SPORTS

ESPN SEC Storied documentary to feature Brad Gaines, Chucky Mullins

Mike Organ

morgan@tennessean.com

-Mississippi defensive back Roy Lee "Chucky" Mullins hits Vanderbilt tight end Brad Gaines during their game Oct. 28, 1989 in Oxford, Miss. The hit not only paralyzed Mullins, it later took his life.

ESPN representatives have spent the last couple of weeks in the Middle Tennessee area working on an SEC Storied documentary on former Vanderbilt football star Brad Gaines and Ole MIss' Chucky Mullins.

It is tentatively scheduled to air on Sept. 3 on the new SEC Network, which debuts in August.

This season will mark the 25th anniversary of the hit Mullins, a defensive back, made on Gaines, a running back, which left Mullins instantly paralyzed and eventually ended his life.

This season's Vanderbilt-Ole Miss game will be played at LP Field on Sept. 6.

Gaines was deeply affected by the incident, which occurred during Ole Miss' homecoming. He visited Mullins several times while he was hospitalized in Memphis and they became close during Mullins' rehabilitation.

After Mullins died in 1991, Gaines began a ritual he has observed every year since, visiting Mullins' grave in his hometown of Russellville, Ala., on Christmas, the anniversary of the hit (Oct. 28) and the day Mullins died (May 6).

ESPN started work on the documentary last season when a crew visited Gaines at his home in Gallatin, accompanied him to the Vanderbilt-Kentucky football game and went to church with him in Old Hickory the following day.

"The focus is going to be on Brad," said ESPN director Fritz Mitchell. "I can't tell you what percent is going to be what; whether it is going to be 60-40 Brad-Chucky or 70-30 or 50-50. You can't really talk about one without talking about the other. So we're starting out with the premise that it's a Brad Gaines story and behind that premise is the realization that Brad has been so influenced by Chucky for the last 25 years that it's kind of impossible to tell the story without Chucky."

Mitchell said the documentary is scheduled to be an hour long, but could be expanded to 90 minutes.

Gaines estimated he has spent 30-40 hours with ESPN during the filming.

"It' can be physically taxing, but more than that it's been emotionally exhausting at times," Gaines said. "Some of it's been really tough, reliving a lot of what went on. All the emotions I felt back then are still there. They don't go away."

ESPN filmed an interview last Friday with Watson Brown, the coach at Vanderbilt at the time who is now at Tennessee Tech.

Then on Monday the network's crews spent time with former Tennessean sports writer Larry Woody, who covered Vanderbilt at the time and wrote the book "A Dixie Farewell: The Life and Death of Chucky Mullins" in 1994.

ESPN also interviewed former Vanderbilt quarterback John Gromos, who threw the pass to Gaines on the play. Gromos is now the Commodores radio analyst.

ESPN spoke with Gaines' brothers Chris, who was an All-America linebacker at Vanderbilt in 1987, and Greg, who played at Tennessee (1977-80) and spent nine seasons in the NFL, along with his parents Buddy and Bettye and his wife, Telisha.

"They've been to Chris' house and Greg's house," Gaines said. "They came to a family cookout I had at my house."

Tonight ESPN plans to be in Russellville to interview Mullins' guardians, Carver and Karen Phillips.

"We're here in Russellville to talk about Chucky's story here," Mitchell said. "The difficulties he had growing up and where he ended up and how he ended up getting there. We'll pick up with (former Ole Miss coach) Billy Brewer with the first meeting and how Chucky tried to talk him into signing him at Ole Miss even though Billy thought he was undersized."

Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @ MikeOrganWriter.