A Tulsan who's a champion of the NFL is also known for championing his hometown.
"I've lived a dream that, to most people, is really just a dream," said Reuben Gant.
Gant is a former pro athlete and longtime Greenwood advocate, but he says he prefers to go by "community servant."
The Tulsa native grew up blocks from Booker T. Washington High School. "On Trenton and St. Louis Avenue in a three-room home. Interestingly enough, I try to remember how my family fit into this home because I'm the youngest of eight children," says Gant.
As early as elementary school, he realized his height could take him places. "So I started playing basketball, football, and baseball," says Gant.
By 9th grade, scholarships to private high schools came rolling in. Gant tried out a few, but he said, "Walking down the hallways and being gazed at, I didn't feel comfortable."
Gant ultimately found his high school home at the Hive. "It was inspirational in a sense because I was around my peers—not necessarily my friends, but people who understood me from a personal perspective," said Gant.
At Booker T., he excelled in school and sports. He played football, basketball, and track. While his favorite sport was basketball, Gant's path forward was on the football field, where he played on three championship teams.
When I started getting scholarship offers, one of my requests was that if I accepted a football scholarship, I would also have the opportunity to play basketball.
Which in part led him to Oklahoma State University.
Gant said, "My mother died when I was 16. My stepfather died when I was 17, and my oldest brother died when I was 18, so I wanted to stay close to family."
Gant played football and basketball and studied corporate communications in Stillwater. He hadn't thought much about the NFL until the NFL came looking for him. A scout from the Oakland Raiders started it all. "He said we're going to draft you in the first round, so when we call you, come on out," said Gant.
The Raiders had pick 19, but the Buffalo Bills, who were number 18, got to Gant first. "I went from one extreme to another-- west coast sunny every day and cloudy now and then to near Siberia," said Gant.
So, in 1974 Gant went pro and to Buffalo. "I played with one of the most prolific football players in the country at the time, OJ Simpson. So, it was interesting because much attention was paid to the team. And we did pretty well in the early years. We were always in the playoffs, so I enjoyed myself," said Gant.
The tight end retired from the NFL in 1980 and returned to Tulsa a few years later, where he discovered a new calling. "Marilyn Harris, sister of Judge Jesse Harris, was involved with the Greenwood chamber and called me and asked me if I would be on their board. That was my first exposure to the story of Greenwood," said Gant.
He served as President of the Greenwood Chamber for 15 years and then helped create John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park, where he is Executive Director.
"The groundwork that we laid for all of these other things to occur in the Greenwood district from Greenwood Rising, to the interest now in the history of Greenwood, to the path of hope of Reconciliation Park, the memorial to EW Woods we've had out footprint on that, that's something we're proud of, and our work isn't done," said Gant.
As Gant looks to the future, he champions lessons of the past learned on the football field and around his hometown. He said, "Be whatever you want to be, but that takes commitment, that takes focus. It takes a willingness to compromise and extend the hand of help."
Want positive news in your email every Friday? SIGN UP for our Positively Oklahoma newsletter.
