Race, Sports, & Politics: Confronting Injustice in the History of Boston
Session 2: Commemorating Boston’s Black Athletes
Panelist: David Joyner on behalf of Brother, Russ Joyner.
Reflections shared by Russ’s teammate, Doug Guyer with annual winners of BC Football’s Russ Joyner Award for most outstanding defensive lineman.
From: Doug Guyer
Date: Wednesday, December 11, 2024 at 3:57 PM
Subject: The Russ Joyner Award – Reflections on Russ from DE Teammate
Quintayvious and Neto, (and Coach Comissiong),
With each passing year, and the announcement of that year’s recipient of The Russ Joyner Award, I, along with a slew of the BC Football Brotherhood from the early 80’s always look forward to see who won it. We had all played with Russ. He was one of our 2 amazing Captains our Senior year of 1982. Russ had our utmost respect and we all loved him dearly.
I personally always wondered, from the 1st recipient on, if the recipient fully understood how special the Award actually is that they earned…based on the way Russ lived his life….on the field, yes – but more importantly, off it.
My intention was to write that 1st recipient a note to let him know the true meaning about Russ. I never did write that note to the 1st recipient 8 years ago, or the 2nd recipient…and then Wyatt Ray won it 5 years ago and I finally sat down and collected my thoughts about Russ, and sent those thoughts to Wyatt.
I’m forwarding this on to you, as this year’s recipients of The Russ Joyner Award, so you too, can fully appreciate the award you’ve earned. I know Wyatt doesn’t mind me passing the torch of his words, onto his fellow BC Brothers.
Congratulations on earning The Russ Joyner Award. I am, as well as the 80’s guys and Russ’s family, are very proud of you.
Wishing you a great Christmas and amazing last game at the Pinstripe Bowl. I’ll be there with many of Russ’s teammates pointing out # 15 and # 4 to those around us.
– Doug Guyer , Right DE to Russ’s Left DE, -BC Football, ‘83
On Fri, Jan 18, 2019 at 9:56 PM Doug Guyer wrote:
Wyatt,
By way of introduction, my name is Doug Guyer, BC Football, Class of 1983. I happened to be the starting right DE, while Russ was the starting left DE our Senior year.
After learning that you had won The Russ Joyner Award, I wanted to write you this note, so you can fully appreciate the Award that you so earned….in Russ’ name.
First, Russ was a tremendous player during his 4 years on the field, however, he was so much more than the great DE on our team - a team that went on to the Tangerine Bowl with an 8-2-1 record to play Auburn our Sr Year. Mean as a junkyard dog when playing, but sweet as pie when the pads came off. He truly lived BC’s mantra of “Men and Women for others”.
Russ was our Leader, one of our 2 Captains, an excellent player on the field and an awesome person off it. The last part was the best part, and his true legacy.
Like we did, I’m sure you have 100 brothers on the team, but you probably have 4 or 5 guys that are really “special” in your heart and in your life. I mean, I had 4 of my BC teammates in my wedding party and 8 more at the wedding (was cut off by #’s from inviting more)…so many great friends from the team, but Russ was always one one of those “special” guys.
To this very day, I feel so lucky to enjoy great relationships with most everyone of one the guys from the 79 – 83 teams. However, the relationship I was honored to have with Russ was special because he gave you all of his positive energy every time you talked to him. When he would call me from his work over the years, he made it seem like I was the only one that mattered in his world.
There was no fakery in his way of life either…when I talked to Russ’s high school buds at his funeral, whom I didn¹t know, they all said the same thing, which was, “no, I was his favorite”, when I told them (tongue in cheek) that I was clearly Russ’ favorite guy…. because his persona was to make everyone feel “special”, they all just smiled and said, ‘that was Russ all right”.
It was so natural to him, to make everyone around him feel great about themselves, especially if you were going through a tough time. It’s a life lesson I’ve adopted from Russ, though don’t do it nearly as well as my man.
Why he was taken from us so early in life is beyond me. ‘Only the good die young’, the song says, but that just doesn’t seem right in Russ’s case. Everyone he connected with looked up to him with respect and pride. He made a positive difference in the lives of so many.
The BC Football guys down here in Philly get together and watch your games as a single unit. We really enjoyed watching you and your DE partner Zach Allen dominate this year. We’re very proud of our Eagle brotherhood and the current players like you who are returning BC Football to the Center of Excellence in College Football.
I hope your time at BC was outstanding. I hope you have made “friends for life”. I hope you will continue to represent BC and BC Football with your future successes, whether that’s in the NFL and/or in the Corporate Business world. We have a great Football Alumni Network that you’re now part of so please embrace it and when help is needed, just reach out to any one of us.
Winning The Russ Joyner Award is Special. I wanted to let you know how special it really is, by understanding the man behind the award. Russ was so, so proud of his teammates and BC. Please ask Barry Gallup, the coach that recruited Russ, for more insight on him. Barry was the 1st person to call me that New Years’ Day morning of 2015, with the news.
I know Russ is proud of you, as are all of Russ’ former teammates, as we all look forward to see, each year, who won The Russ Joyner Award.
We all know that person must be an “excellent player on the field and an awesome person off it”. Without meeting you, I know that you are just that, by way of you earning Russ’ Award. Congratulations – we’ll be watching and rooting for you in the game of life.
My Best, Doug