Mattingly: Streater gone but not forgotten

Thirty years ago this Monday, Nov. 26, 1977, sophomore quarterback Jimmy Streater led the way in John Majors’ first SEC triumph, a 42-7 victory over Vanderbilt. It closed out a 4-7 first season for Majors.

For Streater, 1977 marked his first significant varsity action.

In the season opener against California, Streater had electrified the capacity crowd with an 80-yard run for a score that had the Vol Network’s Bill Anderson cheering his every move as John Ward described the moment.

There were a number of great moments for Jimmy over the next three years, with Auburn and Notre Dame in 1979 as a couple of examples. He led the Vols in total offense, was a 1979 All-SEC selection by UPI, and was a team captain that season, joining Craig Puki and Roland James.

The cheering ceased after a couple of years in the CFL. Kingston’s Chris Cawood, author of “The Jimmy Streater Story,” put everything into perspective. The years began taking their toll on Jimmy, mentally and physically.

“Jimmy Streater’s story runs deeper than football,” Chris wrote. “It is a story of successes and failures, of ups and downs, of exhilaration and depression, of good choices and bad, of freedom and slavery.”

Then came a phone call Oct. 20, 2004, saying that Willis James Streater III had died in Asheville at age 46.

The Baptist church uptown offered its sanctuary for the service, but Jimmy had wanted to be at home, “home” being the Liberty Baptist Church on the outskirts of Sylva. It is a small church, but nobody minded.

His friends and loved ones packed the church, but the small sanctuary was also filled with the requisite virtues of faith and forgiveness. As it had been at Sylva-Webster High School and the University of Tennessee, Jimmy Streater was once again playing to a packed house.

Everyone had his or her special memories of the small town hero who carried Sylva’s hopes and dreams to the University of Tennessee and beyond, but who also retained the love and adulation of those who knew him best.

Eric Streater, Jimmy’s youngest brother, told the gathering that his brother, known as “Jim-Bob,” “Bird,” the “Sylva Streak,” or “Uncle Sunshine,” “was the winner, once again, and was being carried off the field of life.

“He touched our hearts in a way we’ll never forget,” Eric said. “I can imagine that the angels in heaven are arguing over who gets him on their side. For him, there’s no more dialysis, no more depression. He’s back in his prime, heading toward the goal with the ball under his arm.”

In service marked by song and testimony, including some tremendously moving piano artistry by his mother, Shirley, there was a tribute from the Rev. Anthony Sweat of the Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church in Waynesville, who couched Jimmy’s life in the essence of Psalm 23.

“Our loss is heaven’s gain,” said Rev. Sweat. “Jimmy fought the battle and won the victory. He’s been through the valley and seen what we’ve never seen. No one is exempt from the valleys of life, none of us. We may think so, but sometimes it takes the mail a little while to be delivered. Jimmy knew he was saved and had been bought with a price.”

Former UT quarterbacks Condredge Holloway and Heath Shuler, as well as teammates Kelsey Finch and Steve Davis, long-time friend Bert Bertelkamp, and UT administrators Gus Manning, Bud Ford, Judy Constantine and I were present.

“Strong stuff, touching moment, powerful message,” Marvin West wrote Feb. 20, 2006, “Tennessee never forgets a Volunteer, even when he hits the wall.”

In one of the most moving moments of the day, Holloway, who blazed the trail for the Jimmy Streaters of the world and many others, placed an orange and white Lettermen’s T-Club pin on the lapel of Jimmy’s suit, noting that it was “one of the hardest things I have ever done.”

“Jimmy had one leg and was still walking,” Rev. Sweat said. “He had all his problems and was still walking. As a minister, I’m embarrassed that I am whining and complaining about lying and backstabbing. That’s no valley. Those things happen. You go on through it. Jimmy Streater was ‘valley walking.’ He kept moving. Walk, Jimmy, walk. I thank God Jimmy Streater never gave up.”

While players may come and go over the years, No. 6 on an orange and white jersey should always belong to Jimmy Streater. The memories are rich and full and the cup overflows.

Somewhere on the road from Waynesville to Sylva, there was a sign at an establishment called Smacker’s Grill that expressed it best. The sign read, “Good Bye to the Sylva Streak Jimmy Streater.” Maybe not really “good-bye,” but a heartfelt “See you soon.”

Tom Mattingly saw all but one game of the Jimmy Streater era at Tennessee. He is the author of “The Tennessee Football Vault: The Story of the Tennessee Volunteers, 1891-2006” (2006), to be published in second edition in 2008, and “Tennessee Football: The Peyton Manning Years” (1998). He may be reached at tjmshm@comcast.net. His News Sentinel blog is called “The Vol Historian.”