Eastern Michigan Athletics
A Walk Through History: Palmer's Fantastic Four
10/17/2019 10:09:00 AM | Football, General
Author T.C. Cameron tells unknown tales from EMU Football's Past
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YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- It's a name and a game every Eastern Michigan football fan should know.
Richard 'Butch' Palmer started 33 consecutive games at cornerback from 1991-93, intercepting 10 passes, but the only evidence of Palmer's career is a VHS tape from Oct. 19, 1991.
That's the night EMU beat in-state rival Western Michigan, 42-24, at Rynearson Stadium. Plenty of good things happened for Eastern — Kwame McKinnon threw three touchdowns, two to Bryan Wauldron, and Craig Thompson ran a punt back 96 yards for a score — but nothing topped Palmer's school-record four interceptions, returning the last theft 76 yards for a touchdown to clinch the Eagles' victory.
A prep standout at Mt. Clemens High School, Palmer was recruited by Michigan until a riff between Palmer and his high school coach ended those possibilities. EMU coach Jim Harkema quickly signed Palmer, who redshirted in 1989 and didn't see action in 1990. He considered transferring until the fall camp of 1991, when two starters in the defensive secondary couldn't return due to poor grades.
"The coaches were nervous about me starting that season, but I was ready, though I had no idea what was ahead of me on that night," Palmer said.
The 1991 season was EMU's season first as Eagles, and five straight losses only compounded the unpopular nickname decision. At every home game that year, a "Forever Hurons" banner drew the game's largest cheers.
"The Huron was a large part of EMU's identity, and the alumni, fans and the entire university were upset about it," Palmer said, "but we had to play for each other as Eagles."
Just eight minutes into the game, Palmer found himself in perfect position to step in front of a Brad Tayles pass at the WMU 35-yard line, setting up a second McKinnon to Wauldron score to put Eastern up, 14-0. Early in the third quarter, EMU led 30-10 when Palmer struck again, intercepting Tayles at Eastern's 8. Later in the third, Tayles threw deep again, and who else, but Palmer, intercepted it at the 8.
Tayles was clearly confused by EMU's zone coverage disguised to look like man-to-man, and Palmer, with three interceptions and another pass defended, was having a game like no other in the history of the program.
Returning to the EMU sideline, a mob scene awaited, mentor Werner Blakely giving Palmer his biggest hug. He asked himself, "Can it get any better?"
The answer was yes, but not before Western rallied for back-to-back touchdowns to make it 30-24 with almost 14 minutes remaining. Eddie Nwagbaraocha's 36-yard score made it 36-24, but EMU's 2-point try failed, leaving the possibility of Western stealing a victory intact.
With 5:51 to play, the Broncos had a first down at the EMU 40-yard line when Tayles tried to throw over the middle. Palmer stepped in front and snared the ball, bounced off a teammate, then angled across the field before reaching full stride as he raced down the WMU sideline. The only obstacle to a touchdown was Tayles, who had the angle on a possible tackle, but he surrendered when Palmer dropped his shoulder in anticipation of a collision just a few yards from the goal line.
"As much as I wanted to score, I wanted to put a good lick on him," Palmer remembers. "Whether he didn't want to get hit or get hurt, he didn't want any of me."
That was not the case after the game outside EMU's locker room door. So many people were waiting for Palmer, he was forced to walk back onto the field and climb a stadium fence to circuitously reach his car.
The next day, the phone started to ring constantly in Jim Streeter's Sports Information office.
"Pre-Internet, it took the national media a day or two to find us, and because just a handful of games were televised and we played home games at 6 p.m., results weren't immediately known nationwide," Streeter said, "but had this happened today, everyone in the country would have known who 'Butch' was in a few hours."
It took a few days, but Palmer was a star. He was named Player of the Week by the Mid-American Conference, Sports Illustrated, the Sporting News and every publication imaginable covering college football. The Ann Arbor News, Ypsilanti Press, Detroit News and Detroit Free Press wrote full-length feature articles; interview requests in print and radio came in handfuls.
The following week, and throughout the rest of his career, several opponents refused to throw the football to Palmer's side of the field. In 1992, as EMU prepared for No. 2 Penn State, the matchup media fixated on was between Palmer and Penn State's O.J. McDuffie, one of the nation's best receivers, was talked about endlessly. It didn't materialize because McDuffie was an inside slot receiver often in motion away from Palmer's side for most of the game, but his reputation resonated nationally.
"A lot of guys might have had a big head over a game like that, but it never changed who he was," Harkema said. "Butch was a great football player but an even better person; he never stopped working hard."
Finishing 1991 with seven interceptions (fifth-best nationally), Palmer set the EMU season record with 219 return yards. He also helped EMU win four MAC track and field titles from 1989-93, running the long jump and triple jump.
Today, Palmer is an assistant principal at Anchor Bay High School, with a social work practice in Mt. Clemens, Mich. His four interceptions in a game may someday be duplicated, but the first memorable moment for the newly-named Eagles remains timeless.
"I loved being a Huron," said Palmer, whose Facebook profile picture is of him coming of field after that score. "but this was the first time people left the stadium talking about the game instead of the nickname."
—T.C. Cameron is the author of Miracle Maples (2019) and Navy Football: Return to Glory (2017). A 1995 graduate of EMU, he's lived in Annapolis, MD since 2009. Follow him on Twitter: @ByTCCameron
