‘No hero like the first hero’

‘No hero like the first hero’

By Tom Mattingly

AUTHOR’S PREFACE: This story dates to a luncheon held in March 2014 honoring Rev. David McMahan, who had been battling Stage 4 lung cancer and would die six weeks later. Special guests were former Vols John Majors and Buddy Cruze, both All-American selections in the 1956 SEC title season. In one memorable moment of many that day, Rev. McMahan and longtime friend David Lawson unveiled a scrapbook they had assembled during that season. It had lasted in one piece over that time, becoming a treasured keepsake. As part of the festivities, Majors and Cruze recalled their playing days with gentle back-and-forth exchanges of pleasantries characteristic of their long-time friendship.

There’s no hero like the first hero, the saying goes. The passage