Billy Joe Mantooth
Encyclopedia
Billy Joe Mantooth was an American football
linebacker
from Clendenin, West Virginia
, known as "The Man-Eater" during his playing days. He started his career at Ferrum College
; after being honored as an NJCAA
All-America
n in 1970, he transferred to West Virginia University
. He also later played in the NFL
.
in Falling Rock, West Virginia
. He wore number 31, and played on both offense and defense. It was his skills as a linebacker
which won him selection to the West Virginia All-State Football team in 1968.
Mantooth hoped to play Division I football after graduating from high school, but the college coaches said that while he was a very promising linebacker, they advised that at less than 200 pounds, Mantooth needed to "bulk up" to compete at the major college level.
-
football for the Ferrum College
Panthers. After earning NJCAA
All-America
n honors in 1970, he was heavily recruited by several different schools.
. En route back to Huntington, West Virginia
from a game against East Carolina, the Marshall team's Southern Airways Flight 932 clipped some trees on approach to Tri-State Airport
and the plane crashed at a nearly vertical altitude into a ravine short of the runway. All seventy-five people on board were killed. The football team was decimated: thirty-seven players and five of the eight coaches lost their lives. The lives of two Marshall coaches were spared due to a recruiting trip trying to bring Mantooth to the Thundering Herd, as assistant coaches Red Dawson and Gale Parker were on their way to see the star linebacker known as "The Man-Eater" at Ferrum College
in Ferrum, Virginia
. The coaches had actually driven to the East Carolina game and were to drive to Ferrum from Greenville, North Carolina
at the game's conclusion. However, en route to see Mantooth, Dawson and Parker heard about the crash on the radio.
to finish his college career at a Division I school; he had gained 40 pounds of muscle since high school. He reportedly choose WVU because he was a West Virginia native and because of the excitement around town about new head coach and offensive innovator Bobby Bowden
. Wearing number 50, Mantooth was a co-captain of the WVU football team in 1972.
when Coach Mike McCormack found Mantooth at the NFL's free agent
camp in April. Mantooth was released by the Eagles that summer before the 1973 NFL season
began. He was drafted by the WFL's
Philadelphia Bell
in 1974 in the 37th round as the 435th pick, but Mantooth instead remained in the NFL by joining the roster of the Houston Oilers, where he remained until 1975.
player Dan Fowler, rendering the 6'4", 240 lb. Fowler unconscious. In 1982, a Fayette
Circuit Court
jury awarded $20,000 ($ in dollars when adjusted for inflation
) to Fowler after he sued Mantooth over the punch, but the award was overturned by Kentucky Court of Appeals
in 1983 and then reinstated by the Kentucky Supreme Court
in 1984.
, Mantooth was killed in a one-car crash on Interstate 79
near Sutton, West Virginia
on July 23, 1986 while employed by Metec Inc. of Lexington, Kentucky
.
, Pam, and daughter, Michelle, who earned her degree in psychology at her father's alma mater and earned a McNair Scholarship
for her pursuit of a Ph.D.
He was also survived by his older brother, John (nicknamed "Butch"), and three sisters, Rhonda, Tammy, and Loretta.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
linebacker
Linebacker
A linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...
from Clendenin, West Virginia
Clendenin, West Virginia
Clendenin is a town in Kanawha County, West Virginia along the Elk River. The population was 1,227 at the 2010 census. Clendenin was incorporated in 1904 and named for the Clendenins, an early pioneer family in the Kanawha River Valley. Charleston, WV retains the namesake of George Clendenin's...
, known as "The Man-Eater" during his playing days. He started his career at Ferrum College
Ferrum College
Ferrum College is a private college in Ferrum, Virginia, USA, in the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains of Southwest Virginia. Ferrum College has the second-oldest environmental science program in the nation and was ranked 41st by US News and World Report in Comprehensive Colleges–Bachelor's for 2006....
; after being honored as an NJCAA
National Junior College Athletic Association
The National Junior College Athletic Association , founded in 1938, is an association of community college and junior college athletic departments throughout the United States. It is held as Divisions and Regions. The current NJCAA holds 24 separate regions.-History:The idea for the NJCAA was...
All-America
All-America
An All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...
n in 1970, he transferred to West Virginia University
West Virginia University
West Virginia University is a public research university in Morgantown, West Virginia, USA. Other campuses include: West Virginia University at Parkersburg in Parkersburg; West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Montgomery; Potomac State College of West Virginia University in Keyser;...
. He also later played in the NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
.
High school
Born to Rhondle and Freda Mantooth, Billy Joe Mantooth played his high school football at Herbert Hoover High SchoolHerbert Hoover High School (West Virginia)
Herbert Hoover High School is a public high school in Falling Rock, West Virginia. The current principal is Mr. Mike Kelley.Herbert Hoover High School claims to be a "magnet school for technology" , but in 2006 Herbert Hoover lost this status...
in Falling Rock, West Virginia
Falling Rock, West Virginia
Falling Rock is an unincorporated community in Kanawha County, West Virginia, United States. Falling Rock is located on the north bank of the Elk River southwest of Clendenin. Falling Rock has a post office with ZIP code 25079....
. He wore number 31, and played on both offense and defense. It was his skills as a linebacker
Linebacker
A linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...
which won him selection to the West Virginia All-State Football team in 1968.
Mantooth hoped to play Division I football after graduating from high school, but the college coaches said that while he was a very promising linebacker, they advised that at less than 200 pounds, Mantooth needed to "bulk up" to compete at the major college level.
-
College
Mantooth started his college career playing junior collegeJunior college
The term junior college refers to different educational institutions in different countries.-India:In India, most states provide schooling through 12th grade...
football for the Ferrum College
Ferrum College
Ferrum College is a private college in Ferrum, Virginia, USA, in the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains of Southwest Virginia. Ferrum College has the second-oldest environmental science program in the nation and was ranked 41st by US News and World Report in Comprehensive Colleges–Bachelor's for 2006....
Panthers. After earning NJCAA
National Junior College Athletic Association
The National Junior College Athletic Association , founded in 1938, is an association of community college and junior college athletic departments throughout the United States. It is held as Divisions and Regions. The current NJCAA holds 24 separate regions.-History:The idea for the NJCAA was...
All-America
All-America
An All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...
n honors in 1970, he was heavily recruited by several different schools.
Recruited by Marshall University/1970 plane crash
Mantooth's name is well known in the story of the 1970 Marshall Thundering Herd football team1970 Marshall Thundering Herd football team
The 1970 Marshall Thundering Herd football team represented the Marshall University in the 1970 NCAA Division I college football season.-Regular season:...
. En route back to Huntington, West Virginia
Huntington, West Virginia
Huntington is a city in Cabell and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia, along the Ohio River. Most of the city is in Cabell County, for which it is the county seat. A small portion of the city, mainly the neighborhood of Westmoreland, is in Wayne County. Its population was 49,138 at...
from a game against East Carolina, the Marshall team's Southern Airways Flight 932 clipped some trees on approach to Tri-State Airport
Tri-State Airport
Tri-State Airport , also known as Milton J. Ferguson Field, is a public-use airport in Wayne County, West Virginia, United States. The airport is located three nautical miles south of the central business district of Huntington, West Virginia, near the cities of Ceredo and Kenova...
and the plane crashed at a nearly vertical altitude into a ravine short of the runway. All seventy-five people on board were killed. The football team was decimated: thirty-seven players and five of the eight coaches lost their lives. The lives of two Marshall coaches were spared due to a recruiting trip trying to bring Mantooth to the Thundering Herd, as assistant coaches Red Dawson and Gale Parker were on their way to see the star linebacker known as "The Man-Eater" at Ferrum College
Ferrum College
Ferrum College is a private college in Ferrum, Virginia, USA, in the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains of Southwest Virginia. Ferrum College has the second-oldest environmental science program in the nation and was ranked 41st by US News and World Report in Comprehensive Colleges–Bachelor's for 2006....
in Ferrum, Virginia
Ferrum, Virginia
Ferrum is a census-designated place in Franklin County, Virginia, United States. The population was 1,313 at the 2000 census. Ferrum is home to Ferrum College and its Blue Ridge Folklife Festival...
. The coaches had actually driven to the East Carolina game and were to drive to Ferrum from Greenville, North Carolina
Greenville, North Carolina
Greenville is the county seat of Pitt County and principal city of the Greenville, North Carolina metropolitan area. Greenville is the health, entertainment, and educational hub of North Carolina's Tidewater and Coastal Plain and in 2008 was listed as the Tenth Largest City in North Carolina...
at the game's conclusion. However, en route to see Mantooth, Dawson and Parker heard about the crash on the radio.
West Virginia University
In 1971, Mantooth signed with West Virginia UniversityWest Virginia University
West Virginia University is a public research university in Morgantown, West Virginia, USA. Other campuses include: West Virginia University at Parkersburg in Parkersburg; West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Montgomery; Potomac State College of West Virginia University in Keyser;...
to finish his college career at a Division I school; he had gained 40 pounds of muscle since high school. He reportedly choose WVU because he was a West Virginia native and because of the excitement around town about new head coach and offensive innovator Bobby Bowden
Bobby Bowden
Robert Cleckler "Bobby" Bowden is a retired college football coach. He coached the Florida State Seminoles football team from the 1976 to 2009 seasons...
. Wearing number 50, Mantooth was a co-captain of the WVU football team in 1972.
1972 West Virginia vs. Penn State Game
West Virginia fans clearly remember a key play from the 1972 Penn State game involving Mantooth: Penn State's Bob Nagle fumbled before the goal line, and two West Virginia players—Mantooth and Dennis Harris—successfully pounced on the ball at the three-yard line, yet Penn State was incorrectly awarded a touchdown.NFL career
In 1973, Mantooth joined the NFL as a linebacker for the Philadelphia EaglesPhiladelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
when Coach Mike McCormack found Mantooth at the NFL's free agent
Free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has expired and who is thus eligible to sign with another club or franchise....
camp in April. Mantooth was released by the Eagles that summer before the 1973 NFL season
1973 NFL season
The 1973 NFL season was the 54th regular season of the National Football League. The season featured O.J. Simpson becoming the first man to rush for 2,000 yards in one season...
began. He was drafted by the WFL's
World Football League
The World Football League was a short-lived gridiron football league that played in 1974 and part of 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest the WFL reached was placing a team – the Hawaiians – in Honolulu, Hawaii. The...
Philadelphia Bell
Philadelphia Bell
The Philadelphia Bell was a franchise in the World Football League, which operated in 1974 and a portion of a season in 1975. The Bell played their home games at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. The team logo was a representation of the Liberty Bell....
in 1974 in the 37th round as the 435th pick, but Mantooth instead remained in the NFL by joining the roster of the Houston Oilers, where he remained until 1975.
The Big Blow
In April 1981, Mantooth, who was 6'3", 230 lb. at the time, was involved in The Big Blow, an altercation where he punched former University of Kentucky footballKentucky Wildcats football
The Kentucky Wildcats football team is a college football program that competes in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and the East Division of the Southeastern Conference.-History:Paul "Bear" Bryant Era...
player Dan Fowler, rendering the 6'4", 240 lb. Fowler unconscious. In 1982, a Fayette
Fayette County, Kentucky
Fayette County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The population was 295,083 in the 2010 Census. Its territory, population and government are coextensive with the city of Lexington, which also serves as county seat....
Circuit Court
Kentucky Circuit Courts
The Kentucky Circuit Courts are the state courts of general jurisdiction in the U.S. state of Kentucky.The Circuit Courts are trial courts with original jurisdiction in cases involving capital offenses, felonies, land disputes, contested probates of wills, and civil lawsuits in disputes with an...
jury awarded $20,000 ($ in dollars when adjusted for inflation
Inflation
In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a...
) to Fowler after he sued Mantooth over the punch, but the award was overturned by Kentucky Court of Appeals
Kentucky Court of Appeals
The Kentucky Court of Appeals is the lower of Kentucky's two appellate courts, under the Kentucky Supreme Court. Prior to a 1975 amendment to the Kentucky Constitution the Kentucky Court of Appeals was the only appellate court in Kentucky....
in 1983 and then reinstated by the Kentucky Supreme Court
Kentucky Supreme Court
The Kentucky Supreme Court was created by a 1975 constitutional amendment and is the state supreme court of the commonwealth of Kentucky. Prior to that the Kentucky Court of Appeals was the only appellate court in Kentucky...
in 1984.
Death
A resident of Bridgeport, West VirginiaBridgeport, West Virginia
Bridgeport is a city in Harrison County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 7,306 at the 2000 census.The town of Bridgeport had its beginning in pre-Revolutionary War times. In 1764, John Simpson entered the area and gave his name to Simpson Creek. Bridgeport was chartered in 1816....
, Mantooth was killed in a one-car crash on Interstate 79
Interstate 79
Interstate 79 is an Interstate Highway in the eastern United States, designated from Interstate 77 in Charleston, West Virginia to Pennsylvania Route 5 and Pennsylvania Route 290 in Erie, Pennsylvania...
near Sutton, West Virginia
Sutton, West Virginia
Sutton is a town in Braxton County, West Virginia, in the United States. The population was 1,011 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Braxton County. Sutton is situated at a center of transportation in West Virginia. Interstate 79, a major north-south route, connects with Appalachian...
on July 23, 1986 while employed by Metec Inc. of Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
.
Family
Mantooth was survived by his widowWidow
A widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man whose spouse has died. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or occasionally viduity. The adjective form is widowed...
, Pam, and daughter, Michelle, who earned her degree in psychology at her father's alma mater and earned a McNair Scholarship
Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program
The Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program, also referred to as the McNair Scholars Program, is a United States Department of Education initiative with a goal of increasing "attainment of PhD degrees by students from underrepresented segments of society,” including first-generation...
for her pursuit of a Ph.D.
Doctor of Psychology
The Doctor of Psychology degree is a professional doctorate earned through one of two established training models for clinical psychology...
He was also survived by his older brother, John (nicknamed "Butch"), and three sisters, Rhonda, Tammy, and Loretta.