Marc Hummon '84

"When Marc told me that, I asked him how old he is now and he said 45, so I just sort of chuckled," said Farley.

But Hummon has long considered his former coach someone to be reckoned with. "Farley always had this persona that he was just tougher than anyone else down on Cole Field and it did not matter how big or how tough you thought you were – you just weren't tougher than Dick Farley," said Hummon. "All of my teammates are just so pleased and proud he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame."

Marc Hummon has always been a busy guy. He played six different sports growing up, lived in five countries, and while playing football and running track at Williams he was also involved in writing poetry, music, and performing, sometimes singing with his younger sister Sarah.

Hummon was just as busy on the football field his junior year when he was a split end, punt returner, occasional passer, and a defensive back in passing situations.

Bob Odell, the Ephs' head coach at the time said of Hummon: "He's half the size of anybody else out there, but he has twice the courage. He really gives the team a lift by going after the opposition the way he does." At 5' 8" and 145 lbs., Hummon did not scare anyone, that is until he had the football in his hands.

Hummon's "Golden" moment at Williams came 24 years ago on Homecoming against Wesleyan. "I remember the game like it was yesterday," said Hummon.

After opening up a 14-0 lead on Wesleyan in the first half, the Ephs looked to be well in control of the contest, but star running back Ted Thomas, who had over 100 yards on the ground, was limited in the second half due to an injury and Wesleyan seized the chance to get back in the game. Even though the Ephs made it 21-7 midway through the third quarter quickly answering a Wesleyan TD, the Cardinals refused to go away.

"In the first half they couldn't stop us and in the last quarter plus we couldn't stop them," said Hummon. That is why then defensive coordinator Dick Farley left the field in disgust before the game ended.

Two fourth quarter TDs and a Greg Zlotnick 24-yard field goal with 26 seconds left put Wesleyan on top 24-21. Zlotnick's FG made Wesleyan tackle Mike Whalen, current Eph head coach, very happy, at least for a while.

"Things looked pretty grim when we went out on the field with just 23 seconds left, 84 yards from the end zone." A razzle-dazzle play was almost picked off by Wesleyan. Then on the next play Wesleyan was penalized 15 yards for a personal foul. "BJ [Connolly (QB] hit me on a post pattern to get us over to the Wesleyan 35 on our third play."

The Ephs had one last shot with four seconds remaining. "The plan was for me and John McCarthy (6' 7") to line up on the right side and I would go down and to the left drawing the safety away from John so BJ could throw a high pass into the end zone."

Streaking across the middle Hummon looked back and saw Connolly going down, at least that's what it looked like from where he was. "What I could not see was when BJ got hit and was going down Bernie Krause [offensive lineman] grabbed him and helped him stay up," said Hummon. "I did see Coach Odell heading out onto the field, which was strange, but then all of a sudden I saw BJ was not down. He was rolling to his right looking for McCarthy. I was screaming my head off that I was open and the next thing I knew there was a perfectly thrown spiral headed my way. BJ must have thrown it 60 yards. I jumped up and caught it and juked a defender. I saw another come up, so I cut inside of him and then I had the safety to contend with. I crashed into him at the goal line and I was uncertain as to whether or not I had gotten in. As I turned to look for the ref, RB Sean Crotty dove in screaming and hollering and it got dark very quickly, but by now I could not move as I was pinned by players and fans. Pretty soon I was out of the pile and was lifted onto some shoulders and it was, well, a moment I will never forget." Williams 27, Wesleyan 24.

In the miracle win over Wesleyan all Hummon did was catch five passes for 150 yards, scoring the Ephs first and last TDs (44 and 35 yards); throw one pass for 20 yards; and play nickel back on defense--oh, and he also returned punts. He was named the New England Presswriters Golden Helmet Award winner for his efforts.

"My dad [John] said something to me that day that has become my mantra – 'All the practices, all the sitting on the bench, all the running in the snow has paid off. No one can take this away from you.'"

"You need that kind of perspective in the entertainment industry where you get a lot more 'Nos' than you do 'Yeses'," said Hummon. "You have to be ready to face years and years of disappointment and this is why you don't quit."

Hummon, considered by many to be Nashville's top songwriter, recently ended 19 years with BMG Music to sign with SONY ATV. He has written or co-written six songs that have climbed to number-one including "Cowboy Take Me Away" and "Bless the Broken Road."

Hummon had just returned from five weeks in New York, where his musical drama about Jim Thorpe, "Warrior", was part of the New York Music Festival and the Eugene O'Neill Festival, when the chilling call came from Farley.

Not content just being a premier songwriter Hummon recently wrote his first opera, "Surrender Road", which will open in Los Angeles in January and is slated to play at Lincoln Center in New York in the summer. "Surrender Road" is the story of a fading boxer facing ethical questions and is full of Shakespearean quotes. Hummon, not much for idle time, wrote most of "Surrender Road" while confined to bed after surgery.

In 1995 Hummon recorded his first of five albums – "All in Good Time" to critical acclaim and he has performed in many prominent venues, but there is still one place he would love to do a show – the '62 Center for Theatre and Dance at Williams – stay tuned.

Recently Hummon received an invitation to an event in the Nashville area and along with the invitation came a hand written note that said, "I was there at your 'immaculate reception'." "I'm planning to go to that event – I owe so much to Williams College," said Hummon.

Hummon is married to Becca Stevens, an Episcopal Minister and Chaplin at Vanderbilt, and they live in Nashville with their three sons Levi (15), Caney (11) and Moses (6).