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MY
ROUSES
EVERYDAY
SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2016
the
Italian
issue
W
hen Deuce McAllister filled
in for Hokie Gajan as the
color commentator at the
New Orleans Saints football game late last
season on WWL Radio, he did not know
that as a result of tragic circumstances he
would be sitting in that seat full-time, next
to long-time play-by-play announcer Jim
Henderson. In fact, if you asked McAllister
as a young boy where he thought he would
be at this stage in his life it would be wearing
the uniform of a United States Marshal.
Born Dulymus Jerod McAllister in Jackson,
Mississippi, and raised much of his young life
in the nearby town of Ludlow, the football
star turned entrepreneur turned radio person-
ality grew up in a family with a rich tradition
in law enforcement and military service.
“I have cousins that are state troopers,
detectives and sheriffs, and some who
served in the military overseas and back
here at home,” he says, adding, “I have such
great respect for all those people, especially
since they walk out the door and never
know what the day may hold.”
By the time he was in seventh grade, it was
apparent to family and coaches alike that
McAllister’s talents and strong athletic
genes would lead him to don an athlete’s
uniform instead of a marshal’s.
“I never played PeeWee Football,just played
in the yard and around the neighborhood,
but everyone was saying I could be pretty
good if I concentrated on sports,” says
McAllister, with understated modesty.
He earned the nickname “Deuce” from one
of his coaches in middle school. “I wore
the number two back then, and my coach
also said I always reminded him of David
‘Deuce’ Palmer, the great Alabama player
who played in the NFL. I guess the name
just stuck,” recalls McAllister.
By his early high school years, it was clear
he could attend college on an athletic
scholarship. A standout athlete at Morton
High School, in a town of the same name
east of Jackson, McAllister lettered in track,
basketball and football, and was an honor
roll student from kindergarten through his
high school graduation. He was student
body president his senior year and finished
fifth overall in his graduation class.
“I played all kinds of sports, and basketball
was my favorite,” says McAllister. “I had my
heart set on playing basketball in college,
but it was apparent to everyone around me
that the path as an athlete at the university
level and possibly beyond would be easier in
the sport of football. No NBA team wants
6’2” point guards that were my size.”
McAllister was awarded a football scholar-
ship to the University of Mississippi where
he earned a degree in criminal justice, with a
minor in English, and where he had a record-
breaking career as a Rebel at the running
back spot.McAllister is the only player in the
history of Ole Miss to record three seasons
with at least 1,000 all-purpose yards and fin-
ished his college football career with records
for carries (616), yards gained (3,060), rush-
ing touchdowns (36), total touchdowns (41),
points (246) and 100 yard games (13).Those
statistics earned the running back the 1999
Conerly Trophy, an award given annually to
the best college football player in the state of
Mississippi by the Mississippi Sports Hall of
Fame. Not a bad set of stats for a fellow who
loved playing basketball more.
A New
Calling
by
Mary Beth Romig
+
photo by
David Thompson