Kornacki: The Rawls Family Way
2/23/2017 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Jesse Rawls Sr. called me back the day after we spoke at length about how legendary Michigan coach Cliff Keen had recruited him, and about how his three sons followed his example to grapple for the Wolverines and get an education at his alma mater. Jesse Jr. became a two-time All-American, just like his dad.
Rawls called because he wanted to make sure I knew he was from Guyton, Georgia, and he did so because he was proud of his beginnings, and how he followed his parents, Johnny and Tetronia, into the cotton and tobacco fields to work long, sweaty hours under a pounding Southern sun. He chopped plenty of wood, too, gaining strength and endurance.
Nothing came easy to Rawls, but that was OK. He learned that nothing good came easily, and that hard work brought things worth having.
He's had a full and rewarding life as an educator, high school coach and eventually the first African-American school board president of Susquehanna Township in Pennsylvania. He's been married for 45 years, has six children and 16 grandchildren.
However, he likely never would've wrestled if he hadn't left to live with an uncle in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania when he was 17. Jesse had played basketball in Guyton, but was introduced to football and wrestling in his new town, and took to the mats almost as if he'd done it his whole life. He had a fighter's heart and learned the technique needed to pin opponents and win the state championship.
Keen noticed Rawls while he was wrestling for a junior college in Colorado at a national tournament.
"Cliff Keen came to the nationals not to recruit an African-American," said Rawls. "He came to recruit the best wrestler in the tournament and I happened to be the best wrestler there.
"After he asked all of my teammates what kind of a guy I was, and did his background work, he approached me after the semifinals and told me who he was -- Cliff Keen from Michigan. He said, 'If you come to Michigan, you'll be the first African-American I've ever recruited, and I'll give you a full scholarship.'
"And from there, as we all say, 'The rest is history.' "
Rawls won the Big Ten championship in the 167-pound weight class in 1969 and finished third in the NCAA meet. He finished sixth at the NCAA meet the following season to repeat as an All-American and graduated with a degree in physical education.
"It was one of the best decisions I made in my lifetime," said Rawls, now 69 and retired in Harrisburg, "and I'm pretty sure it was one of the best decisions (Keen) made in his lifetime.
"I wanted to be a groundbreaker, and I am the granddaddy. I want you to be sure to let everyone know that."
He came to Ann Arbor in 1968, one year after the race riots in nearby Detroit and four years after the Civil Rights Act passed forbidding discrimination based on sex or race in hiring and firing practices in workplaces.
Rawls said, "Now, you have to know that I was just four years out of Georgia, out of the cotton fields and tobacco fields of Georgia, and knew nothing about Michigan and the great university."
He'd spent two years at John Harris High in Harrisburg, where he was a center and nose tackle in football and wrestled, and then two years in Colorado.
Rawls drove to Ann Arbor to begin classes along with Dennis Stewart, a Michigan basketball player from Steelton, Pennsylvania, who would play briefly in both the NBA and ABA. He recalled Stewart getting him together with some of his African-American friends on the football team such as lineman Cecil Pryor.
"When Dennis introduced me as the wrestler, Jesse Rawls," said Rawls, "everybody's eyes got big. They said, 'A WRESTLER? There's not a black guy coming to Michigan to wrestle.' So, that was some day. I thought, 'What am I going to be?'
"But coming to Michigan was one of the best things that could've happened to me as an individual, and Michigan grads get set apart from others. My experience there was tremendous. It was the people I met -- brilliant people and just good people -- and the special atmosphere. I will always be part of Michigan."
That love of his alma mater is something he passed down to his family along with his wife of 45 years, Donna Jo, who graduated from Michigan's School of Nursing.
Their sons, Jesse Jr., Jason and James, graduated from Michigan and also wrestled.
Jesse Rawls Sr. (left) posing for a photo and Jesse Rawls Jr. (right) in action for the Wolverines
Jesse Jr. was an All-American in the 177-pound weight class in 1994 and 1996, and now is the principal of Central Dauphin East High in Harrisburg.
Jason succeeded his father as the wrestling coach at Harrisburg High, taught physical education, and now is an assistant principal.
James became a pharmacist before moving into research pharmacy,and is the president of global affairs for a Japanese pharmaceutical company. Grandpa was proud to report that two of his oldest sons' boys, Sebastian and Dorian, both wrestle.
Jesse Sr. said he was inspired as a youngster in Georgia by an elementary school teacher and principal "to be a teacher, a coach and give back," and became a high school physical education teacher and industrial arts instructor while coaching wrestling.
He added, "There were a lot of rewards in that. I see kids coming back all of the time who want to give me a hug and thank me and tell me what part I played in their lives. I wanted to make a difference."
Rawls sought a life beyond the cotton and tobacco fields in Georgia.
"I think that was why I was such a strong guy," said Rawls. "Picking cotton builds finger strength. We were in the country, chopping wood with axes every day. You develop your fine motor skills and total body strength, but it was a tough job.
"I was the toughest kid around, and that prepared me for what was ahead in life. I wasn't afraid of anybody. And I got that from my parents; they were tough. My dad also was a logger."
How does Rawls describe the journey of his life?
"The journey I've been on is always looking to be successful," he said, "and working hard and being very respectful to people. It's been a rough road, but I had something inside me that I wanted a family and for my kids to be respectful and successful.
"And all six kids that I have have a college degree. That's the journey I've been on. I've got a good wife and we were grounded, knowing where we wanted to get. The road's been a little rough, but we sacrificed and we fought through it.
"And none of my kids will ever quit. If they start something, they finish it. None of my grandkids quit, either."
It's the Rawls family way.
