George Teague and Friends Foundation

Crimson Stars for Charity

Article from The Decatur Daily by Gentry Estes, April 13, 2004

Crimson Stars for Charity — Huntsville event brings out fans while benefitting Family Services

George Teague, who organized Monday's charity event in Huntsville, signs Doris McHugh's jacket commemorating Alabama's 1992 Sugar Bowl victory. (photo by John Godbey)

HUNTSVILLE - Where do those old athletes go when the glory fades?

At some point, the road typically leads to the golf course, which makes them no different from a majority of professionals and retirees in Southern society.

Some didn't except to wind up here so soon, though.

"I've never played golf in my life, except for just playing around, man," said Antoine Pettway, a late arrival to Monday morning's Crimson-shaded charity golf outing at Hampton Cove.

Little more than two weeks removed from the end of his basketball career at Alabama, Pettway showed up in his Crimson Tide warm-up suit and high-tops, shuffling through the morning mist without a single golf club.

The Tide point guard was easily the youngest celebrity in this field of former Alabama stars.

Among the old football players holding court with fans Monday were Decatur's Greg Gilbert and Benny Perrin, Andrew Zow, Shannon Brown, Prince Wimbley, Roosevelt Patterson, Bryne Diehl and George Teague, whose foundation hosted the first of five scheduled golf events this year in Alabama.

"Nothing fancy about it, I guess," Teague said. "You ask the guys, 'Hey, man. I'm trying to raise some money for (Huntsville's) Family Services (Center). We'll go play some golf. Are you up for it?' "

Teague, a second-team all-America safety on Alabama's 1992 national title team, founded "Teague's League" after being drafted in the NFL first round by the Green Bay Packers. In 1998, it turned into the George Teague and Friends Foundation, an organization that has hosted basketball, softball and golf outings for charity.

"The inspiration was to be able to give back to the community and the kids and the people who helped support me through my career," Teague said. "We're pretty broad, but our main focus is giving back to the kids of Alabama."

Two years ago, Teague retired from a successful NFL career, but he is far from forgotten. It's a safe bet Lamar Thomas remembers him. As does Terrell Owens.

Teague's legacy will forever revolve around two show-stopping duels with receivers, neither of which counted as official plays. In the 1992 Sugar Bowl win over Miami, Teague delivered one of the most memorable plays in school history, stripping Thomas of the football in mid-stride, and simply taking it away from him.

In a late-1990s game against the San Francisco 49ers, Owens scored on the Dallas Cowboys and jogged the ball back to the star at the 50-yard-line in Texas Stadium. When Owens tried it again, Teague was waiting for him.

The blind-side lick ended Owens' showboating that day and earned national acclaim for the hard-hitting safety from Montgomery.

Teague laughs when recalling the Owens "incident," but right now, he's more excited about high school head coaching job he took a month ago at Harvest Christian Academy in Fort Worth, Texas.

"Always going to miss playing, that's for sure," Teague said. "The first year out of the NFL was the toughest. Going on three years, it's not quite as bad, but when you're watching, you still wish you could be out there head-banging with the guys a little bit."

For Gilbert, a former standout at Austin High and Alabama linebacker from 1985-88, the golf outing created an opportunity to visit with old friends and return home to Decatur, where he said a majority of his family still lives.

"It's good to come back to town and have the opportunity to do something for Teague and see the old guys, especially when it's so close to Decatur," Gilbert said. "I enjoy getting back home when I can."

Gilbert has worked for the past several years for a pharmaceutical company in Knoxville. The location gives him an interesting take on an Alabama-Tennessee rivalry that's sure to only grow more heated in the near future.

"Ironically, you would think everyone would be so anti-Alabama, but I think that's only on the football field," Gilbert said.

"Those people respect Alabama football as much as they respect Tennessee."