Jimmy Havard (1981) - Southern Miss M-Club Hall of Fame

Jimmy Havard

Induction:
1981

There are some players that seemed to be destined to play the game of football. From their youngest days of playing in the backyard they seemed to love the contact and all the rough and tumble things that are associated with the game.
   That’s why it is not surprising that when someone like that grows up that they feel right at home in a football uniform and right at home on the football field.
   Those types of players are more times than not linemen. Players that don’t get much publicity, they play because it is a part of their life.
   Jim King was that type of player when he played for the Golden Eagles in 1963 and 1964 because those teams were the type that loved the contact and the intimidating style of play, he fit right in.
   King would be a valuable reserve guard for Southern Miss in 1963, but that’s not to say that he didn’t make huge contributions on that team. There is something to say about a player that can lead by example and King was the type of player that came to play everyday and never left anything out on the field. That attitude was infectious and many times that year when the team was dragging it was King that found a way to get them going again.
   That 1963 team that King played on would post a 5-3-1 record that year and finish by winning four of its last five.
   The defense would have a string of four straight shutouts and shutout five of its last seven opponents, while the offense after a slow start scored 114 points in the last five games.
   That 1963 team that King played on led the nation in defense allowing only 131.2 yards a game and was fourth in scoring defense giving up only 7.1 points a game.
   As a senior in 1964 King moved into the starting lineup and continued to be one of the leaders of the team. The 1964 team finished 6-3, but defensively posted two shutouts and held three other opponents to two touchdowns or less, while or offense they gained a reputation of being able to come up with a key play in the final minutes to win games.
   King’s contribution to the Southern Miss teams of 1964 and 1965 in not one that can be easily measured by statistics. No to truly measure King’s contribution to Southern Miss football you have to look at the way he played and the team played the game back then.
   There wasn’t a tougher player to play against or a tougher team to play against in 1963 and 1964 than Jim King and Southern Miss.
   He was a man destined to play football and at the same time destined to earn a spot in the Southern Miss Sports Hall of Fame.