re: Who Are Some Criminally Underrated SEC Players of the Past/Present?

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Most Underrated Ever: Lionel “Little Train” James

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As a freshman sitting in the southeast corner of Jordan-Hare, I recall the thrill of watching a tiny halfback dart around Tennessee tacklers and flatten linebackers who outweighed him by 50 pounds. That was The Little Train, Lionel James, whom Pat Dye called “No. 6 in your program, No. 1 in your hearts.”

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Lionel cleared holes for the greatest Auburn Tiger of them all and made clutch run after clutch run. He was also Bo’s mentor in 1982 and ’83. When he was presented the Sugar Bowl MVP trophy, Bo handed it over to Lionel.[/quote]

[quote]Auburn was the only major school to offer James a scholarship to become a member of a particularly unheralded recruiting class.

In James' words, "Their first pick didn't make his grades, and the second guy blew out a knee, and that gave me an opening, 'cause I had good grades and two good knees."

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James' 5-6, 150-pound frame was not large enough to permit two numbers on his jersey, and so he was given number 6.

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James was the first player Dye pointed out at his very first meeting with the team. James recalls, "All the juniors and seniors took all the seats in the meeting room, and I was just a freshman, so I sat on the floor. Coach Dye came in, and he kicked my foot as he was walking by. He stopped and told me to stand up. He asked me what my name was, and how tall and heavy I was. When I told him, Coach Dye said, "Five foot, six and 150 pounds. That's what's wrong with this team. We can't win with people like

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James was named the "Most Improved Running Back" on A-Day. By the time the season started, James had gone from an unknown underclassman to a starter. "Right now, Lionel James is the best all-around (running back) we have," Dye said at the time, "and he only weighs about 150."

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"Lionel really took Bo under his wing. I think he had more influence over Bo than any other player. Bo and all his talent didn't intimidate Lionel at all. He wasn't afraid to tell Bo when he did something wrong, and Bo really respected that. Lionel was a real practice player, and he inspired everybody to work harder through his example in practice.

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"I think of that as an eight-quarter game," James says, referring to the Alabama games of 1981 and '82. "In '81, the Alabama players had a solid confidence in their eyes, they knew they were going to win. In '82, I remember looking at the same guys and seeing pure panic. We were the confident ones, we knew we were going to win that thing, no matter what." In the aftermath of 23-22, Dye invited the Auburn players to return to the field and "thank our people." Few who have seen the replays, and no one who was there, can forget the sight of James, lifted off his feet and passed above the heads of the Auburn faithful in that momentous celebration. "I walked out onto the field," he recalls, "and saw all these guys hanging from the goal posts, and thought, 'this place is a zoo.' Then, a guy in the tunnel picks me up and lifts me off the ground. The next thing I know, he's passing me up into the bleachers, and I didn't touch the ground again for half an hour."

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While freshman sensation Jackson got the headlines as the breakthrough player for the Tigers, it was the "Little Train" who was awarded Auburn's Pat Sullivan Award as the season's outstanding offensive player, gaining 793 yards on 113 carries with seven TDs. He added 56 yards receiving with 15 catches, 467 yards on 30 kick returns, and even 43 yards passing, for 1359 total yards.

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