[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 5193]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          HONORING W.C. GORDEN

                                  _____
                                 

                        HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 16, 2015

  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a 
remarkably talented individual, W.C. Gorden, has brought tremendous 
honor to one of Mississippi's premier education institutions, Jackson 
State University (JSU). Coach Gorden's legacy at Jackson State remains 
unmatched, and he has truly cemented his place in college football 
history.
  A native of Nashville, Tennessee and a graduate of Tennessee State 
University, Gorden came to Jackson State first as its head baseball 
coach in 1971, he then became interim head football coach in 1976 and 
then head football coach in 1977. From then on, he led the Tigers to 
eight conference championship titles in the Southwestern Athletic 
Conference (SWAC) in the fifteen years he coached. In 1982, Gorden had 
21 players drafted to the NFL, ranking JSU among the top 5 colleges in 
the nation for NFL draft picks. Also, during his tenure, JSU was the 
only school in the SWAC to defeat Coach Eddie Robinson's formidable 
Grambling University's teams. Under Coach Gorden, JSU won 28 straight 
SWAC football games, and his teams led the nation in attendance among 
1-AA schools 11 of the 15 years he coached. By the end of his career, 
Gorden's teams won more than 70% of their games. But one of the most 
amazing victories for Gorden was having the highest SWAC graduation 
rate among football players in the entire state of Mississippi from 
1980 to 1981.
  Coach Gorden's feats have been honored and recognized by many; he was 
inducted into the SWAC Hall of Fame in 1994; the Mississippi Sports 
Hall of Fame in 1997; the College Hall of Fame in 2008; and the Black 
College Hall of Fame in 2015. Coach Gorden's legacy falls in line with 
Mississippi's tradition of athletic exceptionalism.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing W.C. 
Gorden for his exceptional strides in college football and his passion 
for producing excellence in the state of Mississippi.

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