to a 2004 Los Angeles Times story, he was bound for Michigan State before changing his mind and signing with Kentucky. He arrived in Lexington in 1967, and if you have any grasp of sports and race relations you know 1967 as the year after Texas Western, with its all-black starting five, beat all-white Kentucky for the NCAA basketball title.
Wilbur Hackett, see, was one of my heroes. He recovered a fumble inside the 5-yard line as Kentucky upset No. 8 Ole Miss and Archie Manning in 1969 on a Saturday night at old Stoll Field. It was the first college game I ever attended, and it seemed only proper to this 14-year-old that the best Kentucky player would make the biggest play.
The year before, Hackett and Kentucky had played Manning and the Rebels in Jackson, Miss., and the environment was so charged in the deep South that extra security was needed. Van Note recalls some of his mates - we remember the grizzled Noter as the Falcons’ center, but he was then a defensive end - telling their leader, “Hack, don’t stand too close to us in the huddle when you call signals.”
They were kidding, the way teammates do. Said Van Note: “We knew what was going on, but I don’t think any of us had any idea what Hack and Houston Hogg [a fullback who was Hackett’s roommate] and Nat Northington [who was the first African-American to play in the SEC] were going through. We were just guys playing football together.”
According to David Wharton of the L.A. Times, Hackett wound up sacking Manning that day in Jackson. Wrote Wharton: “Manning jumped up, helped Hackett up and told him, ‘Nice hit.’ “
I’ve never met Wilbur Hackett. (I arrived at UK three years after he left.) But Van Note, who still keeps a house in Louisville, sees him from time to time. They had lunch together last year. “A great man of leadership,” Van Note said, “and a good football player.” He laughed. “He was a really big linebacker.”
Stephen Garcia knows all about Hackett’s capacity to deliver a blow. One right forearm from the unpadded umpire clocked the Gamecock as pretty as you please. (The SEC has absolved Hackett of any blame, determining that he was only protecting himself.) And Van Note, who has seen the clip many times, is happy his old friend, who’s closing in on 60, is getting his 15 minutes of Internet-driven fame.
“I think it’s great,” he said. “It was just part of the game. And if Hack gets some publicity out of it, I think that’s wonderful.”
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