[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 30 (Thursday, March 4, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H1153]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   HONORING JAMES ``FRIDAY'' RICHARDS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GINGREY of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor an 
outstanding athletic coach from my hometown of Marietta, Georgia, on 
the occasion of his retirement.
  James ``Friday'' Richards had dedicated more than 30 years of his 
life to Marietta High School, retiring on January 22 of this year as 
the head coach of the Marietta Blue Devil football team. Coach Friday 
is also a teacher at the high school and will retire from full-time 
teaching at the end of this current school year.
  Coach Friday graduated from Marietta High School in 1972 and went on 
to play football at the University of Florida. He then spent two 
seasons in the NFL playing for the New York Jets and the Washington 
Redskins before coming back to where it all started.
  Working at Marietta High School is the only job outside of 
professional football that Coach Friday has ever had. Up until his 
retirement, he was the longest serving football coach in Cobb County, 
Georgia. During his 15-year tenure as head coach, Coach Friday compiled 
a record of 107 victories and 58 defeats. He took the Blue Devils to 
the playoffs 10 times and won four region titles.
  Before he became head coach, Friday was a Marietta assistant, first 
for Coach Ray Broadaway and then for Coach Dexter Wood. Additionally, 
under Coach Friday, more than 100 players from Marietta have earned 
college football scholarships.
  Coach Friday told the Marietta Daily Journal, when announcing his 
retirement, that the thing that he will miss most about coaching are 
the kids. Well, Coach Friday, four of those kids were my kids: Billy, 
now 38 years old; Gannon, 37; Phyllis, 35; and Laura Neill, 33. Where 
in the world did the time go? Coach Friday, I can tell you that those 
four children that you mentored and coached, three of them 
cheerleaders, one of them a wide receiver for the Blue Devils, they 
miss you, too. It is your attitude of putting students and players 
first that made you, Coach Friday, such an outstanding teacher and 
football coach.
  Mr. Speaker, he will indeed be a tough act to follow.

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