Who was Bobby Price? The question of the year has been answered through the research of White County’s beloved Tammy “Pistol” Wilhite’s articles, H.L. Kirby’s memories, and White County High School student Sam Dicus’s combination of the two. The 1954 season led by Price, number 56, gave the Warriors a 10-0 season, and Warrior fans saw him amass 2,181 yards rushing. Price set records with his 37 touchdowns, tying Dick Bass from Vallejo, California, for the nation’s lead.
The season saw early victories over Gainesboro 40-6 and Crossville 47-12. Price led the way with five touchdowns in Week 3 against rival Cookeville 45-0. The following week led to a matchup against 12th-ranked Cohn, whom the Warriors trounced 48-14 thanks to Price’s six touchdowns. Vanderbilt’s football coach was in attendance for the Cohn game, and Price’s teammate, John Sims, quoted the Vandy coach who said, “Cohn couldn’t have gotten Bobby Price playing two-hand touch.”
Afterward, the Warriors defeated McMinnville Central 21-0, Fayetteville 53-7, Franklin 20-14, Lewisburg 13-0, and Shelbyville 33-6. In the Shelbyville game, Price threw a 40-yard pass to backfield mate Ralph Broyles for a touchdown, and then Price went on to kick the extra point proving he could do it all. Price then guided the Warriors to finish their season with a 20-6 win in the Junior Christian Bowl against undefeated Donelson.
That 1954 season featured the 170-pound tailback Price, through the direction of coach Tom Brixey and the team’s single-wing attack, gathering awards and accolades. He was named All-Conference, Conference MVP, All-Upper-Cumberland, All-Mid-State, All-Tennessee, and All-South. But perhaps most impressive was that Price was a Scholastic Coach Magazine All-American. For reference, over 650,000 young men played high school football in 1954, and only 76 got named to the All-American team. Price was also only one of two players from Tennessee named to the team.
This acclaim was thanks in no small part to his 179 carries for 2,181 yards, which was a WCHS record that stood for 68 years, his share of the national lead for touchdowns with 37, and his record-breaking 224 points scored throughout the season. Price eclipsed Tennessee legend Johnny Major’s 218 points and Bobby Clifton from Kinsport’s 222 points.
After his record-setting senior year, Price graduated from White County High School, in 1955. Eleven different colleges and universities made him offers before he settled on signing with the University of Tennessee Knoxville. Following Sparta’s small-town boy up to Knoxville was backfield partner Ralph Broyles and Dean Fisher. The three members of the 1954 Warriors squad joined former Sparta alumni Bill Johnson and Edd Cantrell at UT, making five former Warriors on a nationally recognized college football team. After attending UT, Price joined the United States Marine Corps.
Subsequently, after this was all said and done, Price was inducted into the White County Hall of Fame, in September 2004. Considered by many to be the most decorated Warrior football player ever, his induction was a no-brainer. A scout once said, “Price and Broyles were the best backfield I had ever seen.”
On his induction night, Price gave out praise to other Warrior athletes he looked up to and admired. He proclaimed Bill Johnson his idol, saying he “did everything by the books.” He also admitted to being impressed by the Harris brothers, Dee and Tillman.
88-year-old H.L. Kirby, a part of the WCHS 1955 graduating class and former Bobby Price teammate, reflected on what kind of player he was.
Kirby said about Price, “He made a laughing stock out of most people running up the field.”
Kirby also recalled the 45-0 shutout victory against Cookeville game as his favorite memory of that season.
“Back in those days, we didn’t score against Cookeville,” Kirby said. “It was raining and pouring, and he scored five times.”
But maybe Kirby’s most humorous story (and there are plenty) came in a different game. Kirby recalled Price was running up the sideline when “his britches came down right there in front of where the stands are today.”
He also compared Price to a current Warriors running back.
“He could do it [run the football], just like that young man here today [Malaki Dowell],” Kirby said.
Despite only ever listening to Dowell’s performances, Kirby can tell he is a different kind of runner than Price.
“Bobby was more of an in-and-out guy,” Kirby said. “This guy will just run over you; Malaki will just run you over.”
And Warrior opponents from 1954 and 2022 would agree with Kirby on that statement.
After returning home from the Marines, Price met Evelyn Tollett, and the two were married in 1962. They were married 59 years when Price died, on Jan. 7, 2021. The couple had three children: Terri Lynn (Gary) Renfroe, Tammy Jo Smith, Bobby (Rebecca) Price Jr., and seven grandchildren.
“I met Bobby after his football playing days,” Evelyn Price said.
She also shared that Bobby had a career with Textron, a company that built airplane wings, as a member of the purchasing department.
Many people throughout the community have stories about Price passed down through the generations. A truly larger-than-life athlete, Price has an immeasurable impact on White County athletics now and forever. Hopefully, current and future athletes can take Bobby Price’s story and use it to better themselves in whatever way they can.
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