SOUTHERN'S JUAMORRIS STEWART IS LATEST IN LINE OF GREAT SWAC RECEIVERS
SWAC.org
Oct. 15, 2009
By Roscoe Nance
Special to SWAC.org
Southern University wide receiver Juamorris Stewart is continuing the Southwestern Athletic Conference's tradition of outstanding pass catchers.
Stewart, a 6-3 senior from Baton Rouge, La., is No. 3 in the Football Championship in receptions per game (8.6) and total receptions (43), No. 11 in receiving yards (499) and No. 7 in receiving yards per game (99.8). He is also the SWAC leader in those categories as well as touchdown receptions (six).
Stewart's production is what has come to be expected from SWAC receivers.
"We've had outstanding receivers in SWAC since the beginning of time,'' says Marino Casem, a member of the SWAC and College Football Halls of Fame, who coached at Alcorn State and Southern University. "Playing against them made a good coach out of you. You had to try to devise ways to stop them because you weren't going to out-talent them.''
Trying to list the standout receivers who have played in the conference is like trying to count the number of raindrops in a thunderstorm; it is virtually impossible.
Willie Richardson, who starred at Jackson State from 1959-62, is generally acknowledged as SWAC's first big-time wide-out. Richardson led the conference in receiving four years, and even thought he played in during an era when the running game was predominant, he is still No. 2 SWAC's career receiving yards list with 3,616 and career receiving touchdowns list with 36.
In 1960, Richardson had 1,227 receiving yards in 10 games, a number that is more than respectable for receivers playing in today's pass-happy offenses.
"Willie could catch the ball any kind of way you threw it,'' says Archie "The Gunslinger'' Cooley, Richardson's teammate at Jackson State. "And he was big and had good speed.''
Richardson went on to play nine seasons in the NFL with the Baltimore Colts and Miami Dolphins. He was named All-Pro in 1967 and played in two Pro Bowls.
Jerry Rice, who set every receiving record known to man when he played at Mississippi Valley State from 1981-84 and pretty much did the same thing during his 20-year NFL career, is the gold standard for wide receivers at all levels.
"If he got close to the ball, he was going to catch it,'' says Casem, whose team held Rice to eight receptions for 134 yards and two touchdowns as Alcorn defeated Mississippi Valley 42-28 in their 1984 showdown billed as the Game of the Millennium.
Rice is the only player in SWAC history to have 100 or more receptions in a season. He did it twice with 102 in 1983 and 103 in 1984. He also had 28 touchdown receptions in 1984.
"His work habits made him outstanding,'' says Cooley, who coached Rice at Mississippi Valley. "He got to practice early and stayed late with (quarterback Willie) Totten and the other receivers so they could work on a lot of things.''
Mississippi Valley in 1984 boasted arguably the most prolific receiving corps ever in college football. Five Delta Devils - Rice, Joe Thomas, Cleo Armstrong, Curtis DeBardelabon and Wilbert Corley - had 50 or more receptions.
"They were as good as it gets,'' Cooley says.
Grambling State in the late 1960s featured arguably the most potent receiving duo in college ball - Pro Football Hall of Famer Charlie Joiner, who held the NFL career record when he retired, Frank Lewis, who played 13 seasons in the NFL after the Pittsburgh Steelers picked him eighth overall in the 1971 draft.
"When we would spread out everybody knew we were going to throw,'' says Detroit Lions personnel executive James Harris, who quarterbacked Grambling to four SWAC championship from 1965-68. "Coach (Eddie Robinson) told me if three men were on Charlie to go to the other side (Lewis). He never said anything about two men on Charlie. That was a given. I was real coachable. I was going to him. Teams had to name their poison.''
That period from 1965-1972 without a doubt was the Golden Era of receivers in SWAC. In addition to Lewis and Joiner, during that time Harold Carmichael was Southern, Ken Burrough was at Texas Southern and Harold Jackson, Rich Caster and Jerome Barkum were all at Jackson State.
"SWAC had the best receivers in the country,'' Harris says. "Those were some of the greatest receivers to ever live. They were unstoppable.''
"We had some receivers,'' says John Outlaw, who played cornerback at Jackson State from 1965-68 before going on to a 10-year career in the AFL and NFL. "They had size and speed. The thing I remember is they didn't drop passes. If there was a ball they could catch, they didn't drop it.''
Jackson State has produced more than its share of topflight receivers. In addition to Willie Richardson, Jackson, Caster and Barkum, Gloster Richardson, Chris Burkett, Jimmy Smith, Tim Barnett, Corey Bradford and Sylvester Morris played for the Tigers and went on to NFL careers.
Other notable SWAC receivers:
* Sammie White, Trumaine Johnson, Jake Reed, Charlie Smith, Grambling State.
* Warren Wells, Texas Southern.
* Otis Taylor, Prairie View.
* Donald Driver, C.C. Tillman and Torrance Small, Alcorn State.
* Wallace Francis, Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
* Reggie Barlow, Alabama State.
* Frank Pitts, Southern.
"Every team seems to have always had one go-to receiver you had to stop,'' says ESPN college football analyst, Eddie Robinson Jr., an All-American linebacker when he played at Alabama State.
Stewart has emerged as the top go-to receiver in SWAC the past two years. He was a unanimous All-SWAC pick in 2008 with 76 receptions for 1,385 yards and 12 scores.
Southern coach Pete Richardson says Stewart, whose best 40 time is 4.5 seconds, has refined his skills this season.
"The thing is he has really developed over the last 2 ½ years as far is getting stronger,'' Richardson says. "He worked on his top end speed as far as explosion. What sets him apart is he has more top end speed. The other thing is he caches the ball with his hands.''
Another Stewart's strengths is his knack for attacking the ball when it's in the air.
"He has an uncanny ability to go and catch the ball in a crowd and take a physical beating,'' Richardson says. "Anytime we can catch him one-on-one, we feel comfortable trying to get the ball to him, and he's big enough to make a play.''
Robinson gives Stewart high marks for running good pass routes, and he also says Stewart has deceptive speed for his size.
"He gets in and out breaks,'' Robinson says. "He looks like not really trying. A like that has a lot of potential.''
Roscoe Nance is a sports journalist with 34 years experience who most recently wrote for USA TODAY.