Make no mistake about it, Natchez High in 1946 had a bull of a varsity football team. The Rebels were 8-1-1 on the season and one of Mississippi’s very finest teams. And had a well-known team manager in George Montgomery.

Four players from the ’46 team played college football. They were Bernard Callender, Jack Foster, Henry Simonton and Claude Porter. A &8220;mean&8221; bunch if you know what I mean. Seriously, the Rebels that year were indeed hard-nosed.

Coach A.I. Rexinger made certain of that. Naw, &8220;Coach&8221; wasn’t THAT tough, but you had better take care of your position if you had one. If not, he’d find a &8220;meaner&8221; cat who could. Ole coach Rex &045; all of us remember him.

The starting NHS ends were Bill O’Malley and Claude Porter; the tackles were Jack Foster and Calvin

Clark; the guards were James &8220;charley horse&8221; Neely and Billy Herold; the center, Sheldon Kaiser and the backs were Henry Simonton, Ray Boyd, Buzz Ratcliffe and Bernard Callender. Top hands, all.

Other lettermen included Charles Kelly, Fred Schleet, David Eidt, Gene Ballew, George Marshall, Platte Phillips, Raphael Carrazza, Vasel Slover and team manager George Montgomery.

Jack Foster, who was noted for &8220;taking care of his man,&8221; didn’t have to tell me THAT, but he was most helpful in putting together what you’re reading. Boy, what a memory! I appreciate ole Jack and his memory.

I wouldn’t take anything for the 60-some-odd years of writing memories at The Natchez Democrat that are mine alone. Special, that’s for sure.

Manson Nelson was about the quickest player I ever saw off the football snap when he was starring for Ferriday High back in &8220;Red&8221; Robertson’s coaching days over there. I guess he was a guard, but I KNOW he was quick as lightning when that ball was snapped.

This was in the days the Bulldogs seldom lost a game. In fact, I don’t remember exactly at the moment how many games Ferriday High won in a row (I’ll look it up later and remind you) but it was a gang of &8216;em.

Nelson wasn’t the only star Ferriday High had, obviously, but he was so quick and strong and rugged that he stood out like a sore thumb. His hometown of Ferriday still has plenty of oldtimers left that they’re bound to bring up the subject of Manson Nelson and the many other FHS greats of that time.

Brett Favre is headed into his 14th season of football in the NFL, and he has hinted that it could be his last.

&8220;This could be it,&8221; Brett has been quoted as saying. &8220;I don’t know. I’m telling you the same thing I told (Green Bay Packers coach Mike Sherman); I really don’t know.&8221; The rugged Packers quarterback is the only three-time MVP in NFL history! And the kind of quarterback he is is that some of his greatest plays have often come when a planned attack has gone awry.

Brett likes to remind us that he just runs around and sees what happens. But, as one writer wrote, &8220;Actually, he MAKES it happen!&8221; I think the writer hit the nail on the head when he reminded everyone of Favre’s ability to make things happen.

First and foremost, Brett Favre is a Mississippi boy, trained to give it everything he has to win. Just another cracker-jack Mississippi athlete, that’s all.

Glenvall Estes is a longtime columnist for The Natchez Democrat.