Leading by example

The annual Tee-Cotton Bowl crowns a city champion in Ville Platte as it is played between Sacred Heart High School and Ville Platte High School. The team who emerges with bragging rights is presented a trophy in memory of Jerome Vidrine.
Vidrine was never able to play the game he loved and was never crowned a football champion, but he is considered a champion in a greater sense of the word.
According to Tee-Cotton Bowl Co-Founder Tim Fontenot, the trophy was named after Vidrine “because he had a heart of a champion.” Fontenot added, “Tad Tatman, the old coach at Sacred Heart, used to say, ‘If I had 11 players with Jerome Vidrine’s spirit, I could win state every year.’ Jerome would follow the Bulldogs, and, when they played out of town, he would go to the Trojans’ home games. He never quit, and he fought to his last day.”
Vidrine was born January 29, 1946, to Mr. and Mrs. Yves Vidrine. Years later, he and his older brother, Robley, developed a form of muscular dystrophy. The younger Vidrine brother’s form of muscular dystrophy was Frederich’s Ataxia.
According to a November 30, 1985, article in American Heartbeat, “Frederich’s Ataxia is an inherited disease of the central nervous, which was first identified by Nicholas Frederich in the early 1860s.”
The article continued, “Symptoms first make an appearance in childhood or early youth. They are a result of deterioration of the areas of the brain that control muscle coordination, the nerves, and the spinal chord.”
“He never could play football in school,” said Vidrine’s cousin Claire Brignac Horton, “but he was always the water boy. He would go to all the football games.”
Another of Vidrine’s cousins, Linda Szivos Klein, said he developed a relationship with Ville Platte High School Coach Tony Misita.
“When the coach moved,” Klein stated, “he would come get Jerome every year and bring him to a game where he coached.”
Vidrine also developed a relationship with former Alabama head coach Paul “Bear” Bryant, according to the September 9, 1990, edition of the Ville Platte Gazette. In that edition, Vidrine expressed Bryant was his favorite coach and said, “In 1974, he wrote to me. He also sent me a Crimson Tide cap and a jersey from former Bama quarterback Richard Todd.”
Even though he received gifts from “Bear” Bryant, Vidrine remained loyal to the LSU Tigers and the New Orleans Saints.
According to the American Heartbeat, “‘I haven’t given up on the Saints yet,’ he said.”
The article continued, “He recently attended the opening game of the season for LSU, who played Colorado State. A friend, Danny Lemoine, gave him the tickets. He was a special guest at the ‘Welcome Home’ party for the Dixie Youth champions this summer, and even rode in the parade. He speaks with great affection of two of his old coaches, (Dutton) Wall and Maseda.”
After Vidrine graduated from Ville Platte High School, he was a staple at pep rallies and on the sidelines at high school football games on Friday nights.
It was reported in the September 9, 1990, edition of the Ville Platte Gazette, “The most exciting game I ever saw was when Ville Platte defeated Eunice 28-0 in 1965. Glenn Lafleur and Richard Vidrine played great in that game. They were linebackers.”
Later in his adult life, Vidrine ran what Horton called a fruit stand where he sold vegetables. He would also faithfully attend Sunday family dinners.
“He always knew whose turn it was to cook on Sundays,” Horton said. “He would call me and say, ‘Claire, it’s your turn to cook. He enjoyed coming out of the nursing home.”
Horton continued, “He did pretty good for a long time. He was in a wheel chair and had a van. When we would cook on Sundays, he drove for a long time because it was equipped for him. But, then, Billy or J.L (Brignac) would go get him and drive his van.”
Vidrine is most fondly remembered here in Ville Platte and Lafayette for his work with the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Muscular Dystrophy Telethon which was broadcasted live every year on KLFY-Channel 10.
“He was very involved with muscular dystrophy,” Klein said. “He was a poster child almost. When he died, it was on the Lafayette news, and people from Lafayette came over for the funeral because of his involvement with the Jerry Lewis Telethon.”
“He went around collecting and getting people to donate to the Muscular Dystrophy Association almost until he died,” Klein continued. “He got some certificates and everything else acknowledging his work.”
Vidrine lost his mother in 1981 and stayed living on his own in the house. But, as Klein said, “he couldn’t do for himself, so they put him in the nursing home.” She added, “His high school friends were so good to him. They got him a subscription to The Gazette and would bring him sodas. The whole town was very good to him.”
Vidrine’s friends also made an annual Super Bowl pool to pay for his van insurance.
Even while living in the nursing home, Vidrine never gave up the will to get better.
American Heartbeat reported in 1985, “Jerome has more determination than most people you might meet. Nobody in his phase of Frederich’s Ataxia has ever walked again, but Jerome intends to do just that.”
The article continued, “‘If I ever beat this disease,’ he says, ‘I’d like to be a trainer at LSU. When I do my exercises, I say nothing good ever comes easy, and I say, never ever quit.’”
As he got older, complications with his medical condition became worse and worse. Klein said, “The sad thing with Jerome was he lost his ability to speak, and he had so much to say.”
She continued, “He still had his mind and kept up with things. It’s just he had a hard time communcating.”
Vidrine passed away at the age of 51 in 1997. He died a day after raising money for his 10th MDA telethon.
Prior to his death, Vidrine was quoted in the September 4, 1997, edition of The Gazette, “I hope everyone will continue to help and not forget that it is time again to collect for MDA.”
Vidrine’s other hobbies included bingo, pokeno, watching football games on television, and competing in wheelchair races at Senior Olympics. But, as for his family, he is most remembered for his drive. Horton concluded, “He always thought he would get better. He never gave up hope there would be a cure for him.”