Reading the paper today, I’m reminded of a visit to a notable sports figure’s home many years ago
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About 11 or 12 years ago when I was writing sports memorabilia articles for the Houston Chronicle, I got a phone call from a man who said he had a huge collection of Muhammad Ali, Kansas City Chiefs and other miscellaneous sports items and asked if I was interested in buying his collection. I wasn’t sure if the guy was for real, but he invited me to his house, which was in one of the worst neighborhoods in Houston and I reluctantly went over to his house on a Sunday afternoon.
As I recall, the house was painted a really bright and loud gold color and I knocked on the door and this huge man comes to the door and introduces himself as Lloyd Wells. He invited me in and told me that he was a sports reporter for a local black newspaper for many years and is personal friends with just about all of the local black athletes in town and still scouts for the Kansas City Chiefs. He also told me he was a personal friend of Muhammad Ali. The house was definitely a bachelor pad. He had at least 200 photos on the wall of different women – all in bed naked or partially naked (I assumed these were his “conquests”).
He showed me lots stuff – such as boxing trunks he claimed belonged to Ali from one of his biggest title fights. He also told me that the white Cadillac sitting beside his house was a gift from Ali. He told me that he worked with the Kansas City Chiefs and showed me pictures of himself with Hank Schramm. The only Chiefs memorabilia he had besides some pictures were some navy colored sports jackets with a Chiefs logo on the pocket. He said he didn’t remember if they belonged to anyone famous. He also had tons of ticket stubs, programs, press passes and some pretty impressive photographs – many with himself with a famous athlete. He also showed me an issue of Sports Illustrated from the ‘70s which had a feature article about him.
When it came around to discussing prices, to my disappointment Lloyd was in a different galaxy. He wanted $15,000 for the Ali trunks and $500 for each Chief’s sport coat, and completely absurd prices for ticket stubs – some less than a year old and he wanted over face value (and remember this was circa 1994). As tactfully as possible I tried to tell him he was way off on his prices – even the Ali trunks (unless there’s an easy way to authenticate them and even if he could, there’s no way I’d spend even a fraction of that price unless I knew I could flip them). After about 10 minutes he got pretty irate and basically told me to leave, but I did leave a business card and told him to check around town and see what other offers he could get and then give me a call. I never heard from him.
A few years later I was watching HBO and they had a special on the old AFL and sure enough they showed some footage of the same Lloyd Wells and mentioned that he was a major influence on getting black players to sign and play in the AFL.
Today while reading the morning newspaper, I read that Lloyd Wells just passed away. He was put in an assisted care facility several years ago, so I’m sure his memorabilia was either sold or given to family or friends.
It’s a shame he and I never got back together on his collectibles, but at least that two hour visit to his house was something that I’ll never forget.
From today's Houston Chronicle:
Sept. 14, 2005, 11:06PM
Adviser to Ali dies at 78
Wells, long a part of Houston sports scene, also served as Chiefs scout
By W.H. STICKNEY JR.
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
Lloyd C.A. Wells, former Muhammad Ali confidant, scout for the American Football League's Kansas City Chiefs and a longtime figure on the Houston sports scene, has died of complications from Alzheimer's disease, according to his daughter, Melanie Ratliff.
Wells was 78 when he died at 7:45 a.m. Monday at Hermann Park Manor in Houston.
"He was as close to me as my brother," Ali said through a spokesman, Gene Kilroy. "I am so sad about (Wells' passing). I feel like I've lost a part of myself."
An ex-Marine sergeant, Wells was a professional photographer in Houston for more than five decades. He worked for the Chiefs beginning in the 1960s, and during the 1970s he became an adviser to Ali, the first three-time world heavyweight champion, and served in that capacity for eight years.
Wells also was an adviser to former five-time world champion Thomas "Hit Man" Hearns, who at age 47 has recently resumed his boxing career.
Reward for class act
George Foreman, who in 1994 at the age of 45 became the oldest world heavyweight champion, employed Wells as a member of his publicity team when Foreman fought Crawford Grimsley in Tokyo in 1996.
"He lent a lot more (to the Houston sports scene) than you could imagine," said Foreman, "because he was always so 'class' to all of us. Although he used to be with Muhammad Ali, the last fight I had in Japan, I took him along. So we got a chance to re-bond."
In football, Wells was responsible for the signings of eight college players who went on to All-Pro careers with the Chiefs, including wide receiver Otis Taylor of Houston Worthing and Prairie View A&M, Buck Buchanan of Grambling and Curley Culp of Arizona State. Culp later played for the Oilers.
David Lattin, another Worthing product, said he attended Texas-El Paso because of Wells. Lattin was captain of the Miners, then known as Texas Western, when they became the first basketball team with five black starters to capture an NCAA championship (1966).
When asked what Wells meant to him, Lattin said: "Everything. He was a very close friend, like a father, a mentor, someone I could talk to about anything in regard to wisdom. I learned how to dress, how to deal with people. In fact, I just learned everything from him."
Lattin said Wells indirectly influenced the Miners' championship run.
Lattin said he and several teammates were in jeopardy of being suspended for one game each by coach Don Haskins for breaking curfew. But Wells received permission from the Chiefs to travel to El Paso, where he met with Haskins and convinced him to lift the suspensions, said Lattin.
At the start of the championship game against Adolph Rupp's all-white Kentucky Wildcats, Lattin dunked over Pat Riley on a play that served as a springboard for the Miners' 72-65 triumph and a piece of basketball history.
Wells spent three years at Hermann Park Manor, a convalescent home in the Third Ward. He earlier had received treatment at a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital.
"That first time (at the VA hospital), he called in on my radio show live," said KCOH sportscaster Ralph Cooper, a Wells protégé since the mid-1970s. "He said, 'Judge, they're holding me hostage!' This was live, now. 'Judge, they're holding me hostage. Come get me.' "
Cooper said friends and some family members initially balked at Wells' being placed at Hermann Park Manor but "later realized that was best for him."
"The telltale signs were already there," said Cooper. "He stopped eating, and he also stopped taking care of himself."
Funeral set for Tuesday
Funeral services — handled through the Ross Mortuary (713-223-8071) on Lyons Avenue — will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church.
A private interment and memorial service will follow at an undisclosed location.
Wells is survived by a sister, Dr. Thelma Wells Adams of Toledo, Ohio; brother Archie Wells, who resides at Hermann Park Manor; daughters Melanie Ratliff of Houston, Allison Smith and Karen Wells; and eight grandchildren.
"The ol' Marine sergeant is gone," said Cooper. "We're all going to miss him."
william.stickney@chron.com
link
As I recall, the house was painted a really bright and loud gold color and I knocked on the door and this huge man comes to the door and introduces himself as Lloyd Wells. He invited me in and told me that he was a sports reporter for a local black newspaper for many years and is personal friends with just about all of the local black athletes in town and still scouts for the Kansas City Chiefs. He also told me he was a personal friend of Muhammad Ali. The house was definitely a bachelor pad. He had at least 200 photos on the wall of different women – all in bed naked or partially naked (I assumed these were his “conquests”).
He showed me lots stuff – such as boxing trunks he claimed belonged to Ali from one of his biggest title fights. He also told me that the white Cadillac sitting beside his house was a gift from Ali. He told me that he worked with the Kansas City Chiefs and showed me pictures of himself with Hank Schramm. The only Chiefs memorabilia he had besides some pictures were some navy colored sports jackets with a Chiefs logo on the pocket. He said he didn’t remember if they belonged to anyone famous. He also had tons of ticket stubs, programs, press passes and some pretty impressive photographs – many with himself with a famous athlete. He also showed me an issue of Sports Illustrated from the ‘70s which had a feature article about him.
When it came around to discussing prices, to my disappointment Lloyd was in a different galaxy. He wanted $15,000 for the Ali trunks and $500 for each Chief’s sport coat, and completely absurd prices for ticket stubs – some less than a year old and he wanted over face value (and remember this was circa 1994). As tactfully as possible I tried to tell him he was way off on his prices – even the Ali trunks (unless there’s an easy way to authenticate them and even if he could, there’s no way I’d spend even a fraction of that price unless I knew I could flip them). After about 10 minutes he got pretty irate and basically told me to leave, but I did leave a business card and told him to check around town and see what other offers he could get and then give me a call. I never heard from him.
A few years later I was watching HBO and they had a special on the old AFL and sure enough they showed some footage of the same Lloyd Wells and mentioned that he was a major influence on getting black players to sign and play in the AFL.
Today while reading the morning newspaper, I read that Lloyd Wells just passed away. He was put in an assisted care facility several years ago, so I’m sure his memorabilia was either sold or given to family or friends.
It’s a shame he and I never got back together on his collectibles, but at least that two hour visit to his house was something that I’ll never forget.
From today's Houston Chronicle:
Sept. 14, 2005, 11:06PM
Adviser to Ali dies at 78
Wells, long a part of Houston sports scene, also served as Chiefs scout
By W.H. STICKNEY JR.
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
Lloyd C.A. Wells, former Muhammad Ali confidant, scout for the American Football League's Kansas City Chiefs and a longtime figure on the Houston sports scene, has died of complications from Alzheimer's disease, according to his daughter, Melanie Ratliff.
Wells was 78 when he died at 7:45 a.m. Monday at Hermann Park Manor in Houston.
"He was as close to me as my brother," Ali said through a spokesman, Gene Kilroy. "I am so sad about (Wells' passing). I feel like I've lost a part of myself."
An ex-Marine sergeant, Wells was a professional photographer in Houston for more than five decades. He worked for the Chiefs beginning in the 1960s, and during the 1970s he became an adviser to Ali, the first three-time world heavyweight champion, and served in that capacity for eight years.
Wells also was an adviser to former five-time world champion Thomas "Hit Man" Hearns, who at age 47 has recently resumed his boxing career.
Reward for class act
George Foreman, who in 1994 at the age of 45 became the oldest world heavyweight champion, employed Wells as a member of his publicity team when Foreman fought Crawford Grimsley in Tokyo in 1996.
"He lent a lot more (to the Houston sports scene) than you could imagine," said Foreman, "because he was always so 'class' to all of us. Although he used to be with Muhammad Ali, the last fight I had in Japan, I took him along. So we got a chance to re-bond."
In football, Wells was responsible for the signings of eight college players who went on to All-Pro careers with the Chiefs, including wide receiver Otis Taylor of Houston Worthing and Prairie View A&M, Buck Buchanan of Grambling and Curley Culp of Arizona State. Culp later played for the Oilers.
David Lattin, another Worthing product, said he attended Texas-El Paso because of Wells. Lattin was captain of the Miners, then known as Texas Western, when they became the first basketball team with five black starters to capture an NCAA championship (1966).
When asked what Wells meant to him, Lattin said: "Everything. He was a very close friend, like a father, a mentor, someone I could talk to about anything in regard to wisdom. I learned how to dress, how to deal with people. In fact, I just learned everything from him."
Lattin said Wells indirectly influenced the Miners' championship run.
Lattin said he and several teammates were in jeopardy of being suspended for one game each by coach Don Haskins for breaking curfew. But Wells received permission from the Chiefs to travel to El Paso, where he met with Haskins and convinced him to lift the suspensions, said Lattin.
At the start of the championship game against Adolph Rupp's all-white Kentucky Wildcats, Lattin dunked over Pat Riley on a play that served as a springboard for the Miners' 72-65 triumph and a piece of basketball history.
Wells spent three years at Hermann Park Manor, a convalescent home in the Third Ward. He earlier had received treatment at a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital.
"That first time (at the VA hospital), he called in on my radio show live," said KCOH sportscaster Ralph Cooper, a Wells protégé since the mid-1970s. "He said, 'Judge, they're holding me hostage!' This was live, now. 'Judge, they're holding me hostage. Come get me.' "
Cooper said friends and some family members initially balked at Wells' being placed at Hermann Park Manor but "later realized that was best for him."
"The telltale signs were already there," said Cooper. "He stopped eating, and he also stopped taking care of himself."
Funeral set for Tuesday
Funeral services — handled through the Ross Mortuary (713-223-8071) on Lyons Avenue — will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church.
A private interment and memorial service will follow at an undisclosed location.
Wells is survived by a sister, Dr. Thelma Wells Adams of Toledo, Ohio; brother Archie Wells, who resides at Hermann Park Manor; daughters Melanie Ratliff of Houston, Allison Smith and Karen Wells; and eight grandchildren.
"The ol' Marine sergeant is gone," said Cooper. "We're all going to miss him."
william.stickney@chron.com
link
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