Football opened up new worlds for West Amory standout
Feb. 10—AMORY — Growing up during segregation, West Amory was pretty much the only world David Hadley knew. He would go to the carnival in Amory when it came to town and had to get food from the back of restaurants when he crossed the railroad tracks.
Meanwhile back in West Amory, Hadley spent his free time perfecting his basketball, baseball and football game while getting family support and working towards his dream of playing professional ball.
That dedication led to the reality of playing two years with the Kansas City Chiefs and one year in the Canadian Football League with the Edmonton Eskimos.
While playing college and professional football opened up new worlds for Hadley, he encourages young people to stay dedicated to their dreams — whatever they may be — and lean on advice from elders.
"All the kids growing up who think they should experience something like that — baseball, hockey, football — that they want to get involved in, the first thing is getting your mind right to motivate yourself to go to these goals. They need to talk to other people who have been there because the older person who has been there can always tell you something you missed if you listen to them," he said.
From Wildcat to Brave to Chief to Eskimo
As a kid, West Amory's fields and courts provided Hadley with foundational skills to master his game. At the same time, Hadley had a strong support system to help him excel. Family members cheered him along in sports and when he hit homeruns, his grandfather would run the bases with him.
"My granddad was always at a ball game, and my mother was too. That's a motivation right there," he said.
Hadley attributed his success in sports to always studying his opponents' moves and striving to outdo athletes before him.
Eventually playing quarterback for the West Amory High School Wildcats, Hadley credits coach John Lee Thomas and a teacher, Mr. Watson, for early success. The school ultimately retired his #10 jersey.
Looked at by Mississippi Valley State University and Alabama A&M, Hadley committed to play college football for Alcorn A&M (now Alcorn State University), serving as defensive back and placekicker for the Braves from 1966-1969.
"He helped give defensive backs a name during his tenure at Alcorn State," said his granddaughter, Sharnae Black.
From interceptions to points on the scoreboard, Hadley's impressive college stats helped the Braves gain momentum in the late '60s, leading up to two consecutive National Black College Championships his junior and senior seasons.
He was selected to All-SWAC and All-American teams from his performances and played on the South squad in the 1969 Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama.
"That was an experience you don't want to miss because you're together with different players from different colleges. I played with Terry Bradshaw there," he said.
Hadley is ranked as Alcorn State University's #5 football player of all time, with Steve McNair at #1. He was inducted in the school's Hall of Fame in 2005.
In 1970, he was selected in the third round of the NFL draft by the Kansas City Chiefs and played for coaches Hank Stram and Tom Pratt during his two years with the team. The 1969 Chiefs' roster was noted to include 13 players from Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
"I had teammates like Buck Buchanan show me around and Jim Marcellus. There's different players in one room, and we'd all discuss things and they'd tell you how to do," he said.
Even though playing in the NFL was a world away from growing up in West Amory, it still came with some similarities during times of segregation.
"In that stage, it was all together different. Some places, you still couldn't go into bars because of segregation. By being a football player, that gave you more ways to do things," he said. "It's altogether different now. Anybody can just go say, 'I want to go out to a bar' or 'Let's go have lunch.' It's like one hand holding the other."
"I've got some friends I still have now, Black and white, I played with in the NFL and we're still communicating," he added.
He said it's still a tremendous feeling to fulfill his dream, especially his crowning moment intercepting a pass while playing against the Denver Broncos.
"Coming up as a kid, this is something I wanted to do — play in the NFL," he said. "It opened up a whole new world for me and my family.
"Everybody was very, very, very pleased because I was the first one that left West Amory, as a matter of fact all of Amory, that went on to the professionals," Hadley added.
Living out community
Following his time playing in the NFL and CFL, Hadley moved back to West Amory, where he and his middle-school sweetheart, Eva, grew their family.
He worked his career at Tecumseh, retiring in 2006, and is a fixture on voting days as a pollworker. At age 76, he still works security a couple of days a week and is a deacon at Latter Rain Outreach Ministry in Guntown.
"Even to this day, he goes out and visits the sick. He was going to the nursing home to see about people and helping his community," Black said. "He feeds the hungry and gives the shirt off his back. That's just what kind of person he is."
The David Hadley Scholarship was introduced last year for graduating Amory High School seniors.
"When Mr. David Johnson and Barry Woods came about it, I could see the smile on his face. It made him feel some type of way because he was being acknowledged in his hometown," Black said.
Even though he has switched attention from playing football to service later in life, Hadley never misses watching a Kansas City Chiefs game, especially Sunday's Super Bowl appearance against the Philadelphia Eagles.
