By Mark H. Stowers

MDCC Hall of Fame Inductee Darryl Gooden 

As a member of the Mississippi Delta Community College football team, Shelby native, Darryl Gooden was an outside linebacker for the 1989 and 1990 teams. Gooden, a Broad Street High School Alum, originally signed with Jackson State University as well as MDCC. He decided his best option was to succeed at Moorhead.

"I signed with Jackson State and Moorhead on the same day," he said with a laugh, "When I went down there in the summer, the band was out there performing and the majorettes were practicing – I felt like a kid in a candy store but I had to be real with myself. I looked up in the sky and said, 'Man, I'm going to flunk out and I'm not going to go to any classes.'"

He made up his mind to come home and make the best of his JUCO offer.

"I just told myself, 'I'm going to go to Moorhead. My brother, Roosevelt Gooden, went to Moorhead in 1970 and played basketball and my mom was born in a cotton field in Inverness and my Auntie lived just a couple blocks from Moorhead and had been there since 1930 or 1940 something. That's why I didn't sign with Coahoma. But I knew if I went to Moorhead and learned what I needed to learn, doors would open up."

And head coach, the late James "Wookie" Gray served as an inspirational and motivational leader. Coach Gray had been through heart surgery but stayed strong on the sidelines and at practice.

"He really inspired the whole lot of us just the way he was as a person going through his heart troubles and he didn't give up. He could have easily given up and let the assistant coaches take it all over. But no, Coach was out there with us in his overalls and no shirt on with all those scars from that surgery on this chest."

Sitting on the bench buried in the depth chart, Gooden found his way to the starting team after his first game when he came on to help shut down a Pearl River quarterback.

"We had guys coming in that were at Ole Miss, Alabama, Florida and I was fourth string. I was wondering if I had made the right decision. But it was very interesting, because Moorhead didn't have a winning team there were only 10 or 11 sophomores and the rest of the team were freshmen," Gooden said. "When we got down to play our first game at Pearl River. They had the number one quarterback in the state and he ran a 4.3 forty-yard dash and he was running all over us. Touchdown after touchdown. Coach was throwing in all the different linebackers out there to play."

Coach (Jim) Southward told Coach (Jay) Miller to put Darryl in.

"Coach Miller came to me and said, 'Darryl, this boy is fast. All I want you to do is contain him and keep him inside because he's killing us on the outside. On the first play, they ran a play away from me. I ran over there and made a tackle from the opposite side of the field. The second play, that boy broke out on a 30-yard stretch. I missed him the first time and then chased him down and knocked him out of the game. The rest was history. We came back and won the game. Then Coach Miller looked at me and said, 'Where did you get that speed?'"

Gooden started rotating with first-string players in practice the next week and come game time, he was the starting outside linebacker for the Trojans for the rest of his career.

"It was great teamwork," he said. "I told Sam Rose our cornerback to get ready. I told him, I'm going to put pressure on the quarterback. I'm going to go get him and you just get your hands ready. Sam had seven or eight interceptions and made All American his freshman year."

His efforts on the field earned him All State Linebacker and played in the North/South All Star game. Gooden also was part of the Trojan basketball team and the track team where he placed second in the State Track and Field Shotput event. In looking back on his time at Moorhead, he credits several people with influencing him on a positive note.

"The number one person in my life at Moorhead is Mrs. Southward (coach's wife.) She wasn't my direct teacher but she was my tutor. She taught me how to read and write the right way. She really took time. She opened up that little old 350 square foot apartment to 3,000 pounds of big ol' guys to tutor us. We all took time at her table. She really took her time with us to teach us how to properly read and write. When Coach Gray said to us, some of you aren't going to be with us next year due to grades. I looked at myself because I had like a 1.8 GPA after the first semester. I worked my tail off and built up my GPA. Mrs. Southward, she was there the whole time educating us."

His other influence, was his sociology teacher, Mrs. Jones who "taught us who were as a person. She asked, 'What is your true purpose in life?' She really made us look deep into ourselves and be real with ourselves."

Gooden's football skills garnered him plenty of attention from higher-level colleges and universities but a visit to NAIA Carson-Newman College in East Tennessee changed his path. He became a Kodak All American and is a member of the Carson-Newman Ring of Honor (1998.) His football career included teams in the Canadian Football League and the Arena Football League. The head coach had more than just a scholarship for Gooden.

"Ken Sparks, that coach, looked me right in the eye and said, 'My name is Ken Sparks and I'm glad to have you here. The only thing that I can offer you here is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and a free education.' I said, 'Excuse me?' 'A relationship with Jesus Christ and a free education.' Not one time did Coach Sparks talk about football. He talked about our character and being a man and having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And it hit me, that I'd never had anyone tell me besides my mommy to tell me in my face like that. I thought, 'This is the place for me to be.'"

After putting his name all over the Carson-Newman record books, Gooden was set for the NFL draft but the draft was shortened that year. Looking at free agent deals, his agent persuaded him to look into the Canadian Football League and Gooden headed north of the border. He would spend time in both the CFL and the Arena Football League until he decided to call it a career.

He now teaches in Arizona where he also established the Keeping Teachers Teaching non-profit. He also sits on several boards for Arizona-based organizations working with youth. When he got the call that he was being inducted into the MDCC Sports Hall of Fame, Gooden was humbled and honored.

"When I got the call from Jason (Connor – Athletic Director) at Moorhead, I said, 'Thank you! That's great," he said. "Man, that is awesome. Moorhead really shaped me for who I am and Carson-Newman molded me. If I had the chance to do it all over again, I'd do it all the same way."