Center is also a Poet

By Bill Haas, 1977

WINSTON-SALEM - Most football players have two dimensions- their ability to play the game, which is evident to fans, coaches and teammates; and their off-the-field personality, which the fans rarely see.

Some players have a third dimension, a facet of themselves that their teammates don't even know about.

A case in point is Wake Forest's Larry Tearry. What coaches, fans and teammates know about his ability is that he's a first class center, a possible All-American.

What coaches and teammates, but not many fans, know is that Tearry is a reserved, soft-spoken person. He does his job quietly but efficiently. He's one of the team captains, but he's not a holler-guy type.

Then there's the third dimension of Larry Tearry, the one that Coach Chuck Mills knows but that fans and most his teammates don't- writing poetry.

Maybe death is an eternal womb.
If so (God help me) I hope I get there soon.
I'm leaving now, soon I'll be gone,
Away from the world where I could find no home.
(God I pray to you,) please try to understand.
But you have to get tired of being a poor man.
Please,
Please,
Understand.

Larry Tearry played two years with the Detroit Lions following his career at Wake Forest.

"Poetry is like another life for me, an escape route," Tearry said. "I've dickered with it as long as I can remember. I haven't kept many of my poems, though. I do them on the spur of the moment and then throw them away."

The lines above are from one Tearry did keep, part of a set of four Mills has on file. Mills has found the poems to be very revealing of Tearry's character and he believes the young man has considerable talent in writing. "It's easier to express myself on paper than through spoken word," Tearry said. "Sometimes I draw on my own experiences and sometimes not.

"It doesn't come easy for me, but once I start a poem I can finish it in an hour or so. There are no certain times that I have to write. Whenever an idea hits me, I write it down and when I'm by myself, I'll work on it." Tearry has written only one poem about football, before a game against Penn State in his freshman season. His favorite is a poem he wrote to a younger cousin, who was discouraged with the way her life was going.

"That's my favorite because I put the most meaning into it," he said. "She wrote me a poem to start with and I thought the best way to answer would be with another poem."

Here are a few lines from that poem.

I too am a book on the shelf of life.
I too go through all the trouble and strife.
My back and my cover are thwarted by ages,
But that cannot change the words on my pages.
The mind you possess is much like a book.
It stores all the knowledge and pain you've "betook."
Once the facts have been printed, they cannot be erased.
Each word and picture has been carefully placed.

As far as his football played is concerned, the words and pictures of the 1977 season should be well placed for Larry Tearry. Mills said he will be "as good as any center in the country."

Tearry might have been that good last year, except no one noticed. All the hoopla was for Carolina's Mark Cantrell and Duke's Billy Bryan. Bryan got the best of that publicity duel, gaining all-ACC and All-American honors. Cantrell got his share of ink and Tearry was overlooked. "It didn't bother me that they got all the publicity last year," Tearry said. "I felt I was as good as they were- you've got to feel that way. I'm not thinking about personal honors this year. If we win the ACC, then the honors will come my way."

Tearry does admit that pro scouts have expressed considerable interest in him and he likes his chances of making good in the pros, even though there never has been a regular black center in the NFL.

Tearry wasn't recruited as a center. The Fayetteville native was a tackle in high school and came to Wake Forest weighing 221 pounds. He got an offer from Michigan State, but that was too far from home. He rejected the scholarship offers from small schools and predominately black schools. After playing tackle at Wake as a freshman, Tearry moved to center as a sophomore (Mills doesn't remember exactly why he made the change) and now he weighs 265. His main asset, however, is not strength but agility.

"I think one reason the coaches moved me to center is because I have quick feet," Tearry said. "Quickness and good blocking are the most important things to a center. You're the apex of the line. If you break down, it's like the main cog in a machine going out. The defensive man playing over me is going to get in the first blow most of the time. So I have to make a quick recovery and get in a position where he can't do much."

Tearry has seen Wake's football program make a slow climb to respectability, from 1-10 to 3-8 to 5-6. He thinks a better than .500 season is in store this year. "I knew what to expect when I came here," he said. "The coaches told us we were in a rebuilding stage. That first year, we had people more concerned about individual play than team play. Each year the team feeling has gotten tighter and tighter."

"The 5-6 record last year wouldn't have been disappointing to us at the beginning. But as we got into the season, we felt we should have done better. Still, I think we gained a lot of respect, particularly at Maryland (a 17-15 loss). I think the sky is the limit for this team. We have a legitimate chance to win the ACC."

If that should somehow happen, maybe Larry Tearry will be moved to write a poem about it and include it in the collection of his work that he hopes to put together when he gets the time.

View Tearry's Poem from the 1978 All-Star Game

30 Day Camp Countdown Intro
Day 30: Wake Forest Football, 1889
Day 29: Assistant Coach Beattie Feathers
Day 28: Wake Forest in Japan, 1974
Day 25: Deacon History 101
Day 24: 'M' Non-Lettermen
Day 23: WF Stuns Undefeated Vols

Wake Forest Athletics

Camp Countdown: Larry Tearry's Poetry

Center is also a Poet

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