Walt "Flea" Roberts – Just So You Know

How to Throw Rocks at the NFL…Join Flea Flickr Movement”…It’s FREE!

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Hello Everyone…And Thank you for reading my blog…

My name is Walt “Flea” Roberts and I had a six year career in the NFL (1964-1970). Three years with the Cleveland Browns, One year with the New Orleans Saints, and two years with the Washington Redskins…They call me the “Flea” because of my size 5’9″ 164lbs…One of the smallest players in NFL history.

A member of the 1964 NFL champion Cleveland Browns and a teammate of Jim Brown…NFL’s greatest player…and a member of the 1969-70 Washington Redskins coached by Vince Lombardi…The NFL’s greatest coach.

A claimant in the 2008 lawsuit of Parrish,Adderley,Roberts vs. NFLPA (National Football League Players Association) that resulted in a settlement of award of $26.2 Million for the Retired players.

My Passion is to create a platform and an awareness of the Plight of the Retired NFL players… The FOCUS is on the Pre-93 Retired players…They have suffered the most.They have the worst Retirement (Pension) benefits in all of Professional sports.

Concussions are the Big Issue…But it’s more than that…Many players suffer from Tremors, Operations that didn’t go well, some are Homeless sleeping under Freeway Overpasses…And some have committed Suicide…

These are the players who laid the foundation for the NFL, that now grosses over $10 Billion a year! Players like Billy Howton, Y.A. Title, Bobby Walston, Bob Pellegrini and others who founded the NFLPA in 1957 and now doesn’t even have a vote in the CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement)…The Retired players have been Literally thrown under the bus.

My Passion is to do for the Retired players, what Hollywood film Director Steven Spielberg did…He launched a most ambitious project to Record and Digitize the accounts of over 50,000 Jewish Holocaust survivors from World war II…

…He created the SHOAH Foundation in conjunction with USC (University of Southern California) so that future generations may learn the history and stories. The name SHOAH is a Hebrew name which means Destruction (Cataclysm).

I’ve created the “Flea Flickr Movement” for the Retired players. We have a small staff and the “One Thing” we would like for you to do is Join Us…It’s Free…All you have to do is put in your name and email address…

…We believe that Public Opinion will carry the day…Our Goal is to acquire 100,000 subscribers!

Word of Mouth is still King…dispite all of the High Tech advancements, smart phones, I-pods, the Web etc. Yes, we are living in a new age…But the “One Thing” that hasn’t changed, is still the word of mouth…Recommendations from friends, relatives and trusted associates…
…The number one way to spread the word is through word of mouth…

…And it’s not likely to be supplanted by another method any time soon…

…So, if you believe the NFL has not treated the Retired players fairly…Please Join US. We are all in this together… JOIN “The Flea Flickr Movement”… It’s FREE..

“The Elmira Express”…Ernie Davis, First African American Heisman Trophy Winner…

In the summer of 1964…Cleveland, Ohio.
Another story perhaps you have not heard…John Brown Cleveland Browns offensive left tackle and close friend of Ernie Davis, the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy in 1963.

I was a rookie with the Browns and John Brown had invited his future wife to attend an event. His girl friend brought along a friend and she didn’t have an escort…so he asked me to be her escort. She was a very attractive lady.

I didn’t realize this would be such an emotional event. I was single at this time and was totally focused on making the Browns team. We sat at a table with Ernie Davis’s mother. I was so focused on my own situation, it hadn’t dawned on me that Ernie had died the previous year of leukemia…

…Art Modell the Browns owner who sponsored this event to raise funds for the Ernie Davis Foundation. This was such a tragic situation.

Ernie was out of Syracuse University…drafted by the Washington Redskins as their No.1 draft choice and then traded to the Browns for one of the NFL great players in Bobby Mitchell…Bobby became the first black player to play for the Redskins. He was an all-pro running back alongside Jim Brown and became an all-pro wide receiver with the Redskins.

After the benefit, we had a few drinks at John Brown’s flat. The young lady and I were upstairs looking around. We noticed a room that was a bit untidy…There was a football jersey draped over a chair, some dirty socks on the floor and a guitar in the corner of the room…

…We looked at each other with some curiosity. About this time, John walked in and asked us not to disturb anything. He was very emotional about this, So I asked him what was so special about this room that was unkempt and the things strewn all over the place…

…John with watery eyes said this was Ernie’s room when he lived with me. He said the room was just as he left it. It was like a shrine. I don’t know if he still owns that flat…And I didn’t know that he and Ernie were like brothers!…The movie “Elmira Express” featured the two of them at Syracuse.

John said, one afternoon Ernie told him that he was going down to Municipal stadium to visit the Browns offices. He walked into Art Modell’s office and said “I want to thank you for everything”. Modell responded ” Ernie you didn’t have to come down here to tell me that”…

…Ernie said “I just came to say goodbye” He died later that evening…
He and Jim Brown were going to form the “Wow Boys” from Syracuse…

P.S. If you haven’t joined my blog…Now is the time…Enter your name and email address and leave me a comment…A Yes or No or a Thumbs up or thumbs down is OK…Just leave me a comment…

“Undrafted”

Hey everyone, Walt Roberts here:.. Recently I was recalling my own experience regarding the NFL draft… I was a senior at San Jose St. Univ. in 1963 and the St. Louis Cardinals asked me to be by the phone at 10:00am (no cell phones in 1963)…

They were going to draft me and wanted to be sure I would sign with them. The coach Wally Lem…and guess what…The call never came. I missed my Kinesiology class.

My last year at San Jose St., I wasn’t drafted and I was terribly disappointed . I had made third team All-West Coast behind Heisman Trophy winner Mike Garret from USC and second team finisher Mel Renfro from University of Oregon…

I was in my apartment washing dishes with the front door open and a huge man 6′ 9” knocked on the door. He asked if I was Walt Roberts. I said yes and invited him in. He said his name was Sarge Mackenzie a scout for the Cleveland Browns and a Political Science professor at USF (University of San Francisco)…

…He said he had watched me play for the past three years and he was sure I could play for the Browns. I suspected the main reason I was not drafted was because of my size, 5′ 9″ and 166 lbs. No player my size was playing in the NFL or the AFL (American Football League)…

So that phone call never came. Wally Lem head coach of the St. Louis Cardinals later said they thought I was much larger than I was…They said he plays like a guy 6’2 and 200 lbs…But they were not going to gamble on a guy my size…

… I had received an offer from the Canadian team the Edmonton Eskimos…they said I reminded them of a great former player named Skippy Dyer and they really wanted me to play for them.

I had also received a contract offer from Al Davis the Oakland Raiders owner and head coach. The contract was the Free Agent minimum…I felt I could have done better selling coke bottles, so I passed on them. They were still struggling to attain credibility in the upstart AFL…The two leagues had not yet merged. I wanted to play in the NFL…

So I made the Cleveland Browns as a rookie free agent and on opening day in 1964 vs. the St. Louis Cardinals, I returned an opening kickoff 60 yards. I got knocked out of bounds at the 10 yard line. I didn’t score but it sure felt good.

I went on to lead the league in kickoffs until the last game of the season. I think Gary Ballman great player for the Steelers edged me out. I averaged 27.5 yards that season…

The Browns went on to win the NFL championship beating the Baltimore Colts led by Johnny Unitas, Lenny Moore and a host of great players. They were the highest scoring team in NFL history. We shut them out 27-0! It was one of the great upsets in NFL history…

The Browns were led by the greatest football player ever Jim Brown in my opinion… Gary Collins was the MVP, catching three touchdowns…for me Gary is one of the NFL’s best receivers ever…

…Well NFL champions my rookie year…Not Bad!

P.S. I’m finishing my book “Flea-Flickr…How to throw Rocks at the NFL”…It’s more than just another sports book…It’s a Project…a movement..Find out how you can benefit… coming soon!…

P.S…Hey everyone my shopping cart is now open for my new book “Flea-Flickr”
You can click on this link to get all of the details…

https://waltroberts.lpages.co/flea-flickr

Peace, Love and Happiness …Yes Happiness….

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Marion Motley / Cleveland Browns Forever

At one point in training camp, and a few of us rookies were standing BY A Juxebox playing records in a canteen. For those of you are too young to know what a Juxebox is…It’s a machine that you put dimes or quarters in and select a vinyl record to play.

Standing alongside me was my roommate Sidney Williams, who later in life would become the U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas under the Clinton administration. He is also currently married to Congresswoman Maxine Waters and future Hall of Famers Paul Warfield and Leroy Kelly.

I was feeling a bit homesick and was playing the song “California Girls” by the Beach Boys. Home for me was Los Angeles, sunny southern California…

…A huge man across the room began walking towards. He had a stingy brim on with a stubby cigar in his mouth. I knew right away who he was and I mouthed “That’s Marion Motley”…

…He smiled and my guess is that he was happy that I knew who he was. I knew all about him. I knew all about the Cleveland Browns history.

We became friends. Marion was a Hall of Famer, a great pass protection blocker and at one time averaged 5.7 yards per carry. He was a great player on offense and defense. He played for the University of Nevada Reno and was drafted by the Browns a full year before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major league baseball…

He was part of those great Paul Brown’s teams that included Otto Graham, Len Ford, Bill Willis, Dante Lavelli, Bob Gain, Dub Jones…The 1948 team went 15-0, no losses, no ties and capped it off with a 49-7 rout of the Buffalo Bills in the AFC championship game!

At one point Marion pulled me aside and said “You guys are really making all of this money”. He went on to say one particular season during his playing days the players from all of the teams elected a player to meet with the owners. They wanted to explore the possibility of the owners helping the players obtain better off season jobs…

…The Browns players elected him to go see part owner and head coach Paul Brown. So he went down to that grand old Municipal Stadium that sat down on the shores of Lake Erie, with the horseshoe facing the lake.

Marion recalled Paul Brown sitting at his desk going over some papers. He said “Coach”, the players asked me to see if the Browns would be willing to assist the layers obtain better off season jobs? Most players worked in the off season…

…Marion said Paul Brown never looked up and responded “Have you guys checked the steel mills lately”? Marion went on to say the most money he ever made during his career was $12,500!

Years later I was reflecting back and recalled that one year I worked for the American Greeting Corp. in Cleveland as a Dealer Correspondent.One day I was scheduled to go downtown to that very same office and talk contract with owner Art Modell…

…We had barely gotten into conversation and he asked me what kind of contract was I considering? I told him I thought a salary increase of $25,000 was in the range…

…Art was not a tall guy, maybe 5’8″. He got up from his desk and ran around the room. I thought I had shot someone. He was furious! He said ” You can’t ask for that kind of money!

There was no “Free Agency” in sports at this time. I had lead the league in kickoffs until the very last game of the season and had an average of 27.2 yards and a 13.2 yards in punt returns and was a capable backup to one of the great players in NFL history in Paul Warfield…Needless to say I didn’t get that salary increase…We will just leave it at that…You try negotiating with a “Billionaire”…

Thank you for checking out my blog…So with the words of Jimi Hendrix from “Woodstock”…I wish you Love, Peace and Happiness…Yes Happiness!

P.S. I’ve got this book coming out soon titled: “Flea Flickr…How to Throw Rocks at the NFL!…It’s coming soon. Put your name and email and sign up for my blog…It’s Free…

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Saint Patrick’s Cathedral

During the off season, a few players lived in the Los Angeles area. I got a call from fellow teammate Ricky Harris, who had come to LA for a visit. He said that coach Lombardi was ill and he was not sure what was wrong.

Henry “Bull” Dyer, a bruising fullback and a good buddy of mine, said he had heard that it was cancer. I was really worried the remainder of the off season. Was he really ill, and how serious was it? We could not get any official information.

Even after we arrived back in training camp, in Carlisle, Pennsylvania getting ready for the new season , everything was hush, hush. This was the upcoming 1970 season of the Washington Redskins!

Bill Austin, was Interim head coach. Coach Lombardi, by this time was still in Georgetown University Hospital. When we broke camp and settled in the Washington D.C. area, to get ready for the exhibition season, Coach Lombardi remained in the hospital.

Bob Long, Henry Dyer, Charlie Harraway,and myself and a few others were on duty at the Washington D.C. National Guard Armory. We had to do training once a month. RFK Stadium (Robert F. Kennedy) was across the street and sometimes we would toss the football around at lunch time.

Every now and then, our Sargent Van Hook would bring his white lightning (corn liquor) home made style, would offer us a sip. When he was feeling pretty good, he would let us go over near the Pentagon for lunch.

On this particular weekend, a General came by our station, and asked if we would like to visit our coach in the hospital. Bob Long, who played for Lombardi in Green Bay was very distraught. We were all very subdued. We knew this wasn’t good.

We hopped in one of the guys car and proceeded to the hospital. This was our first opportunity to visit and find out any real information regarding his condition.

We entered the lobby of the hospital and the attendant, told us that “Coach” was on the second floor. Before we could enter the elevator, Marie Lombardi, his wife met us. She stood tall and straight and said “you can’t go see him, he wouldn’t want you to see him like this, he would want you to remember him as he was.”

She kissed each of us on the lips (not on the cheek) and said “AND THIS WAS GOING TO BE SUCH A GREAT SEASON.”

A few days later, Vincent Thomas Lombardi passed and our team prepared to go to New York for the funeral. On the way to New York, I started thinking about all of those great Packer victories, I had witnessed as a young kid. I could see the faces of all those great players, Bart Starr, Fuzzy Thurston, Willie Davis, Willie Wood, Paul Hornung, Herb Adderley, Jim Taylor, and my old high school teammate at Compton High, Marvin Fleming .

Bob Long, and Steve Wright, both former players with Green Bay were on the flight with me. I felt sad for them. Coach Lombardi, was their coach. They had shared all of those great moments. It was really their family. We had just been adopted and getting to know each other. But, we were cut off at the pass!

As the plane circled New York, I could see Shea stadium and I thought to myself, there’s the home of Joe Willie Namath (Broadway Joe).

We took a chartered bus from Kennedy airport to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. We were filing in one by one, and I heard someone yelling Flea,Flea, Flea!

There were thousands lined up for blocks around Saint Patrick’s and they were roped off. I thought, who could be calling me in that tone? It was as if it was someone who knew me personally. I didn’t know anyone in New York. I was about to enter the church, the voice continued and became louder. Finally, an official grabbed me by the arm and asked me to step aside for a moment and whispered someone had to talk to me.

I waited and finally, I could see my old buddy Eli Strand hanging over the ropes amidst thousands of people. A lot of our players recognized who he was. Eli, had been in our training camp and released. He had also been next to the last cut in Green Bay, years earlier by Coach Lombardi. Eli, had driven over a thousand miles, from wherever he had come from to be there!

Eli, could not get inside, but he wanted me to tell “Coach”, that he made it and to say a prayer for him. I’m basically a fairly calm person, but this got to me! I continued and entered the church and we made our way as a team to our seats. I could see some of the former Green Bay players standing straight and tall.

Marie Lombardi, was still firm and strong. She showed no emotion through out the entire service. Even, when the Pallbearers, Paul Hornung, Bart Starr, and other former Packer teammates took the casket away, I thought this is it. She has to break down, but she didn’t! I heard she did break down later, at the burial site in Red Bank, New Jersey overlooking the Hudson River!

What a perfect place for the “Coach”. He was a New Yorker and this was home, along the Hudson River, with the Black Knights of West Point, where he was an assistant coach to head coach Red Blake.

When our team bus headed back to the airport, we were entering the Lincoln tunnel and a young kid maybe 7-8 years old was standing on the overpass, with a Green Bay Jersey and helmet on, saluting us as we entered the tunnel!

Not a day goes by, that at some point during the day that I don’t think about Vince Lombardi!

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