football

Decatur Honors High School Football Tradition

Coy O'Neal has worked on sidelines for nearly seven decades

Decatur's high school football teams have changed over the years, but one Friday night sideline tradition has stayed the same for nearly seven decades.

Coy O'Neal was a 15-year-old student when the football officials were short-staffed one night and asked him to help with the chains on the sidelines. Now 83 years old, O'Neal hasn't stoped.

The Decatur Eagles surprised O'Neal Friday night with a memorial at the stadium in tribute to his decades of service.

On hand for the ceremony was Cy Young, the coach in the early 1950s when O'Neal first started helping out.

"And he doesn't look any older than he did 20 years ago," Young joked. "He's an old friend, old friend. Well, he's not too old. But he's a friend."

Young is now 97.

"Coy is a permanent fixture of Decatur athletics," Young said. "And I'll tell you what, he's the most loyal person I've ever seen."

O'Neal said he is pleased with the honor and has no plans to end his role with the team.

"(As long as) my feet hold me up," he said.

In a game rich in tradition, O'Neal is already in a league of his own.

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