One September night in 1955, a nine year old Mississippi boy, who dearly loved the Red and Blue of Ole Miss, turned on the radio at his home, and listened to an Ole Miss - Kentucky game played at Stoll Field in Lexington.
That evening Johnny Vaught's Rebels were in a nip and tuck contest with Blanton Collier's Kentucky Wildcats. NFL Vet Coach Collier later went on and coached the Cleveland Browns to an NFL Champioship (pre Super Bowl), and also took the Browns to three other NFL championship games.
Ole Miss lost that night 21 - 14. It was the only time they would lose in 1955.
And for the first time, that little boy, who loved Ole Miss, heard the voice of Lyman Hellums on the radio.
Lyman was only doing his second Ole Miss broadcast in a career that would span the next 41 years. Dwight Eisenhower was President when Hellums started and Bill Clinton was President when he finished.
If you turned on the radio in South, and you searched the dial looking for Ole Miss football, all you had to do for 41 years was listen for Lyman Hellum's unmistakably smooth voice, and then you knew you had Ole Miss Rebel football on the air.
Simply put, Lyman Hellums was the voice of Ole Miss.
He and Ole Miss were the perfect match.
Johnny Vaught's 1955 team went undefeated, except for that loss in Lexington. The Rebels won their 3rd SEC Championship in nine years under Vaught. Then they went on to upset a favored TCU in the 1956 Cotton Bowl, 14 - 13.
Fast forward to 1965. the nine year old boy was now 19 years old, and a sophomore at Ole Miss. He had managed freshman football his freshman year when Ole Miss had an undefeated team. He had a class with a redshirt football player who had been doing some player i.d. work, called spotting, for the Ole Miss radio network. The redshirt had something he wanted to do that weekend, and asked if his friend would be interested in taking his place and "spotting" the visiting Tennessee Vols at the Ole Miss game in Memphis on Saturday.
The kid, who had never spotted a game in his life, said "sure, why not".
Then he asked his friend, "Now what is it exactly that I am supposed to do."
His buddy said, "Don't worry about it - you'll do fine - and you'll get paid $10.00". A meal ticket at the Ole Miss cafeteria cost $17.50 so it sounded like a good deal.
The 19 year old was issued a press pass, and went to Memphis, rode the elevator up, and found his way into the Ole Miss radio broadcast booth, and there he actually met Lyman Hellums for the first time.
Lyman acted like he had known the young man all his life, and made him feel at ease. He asked if the kid had ever spotted a gam before, and when he said "no", Lyman covered it well and smiled and said, "Well, you'll do just fine". And then he gave one piece of advice that he gave to all people working in the radio booth, "Always be sure to go to the restroom before the game starts because you sure can't leave while it's going on".
The rookie spotter only knew one football player on the Tennessee roster that day. He was Tennessee quarterback Charlie Fulton. Sure enough, Charlie Fulton got knocked out on the first series of the game. Tennessee wore their light orange jerseys with the white numbers that day. From the press box on the high side of the Liberty Bowl Stadium, it seemed like a half mile down to the playing field, and the Tennessee uniform was legendary for being hard to read the jersey numbers.
When Fulton got cold cocked, Tennessee put in a quarterback no one had ever seen or heard of before. His name was Dewey "Swamp Rat" Warren. All Warren could do was pass. He proceeded to throw it about 50 times that day. UT receivers ran in and out at will the entire game, and the rookie spotter was sorely put to the test.
As it turned out, the kid was a natural.
His friend never got the job back.
The kid ended up working the next 21 years with Lyman Hellums, and 4 other play by play announcers virtually every Saturday that Ole Miss played football. These included Evan Lewis, Stan Torgerson, Charlie McAlexander, Stan Torgerson and Tom Stocker.
This was in a time when only one or two games a year were televised. Every Saturday, families all over the entire State of Mississippi would be at a radio to listen to Lyman and Stan to bring it all to life and let them feel as if they were actually at the ball game.
Without any question, the best broadcast team was Lyman Hellums as color analyst, joined by Stan Torgerson doing play by play and All Pro Larry Grantham handling sideline analysis. Billy Burns from Water Valley was the Engineer, and Mel Chrestman from Oxford owned the broadcast rights. During those years, a young local Oxford teenager named David Kellum would call in the scores from Chrestman's Oxford radio station for Lyman Hellums to read on the air.
Lyman would preside starting off, then turn things over to Stan and Larry for game action. Helms and Torgerson complimented each other marvelously. Grantham's insight and playing experience was the icing on the cake.
No Ole Miss football radio broadcast team has ever come close to matching this group.
Nor, most likely, ever will.
During his 41 years, there was never one instance that Lyman Hellums was anything but pure class.
Gracious when winning, classy in defeat, and always Red and Blue with just the right tone and touch.
Lyman had a way of making you feel at home if he had never met you.
He also knew the intricacies of football. He was meticulous with the finer points, and kept up with punter hang times, and all sorts of detail. Rebel players would confide in him. He knew who was playing hurt, and what was going on in their personal lives.
Lyman's halftime interviews were incisive and he could bring people into the booth because a lifetime of being nice to people and being fair had earned their respect.
And one time, he even interviewed the spotter.
Ole Miss never has had, nor ever will have, anyone to compare to Lyman Hellums as the color man, or better put, master of ceremonies, for its radio football broadcast.
JHV
That evening Johnny Vaught's Rebels were in a nip and tuck contest with Blanton Collier's Kentucky Wildcats. NFL Vet Coach Collier later went on and coached the Cleveland Browns to an NFL Champioship (pre Super Bowl), and also took the Browns to three other NFL championship games.
Ole Miss lost that night 21 - 14. It was the only time they would lose in 1955.
And for the first time, that little boy, who loved Ole Miss, heard the voice of Lyman Hellums on the radio.
Lyman was only doing his second Ole Miss broadcast in a career that would span the next 41 years. Dwight Eisenhower was President when Hellums started and Bill Clinton was President when he finished.
If you turned on the radio in South, and you searched the dial looking for Ole Miss football, all you had to do for 41 years was listen for Lyman Hellum's unmistakably smooth voice, and then you knew you had Ole Miss Rebel football on the air.
Simply put, Lyman Hellums was the voice of Ole Miss.
He and Ole Miss were the perfect match.
Johnny Vaught's 1955 team went undefeated, except for that loss in Lexington. The Rebels won their 3rd SEC Championship in nine years under Vaught. Then they went on to upset a favored TCU in the 1956 Cotton Bowl, 14 - 13.
Fast forward to 1965. the nine year old boy was now 19 years old, and a sophomore at Ole Miss. He had managed freshman football his freshman year when Ole Miss had an undefeated team. He had a class with a redshirt football player who had been doing some player i.d. work, called spotting, for the Ole Miss radio network. The redshirt had something he wanted to do that weekend, and asked if his friend would be interested in taking his place and "spotting" the visiting Tennessee Vols at the Ole Miss game in Memphis on Saturday.
The kid, who had never spotted a game in his life, said "sure, why not".
Then he asked his friend, "Now what is it exactly that I am supposed to do."
His buddy said, "Don't worry about it - you'll do fine - and you'll get paid $10.00". A meal ticket at the Ole Miss cafeteria cost $17.50 so it sounded like a good deal.
The 19 year old was issued a press pass, and went to Memphis, rode the elevator up, and found his way into the Ole Miss radio broadcast booth, and there he actually met Lyman Hellums for the first time.
Lyman acted like he had known the young man all his life, and made him feel at ease. He asked if the kid had ever spotted a gam before, and when he said "no", Lyman covered it well and smiled and said, "Well, you'll do just fine". And then he gave one piece of advice that he gave to all people working in the radio booth, "Always be sure to go to the restroom before the game starts because you sure can't leave while it's going on".
The rookie spotter only knew one football player on the Tennessee roster that day. He was Tennessee quarterback Charlie Fulton. Sure enough, Charlie Fulton got knocked out on the first series of the game. Tennessee wore their light orange jerseys with the white numbers that day. From the press box on the high side of the Liberty Bowl Stadium, it seemed like a half mile down to the playing field, and the Tennessee uniform was legendary for being hard to read the jersey numbers.
When Fulton got cold cocked, Tennessee put in a quarterback no one had ever seen or heard of before. His name was Dewey "Swamp Rat" Warren. All Warren could do was pass. He proceeded to throw it about 50 times that day. UT receivers ran in and out at will the entire game, and the rookie spotter was sorely put to the test.
As it turned out, the kid was a natural.
His friend never got the job back.
The kid ended up working the next 21 years with Lyman Hellums, and 4 other play by play announcers virtually every Saturday that Ole Miss played football. These included Evan Lewis, Stan Torgerson, Charlie McAlexander, Stan Torgerson and Tom Stocker.
This was in a time when only one or two games a year were televised. Every Saturday, families all over the entire State of Mississippi would be at a radio to listen to Lyman and Stan to bring it all to life and let them feel as if they were actually at the ball game.
Without any question, the best broadcast team was Lyman Hellums as color analyst, joined by Stan Torgerson doing play by play and All Pro Larry Grantham handling sideline analysis. Billy Burns from Water Valley was the Engineer, and Mel Chrestman from Oxford owned the broadcast rights. During those years, a young local Oxford teenager named David Kellum would call in the scores from Chrestman's Oxford radio station for Lyman Hellums to read on the air.
Lyman would preside starting off, then turn things over to Stan and Larry for game action. Helms and Torgerson complimented each other marvelously. Grantham's insight and playing experience was the icing on the cake.
No Ole Miss football radio broadcast team has ever come close to matching this group.
Nor, most likely, ever will.
During his 41 years, there was never one instance that Lyman Hellums was anything but pure class.
Gracious when winning, classy in defeat, and always Red and Blue with just the right tone and touch.
Lyman had a way of making you feel at home if he had never met you.
He also knew the intricacies of football. He was meticulous with the finer points, and kept up with punter hang times, and all sorts of detail. Rebel players would confide in him. He knew who was playing hurt, and what was going on in their personal lives.
Lyman's halftime interviews were incisive and he could bring people into the booth because a lifetime of being nice to people and being fair had earned their respect.
And one time, he even interviewed the spotter.
Ole Miss never has had, nor ever will have, anyone to compare to Lyman Hellums as the color man, or better put, master of ceremonies, for its radio football broadcast.
JHV
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