I just got the call. He was a good guy. He was recruited by every school in the SEC plus Arkansas and others at the time (1958) ... a lot of coaching was in flux that year, with either new coaches or coaches that only ran the option or wing T, etc., and he was a passing QB.

He ended up signing with NC State and staying close to home. Had a good career in college and later in the NFL.

Wish they would put him in the Hall of Fame. His close friend, Billy Ray Barnes, has been pushing for it for years. Billy is a HoFer that played for Philly back in the bad old days.

Roman always had fun coming to games with us and enjoyed the Cockaboose and SEC football which he always admitted was second to none. He was always amazed at the crowds and would exclaim that the crowds were bigger and rowdier than the NFL crowds he played in front of.

Anyways ... for fellow old timers, thought you might remember Roman. I'm gonna miss him.

Funny story I'll share with you.

One night Roman, Billy and I and a couple of other of our friends, some of my younger contracting friends, former Ranger Regiment buddies and a particularly famous Airborne Colonel .... we are partying our asses off in North Myrtle Beach at this titty bar. It was a wild bunch. Roman was probably 72 or 73 at the time .... and I mean we are throwing back the shots and buying lap dances and just raising hell. And all of the sudden Roman's eyes roll back in his head and he falls backwards in his chair while this favorite titty dancer of his is dancing in his lap bouncing titties in his face and he's right in the middle of motor boating .... you had to be there to understand.

Well, naturally we thought "oh shite Roman just croaked ... heart attack" right? So this titty dancer is laying on top of him and we're all scrambling, especially me, to give him CPR. So I'm pumping on his chest and this titty dancer is giving him breaths and the whole place is gathered around ... and finally the ambulance gets there and they're doing all this stuff and, all of the sudden, Roman wakes up and sits up. We're wtf!

Well, what had happend was his blood pressure had dropped suddenly while this dancer was in his lap because, come to find out, Roman had popped three Viagras before we left his house ... plus he was on blood pressure meds. But he was prepared, with whiskey dick at 73, 5o knock out a piece of arse that night.

That was Roman .... especially when he was with Billy Ray and us.

He was a big guy, my size, and when I spoke with him at Christmas time he was still going to the gym three times a week ... even though he was on a cane. Football had ruined his knees. He fought hard for all the old timer NFLers to get medical coverage from the NFL fund that they had been denied for decades.

He held a fund raising golf tournament in Wilmington for years and years for good causes ... I met so many big name sports celebrities when I played in his tournies, too many to count. Probably the biggest being Michael Jordan of course, him being a fellow Wilmington boy along with Roman and also actor Ed Hinton, Rod Delmonico (UT Baseball Coach), Sonny Jergenson who I think maybe all went to the same HS as Roman.

Anyways, I'm gonna miss him. He was one of a kind.