More than just a number

[DKW 86 7,426]

http://www.al.com/auburnfootball/mobilereg....xml&coll=3

Thursday, October 26, 2006

By EVAN WOODBERY

Sports Reporter

AUBURN -- Walk-ons are usually assigned an out-of-the-way locker and any available number, if they get one at all.

So when Zach Gilbert found a No. 38 jersey hanging in his cubicle three years ago, he was stunned. The number may not have meant anything to the equipment manager who placed it there, but to Gilbert it was an incredible, perhaps even divine, sign.

"I felt like that was a sign from God," Gilbert said. "That was just my number. There was no way I was changing that."

No. 38 was the number of Roy Lee "Chucky" Mullins, Gilbert's cousin, who died more than 15 years ago after suffering a paralyzing spinal injury while playing for Ole Miss.

Gilbert will proudly bear the number on Saturday, when Auburn plays at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, a place where Mullins' memory is still revered and where he suffered his fateful injury exactly 17 years ago on game day.

"I feel like I'm destined to wear it," said Gilbert, a backup defensive back. "My mom was real proud of it. Even my teammates say, 'It fits you.'"

Born and raised in Russellville, Mullins was a redshirt freshman at Ole Miss when his career came to an abrupt end. While attempting a tackle in a game against Vanderbilt on Oct. 28, 1989, Mullins suffered an injury to his vertebrae that left him permanently paralyzed.

During his grueling recovery, fans from around the country rallied around his cause, pouring more than $1 million into a trust fund for his benefit. Athletes, celebrities and even then-President George Bush visited him at the hospital.

Mullins returned to Oxford in a specially built home determined to earn his degree. But he stopped breathing on the way to class on May 1, 1990, and died five days later.

Gilbert, only 5 at the time, was too young to understand what was going on around him, but he sensed the outpouring of support in Russellville and around the country.

"I can't remember much, but I just remember the feeling -- it was just a bad, low feeling for our family and for all of Russellville," said Gilbert, who is from nearby Florence. "That's a real small town, and they really loved Chucky."

In 1990, Ole Miss created the Chucky Mullins Courage Award in Mullins' honor. Each year, the chosen defensive player would wear No. 38. The number was retired by Ole Miss earlier this year and the winner now wears a patch, while the No. 38 jersey is displayed in the stadium.

"It's very important to the Ole Miss family and everybody takes it to heart," said Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville, who was head coach at Ole Miss from 1995 to 1998. "It was a hard decision to make to decide who wears No. 38. (Mullins) changed a lot of people's lives."

Gilbert said his family never discouraged him from pursuing football, although he was a late bloomer and his mother fretted that he was too small to play football in high school.

Gilbert's size helped him adopt an underdog mentality, which carried him as he worked his way up the depth chart as a walk-on. He was awarded a scholarship in August during a team meeting, prompting spontaneous applause from his teammates.

Gilbert said he hopes to embody some of the characteristics of the cousin he never got to know.

"When I was younger, my mother told me I had an attitude like him -- my determination, my drive, how I never take anything for granted," Gilbert said. "The way I got here (as a walk-on), I'm just thankful for everything. I wear my number to represent my cousin and my family. That's why I haven't changed it."