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Friday, October 24, 1997

Palestine hopes to get past football controversy that has divided town

PALESTINE, Texas (AP) -- All members of the Palestine High football team will be together again on the sidelines Friday night.

But it's doubtful that the squad can be considered truly together following a series of incidents that has divided the team and the community, sparked a protest and an all-night school board meeting and even prompted the head coach to resign.

The Palestine Herald-Press reported that the saga began Sept. 30 when coach Rick Langley suspended three players for separate rules violations. Angry parents asked for the players to be reinstated, but were denied by school officials.

So, that Friday, about 40 adults protested as the team bus prepared to leave the parking lot for road game at Mabank. Five players stayed in the locker room and three others were kept off the bus by their parents. All eight understood they had essentially quit the team.

With 11 of 36 players now off the squad, the school board decided to address the issues at their next meeting. The panel decided to let anyone who wanted to speak say their peace, extending the meeting to nearly 12 hours. Around 6 a.m., the school board came up with a plan to reinstate everyone, a few at a time, over a three-week span.

Then things really went haywire in the town 100 miles southeast of Dallas.

Langley, feeling his authority had been usurped, quit. The remaining players, outraged at what they perceived to be a victory for the guys who had betrayed them, considered boycotting their next game.

Parents who previously hadn't been involved jumped in at the hint of wrongdoers being coddled. They also didn't like the message the school board sent by overruling the coaches.

About the only people happy were the parents of the 11 reinstated players.

"It's an unfortunate situation," superintendent Sam Lucia told The Associated Press on Thursday. "Nobody really got what they were asking for. But the majority of people feel it's time to accept the decision and start healing the community."

Interim coach Jack Estes took a big step toward smoothing things by bringing everyone back on Monday, the day the first group of players were supposed to return under the school board's decision.

However, being reinstated hasn't made them true members of the team just yet.

Those players -- down to 10 as one has moved to California -- are doing makeup work for the time they missed. Estes said the reinstated players won't be allowed to play until they've finished their makeup work. He isn't saying when that will be, or even if it will be this season.

Palestine (1-6, 0-4 in District 17-4A) has three games remaining: this Friday night in Athens, next Friday at home against Lindale and Nov. 7 at Brownsboro.

"We're going to bring them back when the time is right," Estes said. "Right now, they are divided. We will combine the groups when our staff and the people responsible for these kids feel like that's possible. ... We don't have a time frame set. I think everybody here is trying to go forward."

If any good can be gleaned from the mess, it's the way the 25 players trapped in the middle have responded to forced lessons about life and loyalty, Lucia said.

"These young men have been very courageous throughout," he said. "I admire them for that."

The players -- whose solidarity has earned them the nickname the "Wildcat 25" -- considered walking out before last Friday night's game against state-ranked Jacksonville.

Fearing that such a move could get the school in trouble with the UIL, the players instead remained in the locker room until the last possible second before slowly walking to the field.

"They wanted to make a statement that they didn't feel like what was done was right," Estes said. "That was their way of saying they supported coach Langley and the decisions by the coaching staff."

The school board called a special meeting this past Monday to talk about things one more time. They heard an earful.

Speaking on behalf of the team, star player Rogerick Gill said: "It's always been told to me that to be a part of a team, especially a football team, was a privilege, and you have to work for that privilege. They haven't worked. They quit on us."

Ann Harris, the mother of player Huntleigh Harris, one of the guys who remained throughout, said: "You've never been able to justify your decision to me. This was not about getting rid of our former coach. This was about ... consequences for not following the rules."

Deborah Birdow, the mother of Byron Birdow, one of the reinstated players, said: "I gave up a good job because I thought this was the best place to raise my child. I gave up a good life for a better life. I have never in my life seen so much hatred. There's no word for it."