Senior Spotlight

SENIOR SPOTLIGHT Then and Now with TN Football Hall-of-Famer Bobby Majors

STORY BY SHERI KAMP On July 7, 1949 the youngest of Tennessee’s “First Family of Football” made his debut into the world. Born to parents Elizabeth and Shirley Majors in Lynchburg, Tennessee, Robert Owens Majors, or “Bobby” Majors, would one day make Tennessee Volunteer history as their best defensive back of all time.

As a young boy, Bobby spent all of his spare time outside - in the yard or on a field - playing one sport or another. His father Shirley was a high school football coach for several years before going on to serve as Head Coach at the University of South (Sewanee) for 20 years. His four older brothers, Johnny, Bill, Larry and Joe all played football from the time “they could walk” through college. His sister, Shirley Ann, played basketball through high school, before college basketball was available to women.“The reason I don’t know how to swim and the reason I don’t like water is because I was always on dry land playing football, basketball, baseball, and golf,” Majors says. “I have pictures of me at 2 or 3 years old, throwing and kicking a football. That was just it. That was how we were raised.” Bobby gives his family the credit for his early and outstanding development of skills, ““Basically, if I made a mistake I faced quick correction, given I always had five or six people watching me,” says Majors. “And off the field as well, my family trained me in how to get through life, manage people and they encouraged me in my goals and achievements.”

13

By his youth, it became apparent that Bobby’s athletic talent showed itself most in his versatility on the field and the ability to master multiple positions. His talents earned him early recognition as “the most athletic of all the boys.”He went on to play for the Tennessee Volunteers where, in 1972, he set the single-season record for interceptions with ten and led the NCAA with 36 interceptions. He set and still holds the school records for career punt returns with 117 and career punt return yardage with 1,163. He was named to the University of Tennessee 100-year team as the “Defensive Back of All Time”.

As described in the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, “A model of versatility as a football player, Bobby Majors played free safety, was one of the best punt and kickoff returners in the nation, and also handled punting chores. A consensus All-American in 1971, Bobby Majors is possibly the only player to ever win Defensive Player of the Year in the SEC and be awarded Offensive Player of the Game by ABC-TV during the Penn State game. In that game, he returned two kickoffs 113 yards and two punts eighty-two yards, including one for a touchdown.” All of this occurred before oldest brother Johnny would begin what would become a legendary coaching career with the Tennessee Vols in 1977.

1971

2020

Bobby Majors pictured at home in Ooltewah, Tennessee. With wife, Michelle; son, Bradley; daughter, Tiffany; (daughter Ambrianna not pictured).

Following his college career, Bobby Majors played for the NFL Cleveland Browns. In 1974 he joined the World Football League before retiring in 1975. From there he went on to pursue a professional career in industrial and printing supply sales and later motor sales, which took him to Georgia, Chattanooga, and other parts of Tennessee. He spent several years in the professional sector, but soon Majors again began to feel the call of playing sports and at age 50, returned to Chattanooga and decided to revisit his dream of playing professional golf.

After only one year of traveling and competing in regular tournaments, he qualified to play in the Senior US Open in 2001. “That was a great experience,” he shares. “I had the opportunity to meet and play with a bunch of old-timers,” he laughs, “ many of whom I had long admired.” Having achieved that goal as a senior athlete, he returned to business via a chemical manufacturing venture and later opened Chattanooga’s Oreck Store, near Hamilton Place Mall.

Today, when not running the store, he enjoys spending his free time with wife of 27 years, Michelle, and their three children - two daughters Tiffany (23) and Ambrianna (17), each adopted from China when less than one year old. Bobby and Michelle’s heart for children in need of families later took them to the foster system in Tennessee, through which they brought home their son, Bradley (13) at age three months. “He’s a good young man and a great little athlete,” beams Majors, who invests a good deal of time coaching and training Bradley in flag football. When asked about his desire to play football, with all seriousness, Bradley explains that he remembers deciding at a young age, while watching football with his dad, that he too wanted to be a part of the family tradition. “It’s just something I knew I wanted to do; something I wanted to be a part of,” he says. When asked about his goals, Bradley says, “I just want to keep improving and maybe one day be better than him,” to which his father quickly quipped with a snicker, “that ain’t gonna happen!” Majors also maintains close relations with his three sons from his first marriage, Rob (50), Brent (42), and Seth (40).

When asked about the quality of his life now….what he values and treasures most, Majors responds with a chuckle, “Well the Majors men in the family aren’t known for their long life-spans. I’m 70 years old and about ten years ago l realized I needed to take a hard look at my coverage. I started taking my social security at an early age and began researching Medicare and other healthcare options.” It was around that time that Misty walked into his Oreck store to buy a vacuum. They started talking and before long she “did a great job” placing him with the coverages and a plan that would address his needs. “She asked me all about my medications and went on to research my health history and was extremely thorough. Really, what she did for me at that time has been a Godsend,” he continues. “Because of her I moved from one plan to another and it’s been great ever since.”

In loving memory of Johnny Majors who passed peacefully on June 3, 2020 at the age of 85, looking out over his beloved view of the Tennessee River. Among the many roles Majors played in his lifetime, he was the eldest brother to Bobby, coach of Pittsburgh’s 1976 championship and a legendary player turned coach at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He was inducted into the College Sports Hall of Fame in 1987. “Johnny was a great man and a great brother,” Bobby shared. “He is deeply missed!”