Football Great Turns Cheerleader

High noon. Humid and hot. No air conditioning. Sixty youngsters--the kind who can’t sit still--in a stuffy classroom akin in size to a shoe box.

Up front--doing all the singing, cheerleading and teaching--was Roosevelt Grier, a mountain of a man with a seemingly bottomless supply of energy.

It ended with a lot of happy kids--and one worn-out Rosey Grier.

“The point is to convince these kids that they are important, and they have something to contribute,” said Grier, relaxing later after his Euclid Elementary program.

His gridiron career long over, Grier, 59, a former All-Pro football defensive tackle turned community services specialist, is six months into his $50,000-a-year job as a special assistant to San Diego County administrator William Hickey.

Working part-time in a variety of social service programs, Grier takes his motivational message primarily to economically disadvantaged children and youths who have been in trouble with the law. He also addresses community groups, fund-raising luncheons and other organizations, and plans to work with senior citizens.

Grier’s success rate is difficult to gauge because of the preventive nature of his programs--he tries to build children’s self-esteem, learning skills and career aspirations while urging them to shun crime and drugs--but he earns high grades from county officials and some teachers and children.

“Rosey runs a super program, and he’s gotten a tremendous reception in the community,” said Bruce Boland, the county’s deputy chief administrative officer. “We’re unsure about the success rate in the long haul because he works on prevention, so you don’t see an immediate impact. But we believe it’s been a very good financial investment for the county.”

Grier, who lives in Los Angeles, has worked on an as-needed basis, about three days a week, with the county’s social services, health and probation departments, targeting children who are at risk for dropping out, getting involved in crime and other problems.

Through contacts with federal officials, Grier also helped San Diego County obtain a $2.7-million federal grant designed to fight the teen-age dropout rate, drug abuse, gang activity and teen pregnancy, while improving career opportunities, Boland said.

Grier played for the New York Giants from 1955-62, where he was named All-Pro in 1956. He later was a member of the Los Angeles Rams until his retirement in 1967.

After football, he has earned a living as a motivational speaker, community services specialist, actor, entertainer, author and consultant for private projects. He founded a federally funded program to provide job training to disadvantaged youths in Los Angeles, and is founder and chairman of another program aimed at helping inner-city children improve their self-esteem and find better education and job opportunities.

Grier graduated from Pennsylvania State University, where one of his teammates was Norm Hickey, San Diego County’s chief administrative officer. That friendship helped him land the county job here.

Hickey hired Grier in January--no Board of Supervisors vote was needed--to work one year as a “temporary expert professional.” Hickey will evaluate Grier’s work this fall and decide whether to retain him, Boland said.

The county has received no “legitimate criticism” from the public for spending $50,000 for Grier’s part-time services, said county spokesman Bob Lerner. The only opposition was several anonymous, racist letters and telephone calls when Grier was hired, Lerner said.

“We dismissed them for what they were,” he added. “Mr. Hickey feels he (Grier) has more than earned his salary. There’s no way to measure his success, but who is to say he hasn’t already influenced the children’s lives? He’s a positive role model.”

Not everyone, however, agrees with the wisdom of paying star athletes and other celebrities to work with at-risk children.

“I don’t think it does any good,” said Hugh Boyle, president of the San Diego Teachers Assn. “The sports hero approach is nice and fine and all that, but it’s window dressing for the underlying problem.”

Boyle, who did not comment specifically on Grier’s work, said the real problem facing lower-income children is that many come from dysfunctional homes in high-crime areas and have parents who lack the parenting skills to nurture them, the money to feed and clothe them properly and pay for other necessities.

Rather than spend money on celebrity speakers, school systems must undergo a “fundamental restructuring” to provide a range of social services that address all of the children’s needs, Boyle said.

“You have to get hold of the whole kid, not just give him a role model now and then,” Boyle said. “Sports heroes are great, but you need to follow up on the motivational talks with the services to help these kids in the long run.”

Other educators, however, support using celebrities and community leaders--especially minority members--as role models for keeping inner-city children in school and away from drugs.

“That approach has been accepted for a long time,” said Eloiza Cisneros, an assistant superintendent with the city school system. “It’s a folk-hero feeling. It’s hard to quantify in terms of tangibility, but in general there has been a lot of positive feedback from the youngsters, the staff, the community.”

The county administration stands behind its decision to hire Grier, Boland said. Grier “fills a niche” for the county with his ability to relate to children who might not normally respond to traditional government programs, he added.

“He can relate to kids easily, really getting their trust and respect, when other adults might not,” Boland said.

At least one county supervisor had initial reservations about Hickey spending $50,000 to hire Grier.

Nancy Allen, chief of staff for 5th District Supervisor John MacDonald, said MacDonald expressed his concern that the job was not necessary in these fiscally tight times. Allen, however, said MacDonald would neither praise nor criticize the investment because he was not aware of any work Grier had done in North County schools.

Other supervisors were not available for comment.

Teachers at Euclid Elementary School, where the enrollment includes many low-income minority students, praised Grier for his recent program there.

“His message is important to these kids. A lot of them don’t get much love or positive reinforcement at home,” said teacher Cathy Zazas. “They need that inspiration, and I think he captured their interest.”

Teacher Ancernetta King added: “I thought he was quite interesting. He seems to be reaching the children.”

Grier, an unceasingly upbeat person, said no students are “failures” in his community service programs. The word is not in his vocabulary--only love, forgiveness, self-worth, learning and teamwork.

“There is no failure rate when you deal with the truth,” he said. “Some people believe the truth and others reject it. There’s no way to measure that kind of success.”

At Euclid Elementary School, few children knew that Grier had once roamed the gridiron, terrorizing opponents as one of the NFL’s most feared players. He spoke little of his football career; he merely listed it among his other post-NFL avocations--minister, actor, singer, social worker.

It was a tough audience--60 fidgety grade-schoolers inside on a summer day--but Grier was a commanding presence with his red suspenders, smile, booming voice and an arm span that seemed to reach across half the room.

He caught the children’s attention with math and word games, folk songs, nonstop energy and repeat-after-me chants of “I am precious,” “I am unique,” and “I am a winner,” among others.

Grier--a Democrat-turned-Republican who opposes most government spending on social programs--said many people have told him that his programs have been a positive influence.

“That’s something,” he said. “The children and parents write to me and phone me to say thank you, you changed my life. I know I’m effective.”