These are three stories from Mississippi that you may find interesting about the fourth Super Bowl. Jim Walker, a Madison resident, is proud to be the proud owner two preserved 45-yard-line tickets. These tickets were never used. * Super Bowl IV was the last Super Bowl that my mother Carrie Cleveland ever attended. However, I doubt she ever saw a single play. So we start with Super Gnat. Noland Smith is a man you can’t help but wonder how he could have played professional football. He is 5-feet-6inches short. He is only a few lbs lighter than his playing weight of154 pounds. After 44 years of service to the recreation department in Jackson, Smith is now 76. Smith was among the most tiny players in professional football history. Over a cup of coffee, Smith said that he was the smallest player to ever have played. It is difficult to imagine a smaller one. Smith was a pocket rocket. He was able to fly. His high school (Brinkley), and college (Tennessee State), nickname was “Jet”. He ran a 9.4-yard 100-yard dash once. He could change direction faster than you could bat an eye. The Chiefs’ owner Lamar Hunt gave him the nickname that stuck. Hunt stated that Smith looks like a gnat among all the giants. Smith, who had just finished his senior season at Brinkley, had signed with Jackson State. Smith was hired at Tennessee State by John Merritt, the Jackson State coach. He was a huge success at Tennessee State where, by accident, legendary Kansas City Chiefs coach Hank Stram saw him play in an intra-squad match. Stram was there to see three other Tennessee State players. Smith impressed him more than anything else. Stram insisted that Smith be drafted by the Chiefs in the sixth round in 1967 draft. Smith became a huge success. Smith was a huge success in his first preseason game. He returned a punt 86 yard for a touchdown. In that game, he wore jersey No. 46, the same number as he wore at Tennessee State. He found jersey No. 1. He asked the man who was in charge of the equipment, “What’s that?” “Mr. Hunt would like you to wear No. “1,” Hunt replied. Smith saw that as a positive sign. The KC publicity man had a different spin. Reporters were told by him that No. Smith would only wear the number 1. Smith was a rookie who led the league in kickoff returns yards and average. He also returned a record-breaking 106 yards for touchdowns. Smith was also a terror at punt returns, and also served as a backup wide receiver. In 1968, Smith continued to amaze, returning punt returns for an average of 15 yards and one return for 80 yards, respectively, as well as continuing to be a kickoff return ace. In 1969, Smith was unable to make it to Kansas City’s Super Bowl Championship game. The NFL had a 40-man roster limit in 1969, as opposed to 53 today. This left very little room for return specialists. He was also “clothed-lined” by an opposing player on a punt return in Cincinnati, which caused him to sustain serious injuries. His left eye has triple vision and his facial bones were broken. When men twice your size are rushing down the field, it’s difficult enough to catch a punt. Try it when you can see three footballs. Shortly thereafter, Smith was traded to the San Francisco 49ers by the Chiefs at mid-season. Smith was not able to attend the Chiefs’ Super Bowl run. Rick Cleveland Smith could have been there if the Chiefs had made it to the Super Bowl. Smith was working in Kansas City at an off-season beer distributorship when he returned to Kansas City. Smith was invited to schmooze with the owners of the company, who were throwing a huge Super Bowl party. He did. Smith said that he pulled for his former teammates. Many of them remain close friends to this day. He said, “We were really like a family with Chiefs.” We did everything together, and not just football. It was very different when I arrived at the 49ers. Except for practice, you didn’t see one another. Rick Clevleand said that the Chiefs were “family.” The Chiefs also rewarded their Super Gnat, who played a key role in the championship season. He was presented with his Super Bowl ring and Super Bowl tie clasp, as well as a necklace and Super Bowl cufflinks. He also received half of the winner’s share in the KC win, which was $7,500. This was quite a sum for someone making the league’s minimum wage ($12,000). Smith was out of football after that season. Smith still ranks 16th in the NFL’s all time kick return average (26 yards per return). He attends the Chiefs’ Alumni Reunion every year, and keeps in touch with many of his fellow teammates such as Mike Garrett, Jan Stenerud and Otis Taylor. He says he has no regrets. It was a wonderful experience that I enjoyed every moment of. The challenge of returning kickoffs and punts was a great challenge. It was risky, but it was fun.” Madison’s Jim Walker grew-up in Gulfport 700 feet from the ocean. When he was eighteen years old, his mother worked as a Gulfport mayor for Billy Meadows. He had two Super Bowl tickets. Walker’s mother was presented the tickets by Meadows. These were premium tickets at the 45-yard line. The face value of these tickets was $15. The face value of tickets to Sunday’s Super Bowl is only $15. Many people are paying higher scalper rates and are buying tickets from as low as $1,000 to $5,000. Walker claims that his parents, both avid football fans, planned to attend. Walker was jealous. Walker was a huge fan of Kansas City’s quarterback Len Dawson. However, something happened. Walker can’t recall what it was, but his parents couldn’t go. Walker was too young for driving. Walker lost track of the tickets and they went unutilized. Now, fast forward to 2005, and Hurricane Katrina. This was the storm that decimated so much of the Gulf Coast including the Walkers’ 47 year-old home. As the storm approached, his parents drove to Madison. Jim Walker drove to Gulfport in the aftermath to assess the damage. The house was destroyed. Walker began to rummage through the wreckage and found a box that had not been flooded. Walker opened the box to find an envelope. The 35-year-old Super Bowl Tickets were in mint condition when he opened the envelope. A framed certificate naming Jayne Mansfield, a famous entertainer and actress, as an honorary citizen of Gulfport was also inside the envelope. Mansfield was a regular performer on the Coast, before she was tragically killed in an automobile accident. The presentation was not made by the Gulfport mayor. Fast forward to 2017, when Jim Walker tried to find out how much those tickets were worth. They were sent to a California company that preserves and grades historic items. He was immediately offered $4,000 for them. He didn’t make a sale. He said, “I don’t know what to do with them.” “I still have ’em.” He knows which team he will be supporting on Sunday. Walker stated, “The Chiefs of course.” He was a Len Dawson fan 50-years ago and still loves Patrick Mahomes. This episode is my firsthand experience. Carrie Cleveland was my mother. She was a big football fan. Although she didn’t care about the X’s or O’s of football, she loved the spectacle of it. She loved the games. We went to the Super Bowl when my father got three tickets. These tickets were amazing, at 45 yards, and very high up in Tulane Stadium. It was a spectacular view. As I recall, we arrived early on a grey, damp and overcast day. My mother, Bobby, and I sat in the designated seats. My dad was at the press box. All of us were rooting for the Chiefs. Jerrell Wilson, Chiefs’ punter, was a Southern Miss student and a close friend. Wilson probably sold the tickets to Dad. Mama suddenly stood up and tried to catch her breath while we were watching pre-game ceremonies. Evidently, she was excited about some thing. She craned her neck and stared down at the object. For a few seconds, she continued to stare at something. Finally, I asked her, “Mama? What is it?” She couldn’t answer. Bobby and I both looked in that direction and she just pointed. We saw him coming up the aisle, and it was Joe DiMaggio, the Yankee Clipper, and Mr. Coffee. Mama was a Yankees fan. We were all. DiMaggio looked impeccable, in a suit and tie with his perfect salt and pepper hair. He looked like he was straight out of a Mr. Coffee commercial. He kept coming our direction. Mama was getting more excited each time he came our way. He kept coming, until he reached the row below us and sat a few feet below Mama’s high heels. He glanced at Mama, who was stunning – before he took his place, he smiled. She might have died right then. She would have been happy to die. But she didn’t. The game started. Len Dawson and Chiefs won. I was afraid that Minnesota’s quarterback Joe Kapp would be killed before the game was over. We were only a few rows away from the top when Jerrel Wilson’s punts would occasionally soar over us. Mama may not have seen any of it. Bobby is not the same. Bobby is not there.