On Nov. 1, 1980, John Bond became a king and I became one of his subjects.
On the day of his coronation, Mississippi State defeated top-ranked Alabama, 6-3, at Jackson’s Memorial Stadium, breaking the Tide’s amazing 28-game winning streak and sending Bulldog fans into convulsions of celebrations that swept up the state and back to the MSU campus. The party continued virtually without stop through the following day, when returning students joined a day-long procession across the campus in an euphoric swarm with the Queen songs “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions” blaring from pick-up truck speakers deep into the chill of the Sunday evening.
The procession ended some time after midnight, with hundred of delirious students assembling outside the home of MSU president James McComas, demanding that Monday classes be canceled.
McComas did not relent, but that was about the only disappointment of the weekend.
As the score indicates, the victory over Alabama was not among Bond’s greatest games, statistically. And while there were other Bulldog players who would go on to far greater success in the NFL — including NFL Hall of Fame center Kent Hull, and Super Bowl winners Tyrone Keys and Johnie Cooks — it was Bond who ascended to the throne.
Broad-shouldered and handsome, with long flowing locks of curly hair, a mischievous air and a pronounced appetite for fun, Bond was imbued with what decades later would be termed “swagger.”
From that weekend on, he was quarterback on Saturdays and rock star the rest of the week. “I sure tried hard to be,” he says now, laughing.
The kingdom he ruled now exists only in the memories of his graying subjects. He held court at the beer joints that dotted county line in the days before you could buy beer in Oktibbeha County. Places like Len Lew’s and Echols and The Triangle Club are long gone. The Crossroads, a gas station that sold gas by the gallon and beer by the ton, was strategically located nine miles east of Starkville at the county line where Old Highway 82 meets Highway 45 Alternate. It, too, is long gone. Only John’s Grocery — also known as the Woodpile — on the corner of Old West Point Road and 45 Alternate remains, but it is no longer a beer Mecca for students on their way to Starkville.
In the fall of 1980, I was a student at Mississippi State — it was one of my junior years, as I recall — but I was not there that day in Jackson. I had chosen to return home to Tupelo for the weekend, having no premonition of the historic moment that would unfold that Saturday afternoon.
This is a rare admission for a State fan of that era. Roughly 60,000 people attended the game, yet 100,000 say, “I was there when we beat the Bear!” T-shirts were sold over the following days. It is probably the most widely lied about moment in Mississippi history, I figure.
I listened to the game on the radio, with Jack Cristil describing the action.
I started out on my sofa. By the time State had taken a 6-3 lead in the second half, I had moved to the floor in front of the radio. When Alabama took the ball with less than a minute to play and moved with sickening speed toward the Bulldog end zone, I was on my knees in front of the radio. And when Tyrone Keyes knocked the ball loose from Alabama quarterback Don Jacobs and Billy Jackson pounced on it at the MSU 3 to preserve the win with just two seconds left, my face was inches from the radio.
I realized then that it is a terrible thing to have something to celebrate and no one to celebrate with. I was home alone, so after running through every room in the house jumping and hollering, I burst out the front door and really began to whoop it up.
Mrs. Savage, the elderly neighbor across the street, heard the commotion and came out on her front porch in her old housecoat, tilting her head in my direction as I leaped and ran and hollered. She just shook her head and went back into the house.
This just wasn’t going to work, I realized. Within a half-hour, I had thrown my laundry into the back of my Toyota Corolla and was zipping down Highway 45 Alternate toward Starkville, joining the crazed masses in what would be a non-stop two-day celebration.
Now, 34 years later, Bond is very much a settled man. He lives in Madison and works in the construction industry. He has maintained close ties with MSU through the years, though, and he says he rarely has a conversation with a Bulldog fan that doesn’t come around to that 1980 game against Alabama.
Of all the memories, there is one that he recalls most vividly.
“I had had a little incident on the Thursday night before the game,” Bond says provocatively. “I had cut my right hand and it needed stitches, but I realized if they put stitches in, I couldn’t play. So I told them not to put in stitches, just wrap it up.”
Almost from the start of the game, the hand began bleeding through the bandages as he took snaps from Bulldog center Kent Hull.
“By the end of the game, Kent’s butt was just soaked with blood,” he says, laughing. “It was just a mess.”
To a man, those who played for MSU in that game say it was the biggest game in their careers, even for those who went on to play in and win Super Bowls.
“No doubt about it,” Bond says. “It was the biggest game ever.”
On Saturday, Mississippi State plays Alabama in something of a role reversal. This time, it is the Bulldogs who are No. 1 in the nation and Alabama is hosting the game. A win over the Tide would almost certainly clinch a berth in the SEC Championship Game for the Bulldogs and, most likely, a spot in the four-team College Football Playoffs.
If that happens, the 1980 win over Alabama will immediately become the second biggest win in school history with a new king, quarterback Dak Prescott, assuming the throne long occupied by the free-spirited Bond.
“I’ll be there, definitely,” Bond says.
And this time, I’ll be there, too.
You know, just in case.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected]
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.