McClendon Studios Presents: Football Helmet/ Football Cleats

McClendon Studios Presents

Football Helmet and Cleats

Robert Bruce McClendon Jr. was also known as “Bones”.  He was a scrawny, skinny teenager.  He still went out for football.

When he first made the team, there weren’t enough helmets to go around. Bones went to the equipment area and found an old helmet.  It was scuffed up and beat up and very dirty.  He asked the coach if he could wear it if he cleaned it up.  The coach told him yes.

He painted it and polished it and got it looking really good.  He wore his helmet to the next game. He was extremely proud of that helmet.  

Not long into the game, one of the starters broke his helmet. The coach made Bones give his pretty helmet to the starter.

Sad and disappointed, Bones went back to the equipment room the next chance he got and found another helmet and fixed it up.  He got to keep this one. It wasn’t too long before he was a starter

Years later, Bones and his brother Carl were on the same football team. 

Johnston High School Varsity Football 1953

During one game, Carl was in and two large opponents decided to try to take Carl out.  They kept hammering at him and hammering at him.

After a few plays, Bones went to the coach and said “Put me in, coach.” He did this even though it would have him playing, “The opposite side of the ball”.

The coach got an evil grin and sent Bones in to play.

On the first down after Bones went in, he looked across to the opposing line and said to the bigger of the two offenders, “Get well soon”.

The ball was snapped and he made contact with the first of the two offenders.

He hit him so hard that the opponent could not get up.  They found his helmet on the other side of the field, split in half.  It was a very hard hit. The opponent just laid there in agony.  

Being the polite Southern boy he was, Bones decided that stomping on him with his football cleats would aid the guy in getting up.  Back in those days, football cleats had sharp, metal spikes.

Bones stomped on the first boy’s arms and legs with those cleats and did so much damage they had to load the boy in an ambulance.  No penalty was called.

Second down.  Bones crouched and looked across the line at the second boy

and said, “There is room for both of you in that ambulance”.

The ball was snapped and Bones made hard contact.  Down went the second of the two offenders.  Bones began his celebratory dance on the offender, stomping hard on his arms and legs.  The ambulance was called back.

Bones yelled across the line, “This is my brother Carl.  When you mess with him, I mess with you.”  He went back to the bench and sat down.  No one, not even his teammates, touched Carl the rest of the game.

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Chapter 6 Molly Grace The Hearing

Previous Chapter

Judge Harlan Walker had been the city judge longer than anyone could remember. He and Doc Jones had a standing date every Thursday afternoon to play dominos.

Everyone in the town knew Judge Walker and all considered him to be the most fair and honest man alive. He had tried to retire several times, but he was simply the only one qualified for the job.

In Texas, judges are elected. Even though it had been twenty years since Judge Walker had his name put on any ballot, he still managed to be elected by a landslide via write-in vote in each and every election.

Judge Walker was past ninety years old and still had a very keen mind and a grasp of the law that no one else seemed capable of. He could remember cases he had read back in law school and apply them appropriately.

As fair as he was, the man accused of probably killing his best friend and attempting to kidnap a sweet little girl with the biggest brown eyes now stood before him.


Robert complained that he was hurt very badly when Lucky “attacked” him. No one cared. Judge Walker said, “You have probably killed the only man within a hundred miles who could or would be able to help you. After your hearing, we will see if we can find anyone willing to tend to your medical needs.


Lucky spoke out and begged Judge Walker to release Robert on bond. The Judge knew that, if that happened, the chances that Robert would live to show up for his trial were slim. Judge Walker quickly ruled that he would have to deny bond for Robert since he was a flight risk and was accused of attempted murder and attempted kidnapping. He ruled that if Doc were to die, if in fact he had not already died, then the charges would be changed to murder.


When Lucky heard that Robert was going to be held without bail, he reached over to Bucky and slapped him. He then walked to the front of the courtroom and said, “Your honor, I wish to plead not guilty to assaulting an officer.” Judge Walker set the bail at $50. Lucky said “Your honor, I refuse to pay it.” Judge Walker ordered that Lucky be held in lieu of bail.


Iron Mike was the next to assault an officer. He slapped Jimmy very lightly and went forward and pled not guilty. He, too, was held in lieu of bail. The forty bikers, and all the patrons of Iron Mike’s Pub, committed mutual assault and pled guilty. Each one was held in lieu of bail.


In Pigeon Hole Texas, the local jail has two holding cells. Robert was placed in cell number one and several of the other prisoners were placed in the cell with him. There were simply too many prisoners to be held by both cells, so Austin, the jailer, decided that he should just leave both cell doors open.

That was the only way he could see that each prisoner would have a chance to use the restroom or get a drink of water. There was a large common area outside of the cells that was separated from the rest of the building by a locking door with bars. He felt that most of his prisoners could be trusted to not escape.

The next morning Robert was released from jail without bond. He was no longer a flight risk. John “Digger” McCloud came by to pick him up and take him to his place of business, McCloud’s Funeral Home. There was not enough evidence to determine who, if anyone, assisted him in the termination of oxygen exchange that evening. No one saw anything. No one noticed that he was lying on the one and only cot in cell one.

Bucky asked Judge Walker to drop the charges against Lucky.  When he did so, Judge Walker dropped the charges against all the other prisoners.  No one wanted to press charges against anyone.


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