To most Auburn faithful, Terry Beasley is a football icon. But to three current College of Agriculture students and one CoAg alumna, he’s a godsend.
     All four have had the honor of being selected by the College Football Hall of Famer to receive the Terry Beasley Number 88 Scholarship.
     Beasley—who wore the “88” jersey from 1969 through ’71 as he earned the reputation as one of the all-time great wide receivers of the Southeastern Conference— established the scholarship fund five years ago to recognize and encourage academically outstanding, highly motivated students, in any field of study, who demonstrate financial

PRIZE POSSESSION. CoAg Associate Dean Bill Hary keeps this autographed Beasley photo on his office desk.

need.
     Each year, Beasley personally selects the recipient after reviewing all applications. He says he takes into consideration a number of factors besides grades and financial status, including students’ attitudes, activities, aspirations in life and work ethic.
     The first Number 88 Scholarship, awarded in 2000, went to a nursing major whose goal was to specialize in oncology, particularly in pain management for cancer patients.
     “Both my mother and my brother had died from cancer, and I felt that by helping out a student who wanted to make a difference in the care cancer patients receive, I was honoring my family members’ memories,” Beasley says.
     Every year since then, however, Beasley has awarded the scholarship to an agriculture major.

BEASLEY 88 WINNER. Justin Legg, center, a senior in agronomy and soils, is the most recent recipient of the Terry Beasley 88 Scholarship. Mike Kolen, left, is financial manager of the scholarship fund. Terry Beasley, right, is an Auburn All-American. Justin holds his copy of God's Receiver-The Terry Beasley Story, the proceeds of which are used to fund the scholarship.
     “The scholarship wasn’t set up to be specifically for students in the College of Agriculture, but it’s worked out that way, and these students have all been outstanding,” Beasley says. “They’re going to spend their lives working in agriculture, and that’s one of the most important careers there is. The future of life depends on it, but it seems like a lot of people don’t realize that these days.”
     The first CoAg recipient of the Terry Beasley Number 88 Scholarship was Whitney Wood, who graduated in spring 2001 with a degree in agribusiness education. Wood now works as membership development director for the Higher Education Partnership, a Montgomery-based advocacy group for the state’s public universities.
     The college’s subsequent Beasley scholarship receivers have included Ellen Knight, who will graduate this spring in agronomy and soils; Troy Farmer, a graduating senior in fisheries; and current recipient Justin Legg, who will earn his agronomy and soils degree in December.
     A man of strong religious convictions, Beasley says he prays for spiritual guidance in all decisions he makes, including his scholarship deliberations.
     “The Lord leads me to all my decisions,” he says.
     After wrapping up his stellar college football career, Beasley—who with AU Heisman Trophy winner and quarterback Pat Sullivan formed Auburn’s most dynamic passing combo ever—graduated with a degree in health, physical education and recreation.
     “I thought I wanted to coach, even though Coach (Ralph “Shug”) Jordan tried to tell me I didn’t want to do that,” Beasley says. “He knew I was a perfectionist, and he said when you went into coaching, you were just setting yourself up to be hung in effigy.”
     As it turned out, Beasley never got around to coaching. When he graduated from Auburn in 1972, he was a first-round draft pick of the San Francisco 49ers and played in the NFL for four years. Later, he owned a successful golf cart company and, interestingly, a landscaping business in his hometown of Montgomery.
     Today, Beasley and his wife, Marlene, live in Moody, where the football legend manages to keep a positive outlook despite serious medical conditions that include brain injury resulting from numerous concussions he sustained while playing football. Although he is unable to work, Beasley is active in his church and community and is involved with various charities. The Number 88 Scholarship, he says, is one cause that means the most to him.
     “I remember asking my Dad when I was young, ‘What about college?’ and he’d say, ‘Son, you’re gonna have to get it any way you can,’ ” Beasley recalls. “For me, that was football, and I had to work hard for it, and I’m paying for it now.
     “I started this scholarship so that students wouldn’t have to worry so much about how they were going to pay for an education,” Beasley says. “That’s what it’s all about; it’s all about the kids.”

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