Played baseball, football etc. with CT. He was the All-American, Big man on campus...and one of the nicest guys you'd ever meet. I have a CT story that proves he was in the top 5% of true red-blooded Americans. Just can't post it here.
I was 12 or 13 when he was there.
I learned how to throw a football by mimicking Pat Sullivan. Bring it up by your ear and fling the dogshit out of it. Of course I never had a Beasley to run under the ball and make me look good, but I did what Pat did. I knew I could never be Pat Sullivan, though.
Then Charlie came along. He didn't throw it all that well and he wasn't exceptionally fast. But he could come rolling down the line, that cutoff jersey flapping, ball held in front of him like he was squeezing a teddy bear. At the last minute he might pitch it, or he'd turn it up and bullrush for some yards. THAT I believed I could do. I could be Charlie Trotman. I guess in a way he was my first football hero. When my folks got me a semi-official Auburn jersey (back then they were blank) the first thing I did was convince them to put a #6 on it.
My memory is hazy but that might actually have been one of those net ones that was only a jersey on the shoulders and the entire body was some kind of sheer netting stuff.
I cut that bastard off and practiced the option. My younger brother got to be James Brooks.
Ok. Enough with the reminiscing.
Later in my life I was working on a deal for some property and The Trotman Company was in charge of it. I called them and didn't make the connection at first. Got him on the phone and was like... "Charlie Trotman? THE Charlie Trotman? Seriously? THE Charlie Trotman?" I forgot how to say anything that made sense.