Catching Up With Emerson Boozer, ex-Maryland State and Jets running back

Emerson Boozer reflects on picking Maryland State (now UMES): "Going there was the smartest move I ever made."

HUNTINGTON STATION, New York  --  Come autumn, Emerson Boozer's thoughts turn to ... leaves?

"They're a pain to rake," said Boozer, 71, onetime running back for Maryland State (now UMES) and the New York Jets. "There are 25 big oak trees in my yard, and they really shed. Sometimes I use a leaf blower, which is even louder than the noise you heard at Jets games at old Shea Stadium — unless there was an irate fan sitting next to you."

Boozer played 10 years for the Jets, retiring in 1975 as the team's career rushing leader (5,135 yards). He also left with a Super Bowl ring, from New York's 16-7 upset win over the Colts for the 1968 championship. Forty-six years later, that game is still a buzzword.

"At a friend's birthday party last weekend, Super Bowl III came up again," Boozer said by telephone from his home in Huntington Station, N.Y. "Someone asked me what it felt like to be 17-point underdogs that day. I told him that, as far as the players were concerned, we were even up with the Colts.

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Note: Boozer's SuperBowl III Teammate and Starting Fullback was former Florida A&M University head coach and NCAA College Football Hall of Famer, William "Billy" Joe.  Joe's career in coaching span 33 years  -- coaching at Cheyney, Central State (Ohio), FAMU and Miles, ending with a record of 243 wins, second behind the great Eddie Robinson at Grambling State.  Maryland State (UMES) football program was shut down in 1979, due to funding shortfalls.