Memories of Curley Culp get even better with time
So many things can and have been said about Curley Culp, who recently was selected for the NFL Hall of Fame.
All-America in football at Arizona State University, NCAA heavyweight wrestling champion (pinning his opponent for the championship in 51 seconds), AAU and Pan-Am games, AllPro defensive lineman for the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Oilers, and the man who redefined nose tackle in the 1970s.
All of these honors show due respect for Curley’s hard work and dedication to his sports. And, as a classmate of Curley’s at ASU I certainly enjoyed following his athletic career.
But my memories of Curley go beyond sports to the young gentleman I knew on campus and living in the M.O. Best Dormitory complex. Perhaps it was the special environment at ASU, but what I saw then of a very fine young man seemed completely natural at the time. But now looking back on what was happening across the country — the unrest, the civil-rights marches — there is even greater significance to some campus events.
As an insurance major minoring in math, it was not unusual to see Curley in the M.O. Best library study area tutoring non-athletes in mathematics. He was a genuine student-athlete with fine grades.
I remember one evening studying with my then-girl- ROBERT McCONNELL friend in the library when Curley walked in. Here he was, massive and muscled, heading to a study table with a young, bespectacled student who looked like the prototypical geek, both carrying books. I said to her, “Can you imagine someone coming in here from off campus and guessing correctly who is tutoring who?”
In the fall of 1967, students in the dormitory decided to challenge the Greek dominance of homecoming and wanted to offer Curley as a candidate for king. With football and studies, Curley said he did not have time to do all the things candidates were expected to do.
But he finally agreed to allow his name to be used as long as he didn’t have to campaign. The argument that won Curly over was that the students who wanted to promote his candidacy were the anonymous ones living in the residence hall, who knew him as the guy in the library in the evenings. They wanted to show that their dormitories were as important to university life as were the fraternities and sororities.
Curly won in a landslide and the defensive captain of the team spent a good portion of homecoming halftime in his dirt-stained and sweat-soaked uniform next to the beautiful Carolyn Grisz being applauded and photographed by appreciative fans — to the great irritation of Coach Frank Kush, who had begrudgingly accepted the demands on the new king.
In the1960s, ASUwasamember of the Western Athletic Conference, as was Brigham Young University. Issues arose at several campuses. Black players and sometimes schools considered not playing BYU, claiming it was racist.
There was considerable discussion among ASU’s Black football players about possibly refusing to take the field in a home game against BYU. But, to a great extent because of Curley’s quiet leadership, those discussions evolved into a commitment by the players to compete. ASU won.
In a yearbook interview, Curley was asked how best to resolve differences among people. He said, “Education does help but it’s understanding people, reaching into their background, seeing things the way they see them, like if you’re buying something in a store, you have to be able to put yourself on the other side of the counter. We need understanding if people are to get along.”
Near the end of his senior year, Curley Culp was selected ASU’s Man of the Year. Surely this was not as big as the NFL Hall of Fame nor other awards. But it was, I believe, a deserved and accurate recognition of the gentleman I knew at ASU.