CAMDEN, N.J. – Coppin State Director of Athletics Derrick Ramsey beamed with pride while providing a driving tour of his hometown of Camden, New Jersey Wednesday afternoon.
He posed for pictures, drove down the block where he lived, pointed out great places to eat along spots he used to frequent and shared lots of stories to members of his staff that accompanied him on a special trip back home. Mostly, he was excited to visit a special place where he created many memories and developed into one of the greatest athletes in the long and distinguished history of Camden High School affectionately known as “The High” or “The Castle on the Hill.”
Ramsey was in town because he was inducted into the Camden Schools Foundation Third Annual Hall of Fame Wednesday, Feb. 26 at Tavistock Country Club in Haddonfield, New Jersey.
“It meant the world to me because Camden is where I got part of my start,” Ramsey said. “While I was there two years and the people of Camden embraced me like I was born there. To be inducted with such a distinguished group of people is amazing. I wear it as a badge of honor graduating from Camden High School.”
Prior to joining eight other Hall of Fame inductees who were graduates of the Camden City Public Schools who have since given back to the school system and district of Camden, Ramsey along with Coppin State’s Director of Compliance, Wheeler Brown and Assistance Athletic Director for Compliance Thomas Strause gave a brief compliance clinic to some of the Camden head coaches and athletic administrators.
Following that Ramsey spoke with three of Camden’s promising student-athletes and stressed the importance of education. In addition, he hammered the point that athletics is one tool to achieving academic excellence and having doors opened. He left them with the message of “It’s not where you start from, but where you end up.”
Those points were even the theme of his three-minute induction speech. He expressed an appreciation for Camden and showed tremendous gratitude to his former principal, Riletta Cream. He was happy to recount the many run-ins with the loving Cream, who provided some impactful words of wisdom to Ramsey during his time at Camden.
Ramsey remembered one specific time when he was two minutes late to school and Cream pulled him to the side and put her arm around the 6 foot, 5 inch Ramsey and said to him in a stern, yet loving voice, “this won’t happen again, right?”
Ramsey was never late to school again.
“This entire day was a nice and humbling experience for me,” Ramsey said. “It’s always great to come back home. To be recognized by this organization for my contributions to Camden is something I will always remember and never forget. I think one of the amazing things about the night was the amount of appreciation everybody had for Mrs. Cream. That spoke volumes. She was caring and loving.”
After starring at Camden High School, Ramsey accepted a scholarship to play quarterback at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. Before he threw a pass or won a game, Ramsey made history at Kentucky becoming the first African-American quarterback in school history. In 1976 Ramsey won the starting quarterback job as a junior and led the Wildcats to a 9-3 record and a 21-0 victory over North Carolina in the Peach Bowl.
The following season, despite underwhelming predictions from the outside, the 1977 Wildcats had their best season in nearly 25 years as Ramsey set multiple records en route to leading Kentucky to a 10-1 record and number six national ranking in the final poll released by the Associated Press. Ramsey was named first team All-Southeastern Conference and third-team All-American by United Press International.
His college career came to an end in the spring of 1978 when the Oakland Raiders drafted Ramsey in the fifth round of the NFL Draft with the intention of using him at tight end. Over his nine year playing career, Ramsey played in the NFL for the Raiders, New England Patriots and Detroit Lions.
In January of 1981 Ramsey won a Super Bowl ring when the underdog Raiders prevailed 27-10 over the Eagles. In 1983 Ramsey began his career with the Patriots, but it wasn’t until the following season that he had his best professional season. In 1984 Ramsey played in all 16 of the Patriots games, starting 13 at tight end. He finished the season with 66 catches for 792 yards and scored seven touchdowns, all career-highs.
In 1985 Ramsey once again reached the NFL’s biggest stage, but the Patriots could not stop the Chicago Bears who rolled to a 46-10 victory in Super Bowl XX. Ramsey finished the game with two catches for 16 yards, but it would be his final appearance in a Super Bowl.
Ramsey earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree in General Studies with an emphasis on Communications from Kentucky and received his Master’s Degree in Sports Administration from Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, Kentucky. He is a member of the Black Coaches Association as well as the National Football League Players Association. A member of the University of Kentucky Hall of Fame and All-Time Football team, Ramsey had his Kentucky jersey retired in 1992.
The Camden Schools Foundation is a nonprofit organization designed to support scholarships and cultural experiences for children in the Camden Schools. To date, the foundation has distributed over $300,000 to students and programs of the Camden City Schools.