Chucky Mullins
Encyclopedia
Russellville, Alabama
Russellville is a city in Franklin County in the U.S. state of Alabama. At the 2000 census, the population of the city was 8,971. The city is the county seat of Franklin County.-History:...
– May 6, 1991 in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
) was an American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player at Ole Miss (University of Mississippi
University of Mississippi
The University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss, is a public, coeducational research university located in Oxford, Mississippi. Founded in 1844, the school is composed of the main campus in Oxford, four branch campuses located in Booneville, Grenada, Tupelo, and Southaven as well as the...
) best known for the devastating football injury that left him a quadriplegic
Quadriplegia
Tetraplegia, also known as quadriplegia, is paralysis caused by illness or injury to a human that results in the partial or total loss of use of all their limbs and torso; paraplegia is similar but does not affect the arms...
.
Accident and aftermath
Mullins was injured on October 28, 1989, during the Ole Miss Rebels' Homecoming game against the Vanderbilt CommodoresVanderbilt Commodores football
The Vanderbilt Commodores football program is a college football team that represents Vanderbilt University. The team currently competes in NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Southeastern Conference...
in Oxford
Oxford, Mississippi
Oxford is a city in, and the county seat of, Lafayette County, Mississippi, United States. Founded in 1835, it was named after the British university city of Oxford in hopes of having the state university located there, which it did successfully attract....
. As Mullins plunged head-first into a tackle of Vandy fullback Brad Gaines after a short pass reception, the impact shattered four vertebrae in his cervical spine
Cervical vertebrae
In vertebrates, cervical vertebrae are those vertebrae immediately inferior to the skull.Thoracic vertebrae in all mammalian species are defined as those vertebrae that also carry a pair of ribs, and lie caudal to the cervical vertebrae. Further caudally follow the lumbar vertebrae, which also...
, immediately paralyzing him.
After being airlifted to Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, Mullins underwent a tracheotomy
Tracheotomy
Among the oldest described surgical procedures, tracheotomy consists of making an incision on the anterior aspect of the neck and opening a direct airway through an incision in the trachea...
and five-hour bone graft operation to fuse the vertebrae. Mullins never regained sensation below his neck; shortly before his death, however, he was able to move a hand across his body and touch his chest.
As soon as the injury occurred, Mullins became the recipient of a huge outpouring of community support. Ole Miss fans, college football fans in the South and people from all over the nation immediately began to donate money towards Mullin's growing medical expenses. President George H.W. Bush visited Mullins in his hospital room and encouraged him while on a visit to Memphis. Soon, Ole Miss established the "Chucky Mullins Trust Fund" to properly manage the donations. The city of Oxford donated land for a specially-designed handicap accessible house for Mullins. Donations to the trust fund eventually exceeded $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
1 million.
Mullins returned to Ole Miss on June 20, 1990 to complete his undergraduate studies.
Death
Less than a year after returning to school, Mullins was stricken by a pulmonary embolismPulmonary embolism
Pulmonary embolism is a blockage of the main artery of the lung or one of its branches by a substance that has travelled from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream . Usually this is due to embolism of a thrombus from the deep veins in the legs, a process termed venous thromboembolism...
, caused by blood clots formed by inactivity and poor circulation. He died in the hospital on May 6, 1991 and was buried outside his home town of Russellville, Alabama
Russellville, Alabama
Russellville is a city in Franklin County in the U.S. state of Alabama. At the 2000 census, the population of the city was 8,971. The city is the county seat of Franklin County.-History:...
.
Memorials
During Mullins' time in the hospital, he and Gaines, who did not know each other before the accident, became close friends. Every year since Mullins' death, Gaines, alone, visits and maintains his friend's gravesite three times a year: May 6 (the anniversary of Mullins' death), October 28 (the anniversary of the injury) and December 25 (ChristmasChristmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
Day). Brad Gaines continues this personal tradition to this day.
Each spring, during the annual Grove Bowl (a game at the end of spring practices pitting Ole Miss players against each other), the senior defensive player who most embodies Chucky Mullins' spirit and courage receives the "Chucky Mullins Memorial Courage Award". With the award, the player received the right to wear jersey number 38, the same number Chucky wore on his jersey. Chucky's number 38 was retired on September 3, 2006 in a pregame ceremony before the Rebels' victory over Memphis
Memphis Tigers
The Memphis Tigers represent the University of Memphis in Division I of the NCAA. They are members of C-USA and currently feature nine women's sports and nine men's sports...
. The winner of the "Chucky Mullins Memorial Courage Award" now wears a patch in honor of this award. Chucky's number is only the second number in Ole Miss football history to be retired. The only other was the legendary Archie Manning
Archie Manning
Elisha Archibald "Archie" Manning III is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League, playing for the New Orleans Saints from 1971 to 1982, then for the Houston Oilers and Minnesota Vikings...
's number 18.
Winners of the Chucky Mullins Courage Award
- 1990 - Chris Mitchell
- 1991 - Jeff Carter
- 1992 - Trea Southerland
- 1993 - Johnny Dixon
- 1994 - Alundice Brice
- 1995 - Michael Lowery
- 1996 - Derek Jones
- 1997 - Nate WayneNate WayneNathaniel Wayne, Jr. is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League. He played college football at the University of Mississippi He graduated with a degree in criminal justice. He was known as "Mr...
- 1998 - Gary Thigpen
- 1999 - Ronnie HeardRonnie HeardRonnie Heard is a former American football safety in the National Football League. He was signed by the San Francisco 49ers as an undrafted free agent in 2000. He played college football at Mississippi....
- 2000 - Anthony Magee
- 2001 - Kevin Thomas
- 2002 - Lanier Goethie
- 2003 - Jamil Northcutt
- 2004 - Eric Oliver
- 2005 - Kelvin Robinson
- 2006 - Patrick WillisPatrick WillisPatrick L. Willis is an American football player who plays inside linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League. He was selected by the San Francisco 49ers 11th overall in the 2007 NFL Draft...
- 2007 - Jeremy Garrett
- 2008 - Jamarca SanfordJamarca SanfordJamarca Deshaun Sanford is an American football player for the Minnesota Vikings. He was drafted by the Vikings in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL Draft as the 231st pick...
- 2009 - Marcus Tillman
- 2010 - Kentrell Lockett
- 2011 - D. T. Shackleford
Mullins' story was memorialized in a documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
, Undefeated: The Chucky Mullins Story.
Related
- Current Auburn UniversityAuburn UniversityAuburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 7, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts...
defensive back Zach Gilbert, who is a cousin of Mullins, wore number 38 in his honor. - Former Rebels and current 49ersSan Francisco 49ersThe San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...
linebacker Patrick WillisPatrick WillisPatrick L. Willis is an American football player who plays inside linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League. He was selected by the San Francisco 49ers 11th overall in the 2007 NFL Draft...
was the first recipient of the Chucky Mullins Award after the number was retired. - A book was written by author Larry Woody about the incident: Dixie Farewell: The Life and Death of Chucky Mullins (1994) Eggman Publishing