Mr. Townsend & the Polish Prince: An American Story of Race, Redemption, and Football., Paperback/Joe Purzycki

Descriere

Description In November of 1980, Delaware State College lost a football game to Portland State University by the outrageous score of 105 to 0. The lopsided loss resulted in the Hornets being mocked by national broadcasters, pitied by their own fans, and drew the ire of Delaware State President Dr. Luna Mishoe. Mishoe ordered his athletic director Nelson Townsend to find a coach who could lead Delaware State football out of the hole they were in. Townsend found a guy he thought to be the most qualified candidate. Joe Purzycki was well known throughout the state of Delaware. He had been an all-American football player at the University of Delaware and had won a championship at one of the largest high schools in the state. He was young, charismatic, and in Townsend's eyes the perfect man for the job. There was only one problem. He was white. Delaware State is one of dozens of Historic Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in America. No HBCU had ever hired a white head football coach until Townsend hired Purzycki in 1981. The news was not well received. Townsend got an idea of how controversial his decision was after the hiring was announced and a player yelled at him, "you sold us out Townsend You gave it to the white people " Questions at Purzycki's introductory press conference centered on race and why Delaware State was affording a white man this opportunity. Purzycki kept saying he only wanted to be a football coach but it was too late for that. He had become, in the words of one writer, a social experiment and he quickly found out what it was like to be a minority."It's YOU who is going to have see everyone else's side of things," Townsend told Purzycki, "and it's not going to be easy." Students staged angry protests and the school paper derisively referred to Purzycki as "the Polish Prince." Vandals broke into his office and destroyed it, he received death threats, and the brakes on a car he borrowed from the school failed. 17 players quit the team and some peo