Rams football game with FAMU moved to Thursday night

By: John Dell | Winston-Salem Journal
Published: May 12, 2008

Winston-Salem State's football game with Florida A&M has been moved to Thursday night on Oct. 9 to accommodate television.

The Rams and Rattlers will play in Tallahassee, Fla. in a game that will be seen on ESPNU at 7:30 p.m.

Chico Caldwell, the athletics director at WSSU, says that being on national television in primetime is a bonus.

"That's one of the reasons we went to Division I," said Caldwell. "This gives us more exposure and to be playing on a Thursday night will be beneficial. So we are excited that the MEAC decided to put this game on television."

The MEAC and ESPN have a television contract to air at least four games this season, according to Caldwell.

Even though the Rams are not eligible for the MEAC championship, they will receive the television revenue from the conference.

"It's a sharing type of thing with the revenue from the television contract with all the schools," Caldwell said. "I'm not sure how much we'll receive, but we are a part of it."

Being on television isn't new for the Rams. The game with Florida A&M last year in Indianapolis was broadcast on the NFL Network.

Being on one of the ESPN channels, however, can be a bonus for recruiting, according to Coach Kermit Blount of the Rams.

"That's always a plus and to be able to put our university out there like that where our name is plastered all over television," Blount said.

Since the Rams have joined the MEAC they have formed a good rivalry with the Rattlers. In 2006 the Rams lost 25-21 in Tallahassee and last year in Indianapolis the Rams won 27-23.

"So far, so good," Blount said about the rivalry with the Rattlers. "Hopefully we can continue to build the rivalry and keep making it a good one. We know that they have had an outstanding history in this conference and we respect that."

Adding a little more fuel to the rivalry is Bill Hayes is the athletics director at FAMU. Hayes is a former coach at WSSU and coached Blount when Blount was the star quarterback at WSSU in the late 1970s.

Blount downplayed the added dimension to the rivalry.

"Coach Hayes is in an administrative position down there and deep down it means a lot but actually when we get down there to play the game it's not going to matter," Blount said.

Blount, who will be in his 16th season as head coach this fall, is 87-69-3 in his career. He needs three wins to pass Hayes (89-41-2) to become WSSU's all-time leader in victories.

n John Dell can be reached at jdell@wsjournal.com.