San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
AN INHERITED PASSION
Culley’s father had an invaluable impact on his family and Tennessee community
For the first time in his 65 years, Texans coach David Culley won’t have his dad on Father’s Day.
Ulysses Grant Culley Sr., named after the 18th president, died on May 1, the third day of the NFL draft. He was 94.
Ulysses Culley and his late wife, Jessie Mae, brought up six children, including four boys, and lived their entire lives in Sparta, a town of about 5,000 in Middle Tennessee — 96 miles from Nashville and 98 from Knoxville.
“Just about everybody knew him, and they called him Culley,”
David Culley said. “Some on my mother’s side called him Snook because he loved to shoot pool and play snooker. He was good at it, too. He’d take their money, and they’d say he snookered them.
“I’m the only one in the family not living in Sparta. I’m so fortunate my brothers and sisters were there to give my mom and dad such great care during their last days.”
Jessie Mae died in 2015 at 82. “My mom played slow-pitch softball until she was 65,” Culley said with a laugh. “The way she drove, she should have been on the NASCAR circuit. Everybody in Sparta knew when Jessie Mae was coming through town.
“My mom was very outgoing. My dad was the opposite. He was calmer. Their personalities complemented each other. I’m kind of a cross between the two of them.”
Ulysses Culley was an institution in White County, respected and beloved by families throughout the community. In 2016, the White County High School baseball field was named after him.
“That was an unbelievable feeling for everybody in our family,” Culley said. “It was special because he was still alive when they did it. So many times when things are named after you, you’re usually gone. He was able to see his name on that field.
“It gave us such a sense of pride because of why they did it. That
was because of the way he supported White County football, basketball, baseball and all sports. They knew what he meant to our town and to our community.”
When Ulysses finished his jobs at Caney Fork Electric Co. and a local supermarket, he loved to attend games. When he wasn’t watching, he was umpiring. He drove his Cadillac all over White County with his best friend, Tenderfoot, and they were fixtures at sporting events.
“If he and Tenderfoot couldn’t find a game, they’d watch a practice,” Culley said.
James “Tenderfoot” Leftwich was Ulysses Culley’s best friend. They went everywhere together. Leftwich was like another family member.
“They were like Batman and Robin,” Culley said. “If you didn’t see one without the other at an event, you got concerned. Tenderfoot was a wonderful man, just like my dad.
“My brothers and sisters and I always had to mind our P’s and Q’s because of the standard our dad set, the way he carried himself, the way he handled his business, and the way people perceived him. I like to think it trickled down to us.”
Everyone in the Culley family played sports — football, baseball and basketball. David, the secondoldest son, was the most successful. He got a scholarship to play quarterback at Vanderbilt.
Culley excelled at sports in a town that was almost 91 percent white, according to the 2018 census, but his color wasn’t an issue.
“I didn’t realize I was Black until I left Sparta for Vanderbilt in 1972 and played quarterback in the SEC,” he said. “We weren’t naïve. I went to an all-Black school for five years. When we integrated, (racism) never dawned on me. Part of that was because of my dad and the athletics in our town.
“It was all about being a warrior, not about being Black or white. I’ve always appreciated that about where I grew up, and that has a lot to do with how I feel about things right now. That’s why I love to keep going back to my hometown.”
His father impacted a lot of lives in the Sparta area. Considering his influence on his children, it’s amazing David didn’t become a baseball player.
“We played all sports, but baseball ran deep in my family,” Culley said. “My dad had a love for baseball. His favorite player was Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron was right up there with him. His favorite Negro League players were Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson.
“The old Negro League had independent baseball in little towns across the South when everything was segregated. We had the Sparta Giants. They played in the summer, and they were basically in conjunction with Negro League baseball, and when they weren’t playing at home, they traveled. People worked Monday through Saturday, so they played on Sunday. They used to take a preacher with them and have a quick church service before they played.”
David was a terrific athlete at a young age, and he got opportunities to play on the baseball team with adults, including his father.
“These were grown men playing,” he said. “As I got a little older, I was good enough to play for my dad’s team. In high school and sometimes even in junior high if we were good enough, they’d put us on the team.
“I was a pitcher, and I had the honor of playing with my dad. On three or four occasions, he was my catcher.”
While their children were growing up, Culley and Jessie Mae taught them a lot of life lessons whether it was at home or on playing fields.
“All of us were encouraged to play whatever sport was in season,” Culley said. “There was one thing about playing, and this came from my dad: If you chose to play for one of our teams, you didn’t have the option to quit if you didn’t play or you didn’t like it.
“If we started a season, we had to finish it. We didn’t have to play the next season if we didn’t want to, but he told us you were not going to quit if you started a season. We were all brought up that way, whether it was football, baseball or basketball.
“Something I always felt good about was my dad never tried to coach us — he just supported us. We’d come home from having a bad day, and he’d just say, ‘Hey, you’ve got to do better the next day.’ Or, ‘Whatever the coach told you to do, then that’s what you need to do.’ ”
As his health deteriorated, Culley’s father could no longer drive to games.
“When he knew he couldn’t drive anymore, people would call the house and ask, ‘Does Culley want to go to this game or that game?’ ” Culley said. “They were always there to get him in his wheelchair to make sure he could watch games. Quite frankly, I know that allowed him to live even longer — to be able to still do those things when his health was starting to decline.
“I remember two years ago, I went home on our bye week and took him to a high school football game. I rolled him in, and we stayed on the track and watched the game, and it was such a wonderful feeling to be with him and know how happy he was. After the game, so many people came down to see how he was doing.”
When Culley was going through the interview process with the Texans, he knew his father’s health was getting worse. After his first news conference with Houston media in late January, the McNair family arranged for Culley and his wife, Carolyn, to fly to Sparta by private jet.
“I can’t thank the McNair family enough,” Culley said. “They understood what my feelings were, and after I was hired and we had the press conference, they told me, ‘There’ll be a plane ready to take you to Sparta to see your dad.’ ”
During his 27 years as an NFL assistant, Culley would call his father after games. When Baltimore was eliminated by Buffalo in a divisional round game last season, he called his dad.
“I told him we’d lost, and he said, ‘You guys didn’t coach very well, did you?’ ” Culley said. “When I went home to see him after being hired by the Texans, I told him, ‘Daddy, I’m going to have to coach well now because I’ve got head coach before my name.’ He just smiled. If he was still around today, whenever that first loss comes, I’d expect him to tell me I had to coach better. That was him.”
Culley got to see his father one last time on a Friday night, the second day of the draft. Once again, the McNairs arranged for him to fly home by private jet.
“I knew it was just a matter of time, but I got to see him,” Culley said. “The week before that, he had pneumonia and just didn’t recover. They brought him home. They had hospice there, and they offered to take him to a rehab facility, but he said, ‘When the time comes, I want to be at home.’ He was home for about a week before he passed away.”
On Sunday, Culley will have mixed emotions about his father — sadness because he died but also many wonderful memories.
“I learned so much from my dad,” he said. “Usually, there’s more reward in giving of yourself than it is to have someone give to you. He’d say, ‘Whatever it is in life you want to be, as long as you’re honest and respectful to people, that’s all you can ever ask of anyone.’
“As far as coaching, the first thing he’d tell me, ‘You better have them ready to play. If you’re not ready, you know what’s going to happen. That’s why you’ve got that C before your name.’ ”
Ulysses Grant Culley Sr., who served in the Army in World War II, was buried in Sparta with full military honors.
“It was the first time that happened to anyone in my family,” Culley said. “They placed the flag on his casket, and those guns went off. They buried him and handed the folded flag to my older brother, Grant Sr., and it brought tears to my eyes.
“I just knew my dad would be so proud and smiling knowing he’d served his country and received that honor after he passed away.”
Culley’s father forged a bond with so many in the Sparta community that he’ll never be forgotten. When Culley makes trips to his hometown to see his family, he’ll drive by Ulysses Culley Baseball Field, and it will bring back so many marvelous memories of his mom and dad.
“My mom and dad were my heroes,” he said, “and their presence will always be with me.”
“If he was still around today, whenever that first loss comes, I’d expect him to tell me I had to coach better. That was him.”
Texans coach David Culley