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Sullins Casts Long Shadow Despite His Smallish Frame

Sullins Casts Long Shadow Despite His Smallish Frame
by Fred Hilton, News Sports Editor

For a man barely five feet tall, Earl Sullins certainly casts a long shadow. It was discovered that shadow reached all the way to Lincoln, Neb., Tuesday night. University of Nebraska coach Tom Osborne was asked by the fellowship of Christian Athletes, a sponsor of the tribute to Sullins, to speak in his behalf. It turned out that Osborne, coach of one of the most successful football programs in the country, also owes something to the former Ponca City coach, athletic director and Wildcat sports historian. "I was greatly influenced by my high school coach, Earl Appleby at Hastings (Neb.)," Osborne said. "And I found out that he was coached by Earl Sullins. "So thank you coach Sullins for that influence you have had on my life."

Osborne was the featured speaker at the tribute that was held in Robson Fieldhouse on a night that saw Sullins receive even more awards that will eventually be placed in a section of the new Po-Hi library. This was not only Earl Sullins Day in Ponca City as proclaimed by Mayor Marilyn Andrews, it was Earl Sullins day across the state, according to a proclamation by Gov. Frank Keating read to the audience by Norman Lamb of Enid. The awards included the Jim Thorpe Trophy, presented by Lynne Draper of the Jim Thorpe Association. They also included a large plaque engraved with 200 names of former players and friends of Sullins, a member of the Oklahoma Coaches' Hall of Fame, which was presented by co-chairmen of the tribute, Tom Catlin (1949) and Chuck Bowman (1954). There were also tributes to Sullins from Jon Kennedy, former Wildcat and University of Oklahoma football standout; Jim Barnes, a member of the 1951 Ponca City team coached by Sullins and now the president and CEO of the Mapco energy company in Tulsa; and Lu Clinton, former Wildcat baseball star who played with the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees.

May 7, 1997 - COACH EARL SULLINS is show here with Don Brattain, class of 1958, who traveled here from Minneapolis, Minn., to attend the tribute for the former Ponca City High School coach, held Tuesday evening. A number of the former players and coaches traveled from across the nation to be here for the event. (News Photo by Louise Abercrombie) Vol. 104- No. 198

There were written tributes from a number of former players read to the audience by former Wildcat coach Keni Ray. But the influence for good that Sullins had on his players was summed up by Osborne, who was introduced by Oklahoma State basketball coach Eddie Sutton. Osborne called Sullins "a coach's coach." Osborne, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, told of the difficulties of being a coach and an athlete today. "There has been a shift in values," Osborne said of the problems that have plagued college programs, including his own, long a model of what a football program should be. "There have been changes in the family structure," Osborne said as he ticked off his list of reasons for current problems. "The environment for young people is more hostile now with the drugs and violence. And there are no absolute moral standards, no more truths. Everything now is relative.

"Our young people are confused. "When things start to go wrong for athletes on the field," he continued, "it is because they have gotten away from the fundamentals. When that happens coaches stop what is going on and go back to the fundamentals. That is what the nation has to do today. "We have back peddled from our country's creed of One Nation Under God." Osborne said that he had taken the wrong path in his early days, trying to gain respect and self esteem as an athlete, in academics and later as a coach. "It was not until 1988 when I had heart bypass surgery that I realized I was not going to live forever, that you had to give up what you thought was a way of life to save your life. "All you can ask of life is that it had some meaning, some influence on other people." That is indeed what Sullins' life has been about. As Sullins summed up the night, he said,” I have never been more proud to be called Coach."