For Grambling's ageless Eddie Robinson, Melvin Lee was a constant.
Over nearly five decades, Lee either played for Robinson or coached beside him. Yet he remains a shadowy figure in his old boss' march to a still-standing Division I record of 408 career football victories.
Lee, unassuming and fiercely steadfast as an offensive assistant, was most comfortable outside of the spotlight. But his fingerprints are all over the Robinson era. He was there for more than 300 of the College Hall of Famer's wins, and every league title Robinson ever claimed -- eventually earning such profound respect from Robinson that the two would collaborate on playcalling.
It's fitting, then, that Lee has claimed a spot in the Grambling Legends Sports Hall of Fame, a collection that already includes a trio of those whom Lee credits with propelling him into a life around football.
"It started at the top, of course," said Lee, who still lives on Martin Luther King Drive in Grambling. Former school president "R.W.E. Jones set the stage and then (longtime sports information director) Collie J. Nicholson gave us so much attention in news print. That helped Coach Robinson focus on being a consistent fundamentalist. They allowed us to learn and progress as the years went by."
The 2010 Legends induction ceremonies will be held at 6 p.m. Saturday, July 17, at the Monroe Civic Center. Admission is $60 per person, and $500 for a table of eight, with all proceeds going to the non-profit Legends group for distribution in support athletics at Grambling. Tickets can be purchased at the Monroe Civic Center box office. Call 329-2837.
Lee attended Clark High in New Orleans, where he said he earned a spot on the All-City district football team, and planned to play football at Dillard -- until a friend convinced him to enroll at Grambling. He tried out for the Tiger football team in 1952, meeting a lasting friend and mentor in Robinson. Undersized at 175, Lee nevertheless played both ways for Grambling -- as center and linebacker. In 1955, Lee would be part of a group that earned the program's first black college national championship.
"To the individuals on the team, we remember it like it was yesterday," Lee said. "We're proud the fact that we didn't allow more than 24 points in any game that year. The offense was based around the tailback; there was never a question about passing. We ran to the right most of the time. We more or less came right at you." In going 10-0, Lee and a group of talents that included future Pro Football Hall of Famer Willie Davis would establish just the second undefeated record in Grambling's history, and still its most recent.
"As we played for that championship, Coach talked about giving your best effort and that, looking back, you would see this as your finest hour," Lee said. "I'm sure most of us look back and realize that was a fantastic time. It can only happen to a few individuals, and not very often."
Two years in the Army followed, and Lee ended up back in New Orleans, where he was offered a job as a cement finisher. Then Robinson called.
Photo by Darryl D. SmithReturning to the piney hills of Lincoln Parish in 1960 was a dream come true. "We gained so much from our time with Coach," Lee said. "We got a chance to see the country and a portion of the world. It was something that being in a smaller school, you never thought would happen."
Thoughtful and precise, Lee will never be confused with the stair-stepping assistants of today. Rather than looking for the next great job, he was looking for the next great play. "Being in charge wasn't the most important thing to me," Lee said. "Seeing things work well was."
The consummate players' coach, Lee was the first one they turned to when things went awry. That created an almost familial bond. "Coach always took up for his linemen, no matter what happened," said former Grambling quarterback Doug Williams, a fellow 2010 Legends inductee. "Coach Rob would say: 'Hell, Melvin, you've got to stop taking up for them.'" "I've heard that a few times," Lee admits, with a chuckle.
The milestones and memories were many: 17 Southwestern Athletic Conference championships, most for any program. Celebrated trips to Japan, to Hawaii, to Yankee Stadium. The formation of the Bayou Classic game against in-state foe Southern at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans.
By the mid-1970s, after fellow Grambling assistant Douglas Porter had launched his own College Hall of Fame head coaching career, offers began arriving for Lee, as well. He stayed. "Back then, we were going everywhere -- Tokyo, Los Angeles, New York -- and I knew I'd have to give that up if I left," he said. "There was always something new and entertaining going on at Grambling."
There would be many more memories, and many, many more milestones: The opening of Robinson Stadium. Advancing past Paul "Bear" Bryant's mythical mark for career victories, then the unfathomable 400-win plateau.
Lee continued, all along, quietly tinkering with Grambling's familiar Wing-T offense, something that endlessly entertained the professorial assistant. Lee somehow found time to return to school, as well, earning a master's degree at nearby Louisiana Tech in 1969.
"We called him 'Silent Lee,'" Davis said. "But he has one of the very best football minds."
At practice, Lee kept a pencil behind one ear, and pieces of paper either in hand or stuffed in his pockets. He was always ready to scribble down what Robinson said, to update their plan. During the game, he'd break down the opponents through a trusty pair of binoculars, looking for the tiniest opening. "It would be impossible to describe how much Melvin Lee meant to me over all these years," Robinson said, late in their career together. "It was his genius that helped make our Wing-T offense so effective for so long."
Bayou Classic 2009 from Darryl D. Smith on Vimeo.
They walked out of the Superdome, one last time, after the season finale in 1997 -- the legend and the right-hand man. Lee has spent the ensuing years, unsurprisingly, largely unnoticed. Most days, you'll find him working in his yard with wife Pauline. He's also been tending to another relationship that's never wavered, refurbishing a property that was damaged by Hurricane Katrina back in his hometown.
Lee makes only rare public appearances, as when Robinson was honored upon his passing in 2007 with an all-day memorial in Baton Rouge, something typically reserved for heads of state. There, Lee found himself, suddenly, in the middle of this maelstrom of memory. It seemed every Grambling generation wanted to take a photograph on the Louisiana State Capitol's imposing granite steps alongside the former assistant. He carefully moved the conversation, then as now, back to Eddie Robinson -- back to the time they shared together.
The two men remain inseparable, connected in memory as they once were on the field.
Lee, ever the loyalist, doesn't mind. "We all looked up to him, and the country would recognize how special he was in later years," Lee said of Robinson. "As individuals, we were really impressed by his leadership. He always inspired you. There was always something that was different and unique and very stimulating."
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