'A servant first': Tommie Agee, Class of 2019, Alabama Sports Hall of Fame

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Tommie Agee

AUBURN, Ala. – For someone like Tommie Agee who doesn't seek the limelight, fullback was the perfect position. Take out the linebacker, let Bo Jackson get the glory.

"It was," Agree said with a laugh. "Because the fullback is primarily like a smaller offensive lineman who can run maybe just a little bit faster."

A four-year starter at Auburn from 1983-86, Agee did more than block for Bo. He rushed for 1,733 yards and scored 13 touchdowns for the Tigers before a seven-year NFL career that included back-to-back Super Bowl championships with Dallas.

One of eight members of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2019, Agee will be inducted in Birmingham on April 27.

"I'm very private and I don't like to pat myself on the back for anything I do," Agee said. "I do it because I love it, and I wasn't trying to get any accolades for it. But it is an honor just to be mentioned in the same breath as those who are in the Alabama Hall of Fame."

Before Agee came to Auburn in the summer of 1983, assistant coach Joe Whitt went to Maplesville to recruit Tommie. Actually, Coach Whitt recruited Tommie's grandmother.  Grandma did the rest.

"After he convinced my grandmother that Auburn was the best place for me, she told me that I was going to Auburn," Agee said, laughing at the memory.

"I fell in love with Auburn on my very first trip down there. It felt more like home than any other place I ever visited. With the coaching staff and the people down there, it was one big family.

"When my parents dropped me off on that Sunday, the only people there were Rusty and Sallie Deen, who I came to love and respect, because they were the dorm parents at that time. They welcomed me in and tried to make a little old country boy feel at home.

"My coaches became a parent to me. They took a little kid from Maplesville, Alabama, and made a man out of him."

Surviving four fall camps of Pat Day's three-a-day practices made for a seamless transition to professional football.

"Everything I learned at Auburn, it made playing in the pros real easy," Agee said. "Coach Dye believed in working hard and going out there and giving 110 percent on Saturdays. He made this young boy become a young man very quickly.

"I can recall Bud Casey, who was by far one of the best instructional coaches I've ever had, that's including in the pros. He taught me how to block and he taught me how to be fearless.

"Patrick Waters, my academic adviser, was always instructing me and guiding me on what I needed to do to get that college degree, and I didn't leave there without it. I owe a lot to Auburn. They pretty much prepared me for what was out there in life. I'm very grateful."

After the NFL, Agee worked for more than 20 years for the Opelika Parks and Recreation department before becoming the director of leisure services in Andalusia, Alabama.
 

Tommie Agee win the Meagher Award
Nov. 6, 2010 in Auburn, Ala.Todd Van Emst


"You have to be a people person and you have to be a caring person," he said. "I made some relationships and connected with some people in that area who showed me that giving back to the community in which you live is the way to go.

"I knew that from playing in pro ball. I used to go out and do community service, spend time with the kids in different communities. It gave me an opportunity to see what being a servant was really about.

"You have to be a servant first. The way I live my life and the way I was brought up, you try to treat people the way you want to be treated, or better.

And when you see someone in need, you extend a helping hand. If you can do anything to make someone else's life better, I was taught by my grandmother, always try to do that. That stems from my faith. I was taught that being a servant to others is what it's all about."
 
What Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy means to me:
"My grandmother taught me that respect begets respect. When I see people who are being mistreated, or if I see where I can make a difference out there in this world, I have to do that. No matter what it is. Sometimes you have to be the initiative for change. If you can go out there and change some of the things that are going on in this world, it's best that you take that first step. Maybe you can plant a seed to get it started, somebody else can come along and help it to grow.

"What I learned from Dr. Martin Luther King is I try to be the best at what I can do. Where I can lend a helping hand to make a situation better, that's what I should do. You have to take a few steps out there in life that you feel uncomfortable with. Once you start making those steps, that uncomfortableness will leave you. I truly believe that any time you have an opportunity to lend a helping hand to help make someone's life a little bit better, we have to do that."
 
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer
 
 

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