By Michael Butler
One of Hot’s boys passed away this week. Eddie Frank Britt died on Monday, July 7. He was 94.
Britt was an all-state back at Tallassee for J.E. “Hot” O’Brien in the late 1940s. After high school, he was offered a scholarship by the University of Alabama.
Britt’s story of playing football at Tallassee is an interesting one. He lived in Reeltown, so getting to and from town was a challenge.
“Reeltown did not have a football team,” Britt said in a WTLS interview. “That was seven miles from the river bridge to my house where I grew up and many a night I would walk. The walking home was sometimes scary because I was the only one on the road at dark.
“The teacherage was over by the school. Ben Davis dated a lady from over there. Their night out was Wednesday. They’d pick me up a lot of times. During those times, there weren’t many vehicles on the road. I had a ride in the morning with a barber, Versel Baker.”
Front row (left to right): A.D. Ballard, Jackie Williams, Billy McKenzie, Morris Gaither, Hasty Golden, Coach O’Brien, Clarence Jones, Billy Richburg, Bud Turner. Second row: Coach Clyde Pruitt (standing), Monroe Gaither, Glynn Lambert, Billy Brewer, Jack Hethcox, Jesse Holoway, Horace Milton, Bobby Joe Hardy. Third row: unknown, Roy Billings, Billy Catchings, Rudolph Taunton, Theron Ledbetter, Charles Stevenson, Willie Joe Ballard, Coach Louie Harrelson (standing). Fourth row: Byron Nelson, Robert Earl “Buckshot” Maddox (behind Nelson), Billy Taylor, Lloyd Rodgers, Bobby Roper, John Earl Hethcox, Billy Wilson, Eddie Frank Britt (44), Bobby Joe Meadows, Bobby Spears, Coach Bennie Little (in red shirt). Fifth row: Joe Bryan, Charles Butler, Charles Stough, Barry Glass, Dan Allen Mason, Leonard “Ponty” McGarr, Ray Atkins, unknown, Donald Warren. Back row: Fred Harper, Donald Jones, Joe Rutland, Bobby Burnett, Billy Stokes, unknown, Howard Tippett.
Britt’s first year on the team was in 1947, the year O’Brien’s 57-game unbeaten streak came to an end. The stretch of six seasons without a defeat ended on Nov. 14 at Cramton Bowl in Montgomery. The Tigers lost to Sidney Lanier 21-7.
“”I did not play that night. I had a hurt leg,” he said. “At that time, Lanier was the only public high school in Montgomery. They had about 135 players out. We had about 35.”
Britt’s respect for O’Brien was unrivaled.
“O’Brien was devoted to the game and to young people. He really liked young people. He was a wonderful coach, friend and person.”
Britt served in the National Guard and the Korean War. He worked for 36 years with Southern Natural Gas, retiring in 1992. He also raised cattle and was named “Cattleman of the Year” in 2004.
Services will be on Saturday, July 12 at noon at First Methodist Church in Tallassee. Visitation will be at 11 a.m.
Tallassee Times 
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