TARBORO, N.C. — Any other football Saturday, the television on the wall at Finesse Cutz would be locked on the Georgia game. Asking for the remote would be as unthinkable as asking for a Prince Valiant cut.
This was no normal Saturday. Not in the small hometown of Todd Gurley, two days after the Bulldogs headliner was indefinitely suspended while under investigation for possible NCAA infractions. Now, it didn’t matter so much which game was on. Turn on Wisconsin, who cares?
“Without Todd Gurley, I don’t think we’ll be looking at (the Bulldogs) anymore,” said Kenny Moore, the shop owner, as he carved a neat line into a young, rather jumpy scalp.
While the Bulldogs won big in Columbia, Mo., Saturday afternoon, Tarboro — from the shops that cling to life on Main Street to the historic houses bordering the town common to the plainer addresses on the other side of the Tar River — was processing the absence of its quasi-famous son.
Conspiracy theories bloomed: “I think he was set up, man,” said Kelsey Draughn, as he worked the second chair at Finesse Cutz. “They don’t want him winning the Heisman Trophy.” The “they” in this case were not identified by name. But having rushed for 773 yards and eight touchdowns through five games, leading the SEC with 8.2 yards per carry, Gurley assuredly was on the short list of best players in college.
Disappointment began blending with acceptance: “It was distressing,” said Leslie Lunsford, after she and her family went through the breakfast buffet line at Abrams Bar-B-Q. Her little daughter, Rorie, wore the Georgia t-shirt bought for her during a trip to see Gurley and the Bulldogs play last week in Athens, 430 miles away. “No matter, he’s still the best on the field. He did a job and he did it well,” Leslie said.
Sarcasm occasionally passed for comment on certain NCAA regulations: “If they’d pay me for my autograph, I’ll give ‘em all they want,” said Bobby Williams, working his place on the other side of Main, the City Barber Shop.
In the heart of Georgia Bulldog country, the Gurley Affair has inspired various shades of debate, speculative discussions about Gurley’s character, his right to trade in his own name, his fall from Heisman contention and the short-term effects on Georgia’s season. He remains suspended while under investigation for violating NCAA rules against selling his autograph and likeness.
The matter tends to be a little more personal here in eastern North Carolina where they know the player and they know where he lives. These people — about 11,000 live here — are fans of the person, not the “G” he wears (wore?) on his helmet.
In a county where the unemployment rate (13 percent) is nearly twice the state-wide average, where the average household income ranks in the bottom 15 percent in North Carolina, you may get a little more pragmatic read on the issue of selling autographs.
“Anyone in Edgecombe County can relate to economic hard times,” said Amanda Morris, a teacher in the area, from her roost in the stands during Friday night’s Tarboro-South Creek football game.
“I just went to Athens two weeks ago and I see all the Gurley shirts and all the Gurley jerseys and I see 95,000 packed in the stadium,” Jeff Craddock, Tarboro’s head coach. “I went to his apartment after the game, just a small apartment, nothing fancy. Here these guys are pumping millions of dollars into an institution, and Todd can’t make any money on him being him.”
Still, a coach is all about authority in the final analysis: “At the end of the day, rules are rules and everybody knows the rules and you’re supposed to abide by the rules,” Craddock said.
Gurley played for Tarboro High, and grew up in neighboring Princeville. A mural decorating a park at the edge of town depicts Union troops delivering freed slaves across the river to Princeville, where they might find some bottomland to settle. The low-lying area was hit hard by floods during 1999’s Hurricane Floyd.
In the field fronting rows of weather-worn trailers, Gurley grew up playing pick-up football with kids of all sizes. He was a handful for young and old.
His mother, Darlene Simmons, still lives in the park, and works in the laundry of a nearby nursing home. There was no answer at her door Saturday afternoon.
Earlier this year Gurley painted his background in broad strokes. “Typical story. Young kid. Single mother (his father was in Baltimore throughout his childhood), growing up with my siblings, coming from the bottom and now I’m at the University of Georgia,” he said.
He spoke about how proud he was growing up with little while being able to “stay focused and stay out of trouble.”
“That ain’t tough, man. I know what I want for my life,” he said.
The events of the past week have rewritten that script. But Gurley is a figure somewhat frozen in time in his hometown, in a semi-permanent state of community grace in which he will receive every benefit of the doubt. It would take far more than a sign-for-pay controversy to shake Tarboro off its collective view of Gurley.
“He is still Todd Gurley. He’s still the one with five state championships (three in football, two in track). He’s still the one who would rather sneak in and see his mom and get out of town without a fuss. I just can’t believe it,” said Tony Suggs, a teacher and assistant coach at Tarboro.
Up in the stands almost every time Gurley touched the ball in high school, Lorenzo Whitehead would proclaim out loud, “Something’s about the happen!” And something good usually did.
“It just doesn’t go with his personality,” said Whitehead, retired from the county sheriff’s office, a fixture at each Tarboro game. “A nice, humble kid. Never had an attitude.
“I guess you can’t stop the devil from having his way.”
When news of the suspension broke Thursday, Craddock gathered his players, many who look up to Gurley, and as a coach will, turned the episode into a teaching moment.
“I told them, listen, he’s a family member of ours and we support family. We all sometimes make mistakes. Maybe he got caught up in something and it doesn’t make a difference. We’re going to offer encouragement and support and love and we’re there for him at any time,” Tarboro’s coach said.
He also issued a warning, too late for Gurley to heed: “I told them you got to be careful about who you trust. I don’t know the facts of the story, but it’s important for these young men to know that bad people are out there, trying to bring you down and you have to be careful.”
How long Gurley is suspended, whether he will return at all to Georgia before leaving for the NFL, remains unsettled. Around Athens they may only care about his future as a Bulldog. But back home, they can’t see the events of the last few days as any way crippling.
“He’s destined for greatness. He’s going to be great,” said Renee Howard, a substitute teacher and perhaps the loudest of the Tarboro fan base.
“The Lord has great plans for Todd. Whether at Georgia or going to the NFL, he’s going to be bright star,” Craddock said.
But that is all on hold now. Tarboro mayor Rick Page mentioned, that yes, they had begun to dare think about how a small town might best celebrate one of its own winning the Heisman Trophy. This much he’s sure of: “We would have had a heck of a good party.”
And Georgia moved on in a big way Saturday, beating Missouri 34-0. A freshman named Nick Chubb ran for 143 yards. And there was great joy in his hometown, Cedartown, Ga.
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