How Jackson State football teammate's tip to a scout launched Emanuel Zanders' 8-year NFL career

The 1972 Jackson State football team had three future NFL offensive linemen in its starting lineup -- Leon Gray at left tackle, Jackie Slater at right tackle and Emanuel Zanders at right guard.

Gray would become the 78th pick in the third round of the 1973 NFL draft and a four-time Pro Bowl selection. Slater would be the 86th pick in the third round of the 1976 NFL draft and go on to a Pro Football Hall of Fame career.

Zanders was not drafted in 1973 after his senior season because, he says, of his height. The NFL wanted linemen who were at least 6-foot-2, and he was 6-1, he was told. After graduating, Zanders taught school at a high school in Warrensville, Ohio, for a year.

In 1974, Zanders made it back to the NFL, thanks to former Jackson State teammate Don Reese, a defensive end who had been selected No. 26 in the first round of the NFL draft by the Miami Dolphins. Reese told Dolphins scout Bobby Beathard that Zanders was the best offensive lineman he ever played against in a game or practice. Miami signed him.

Zanders said he was one of the last cuts by the Dolphins and was home for two weeks when the Dolphins had an injury and called him back. Before he could get back to the Dolphins, the New Orleans Saints claimed him off waivers.

Zanders not only made the Saints but went on to play in 99 NFL games and earn three game balls while carving out a solid NFL eight-year career. He was named a Saints captain from 1976-’79 and voted Lineman of the Year for the Saints from 1977 through 1980. He was voted into the Saints' 25 years All-Time Team in 1992.

Zanders said when he was at Jackson State, he did not realize how fortunate he was, practicing with and against future Pro Football Hall of Famers like Walter Payton, Jackie Slater and Robert Brazile and how his choice of college would benefit his NFL aspirations.

“When I got to the NFL, I knew no one trained like the players from Jackson State,” Zanders said. “No one would out-condition us or lasted as long because at Jackson State we practiced three times a day. I just needed an opportunity to make it in the league.”

He remembers how during his junior season, Jackson State lost its opener to Prairie View on a Hail Mary pass. First-year coach Bob Hill had tears in his eyes and asked each offensive lineman to tell him what happened. The team returned to campus at 11 p.m., and Hill made the team practice at 8 a.m. the next day to solve the problem.

“We have to correct the mistake now," Zanders remembers Hill saying. "We can’t wait until later on."

Willie Collins, who was a freshman at the time and later was inducted into the Mississippi Association of Coaches Hall of Fame as Provine High football coach, said he remembers Zanders well.

“Big Z was pretty good, I am not going to lie,” Collins said. “Big Z was not a prototype like Leon Gray, but Big Z was athletic, quick and good. He was a heck of a football player and our captain.”

Zanders said the key to being a good offensive lineman is to have quick feet and quick hands. What makes an offensive line a good unit, he said, is when they come together and say, "Let's get it done."  Zanders said all of the JSU linemen who went to the pros had that.

“Ain’t an offensive guard in the league (NFL)  that could carry Emanuel Zanders' shoes," Brazile said. "I played against him and I practiced against him. His bag of tricks is always open. He had something new for you every day, and you don’t get the same picture from Emanuel Zanders. He was great.”

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Zanders spent seven seasons with the Saints and one with the Chicago Bears.   After his playing career, Zanders went into business and retired in 2008 from Mockler Beverage.

"Going to school at Jackson State molded me," said Zanders, now 72. "It molded me and gave me a degree and launched me into the business world. Going to school was just like being with family at Jackson State."

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Jackson State football: Teammate launched Emanuel Zanders' NFL career