Tyson to be inducted into WHS Walk of Fame

It was the fall of 1981 and the Washington defense — under the tutelage of legendary football coach Bing Mitchell — was known as one of the fiercest in the area.

The front seven were called the “bounty hunters,” notorious for hard hitting and a search-and-destroy-style of football. As a method of intimidation, embracing the gun-slinging nickname, the team hog-tied the ball boy, with his consent, during the ’81 season, the players and coaches surrounding the helpless 11 year old, brandishing rifles, shotguns and pistols — all unloaded of course.

“At one time they were going to hang me from the goalpost at Kugler Field with a noose,” he said jokingly, “but they decided not to do that.”

Utterly taboo by today’s standards and all in good fun, it was an image that will certainly live in infamy among those who were there. As for the ball boy, who was bestowed the nickname “Piggy” by a former player on the ’81 team, he went on to have an illustrious career at Washington High School and P.S. Jones Middle School as a football and softball coach.

On Friday, Jerome “Piggy” Tyson will etch his name into the Washington history books, officially becoming a member of the Washington Walk of Fame. The football team will honor him during the home game against West Craven, set to kickoff at 7:30 p.m.

“It’s just an honor that they did this to me. I bleed blue and white,” Tyson said. “I’m a Pam Pack all the way through. I love Washington High School and am proud to be a part of it.”

For 33 years, Tyson assumed some kind of role on the sidelines at Washington football games, whether that was as a ball boy, manager or coach. While only playing one year of football for the Pam Pack in 1986 as a sophomore, he spent four years as a varsity football, baseball and basketball manager. Then, during his junior and senior year, he stepped away from football to manage the track, basketball and softball teams.

From 1995-2001, Tyson coached the P.S. Jones football team, which notched a conference championship with an undefeated record in 2001. His success at the middle school level landed him back on the Pam Pack sidelines in 1999 as the junior varsity defensive coordinator. Two years later, he became responsible for the varsity defensive line once Sport Sawyer took over as head coach.

During his time with Big Blue, he coached Terrance Copper, a Division I talent who played for East Carolina and four NFL teams over the course of his career, and Jimmy Williams, a Pam Pack quarterback turned ECU receiver.

“It was a great honor to see these kids succeed and do great things in life,” Tyson said. “It’s not just them, any kid who I had something to do with their success, guiding them in the right direction, that’s such a reward for me. I like to see kids do good for themselves.”

Tyson’s sphere of influence didn’t stop at basketball. He spent time as an assistant and head girls’ softball coach, while being an advocate for youth sports as well, coaching rec baseball, football, basketball, softball and multiple All-Star teams over the years.

In 1992, Tyson landed Damien Wilkins, the nephew of nine-time NBA All-Star and Washington native Dominique Wilkins, on his Washington Youth Basketball League team. Damien went on to play basketball at N.C. State and Georgia, then playing for five NBA teams over nine years.

Tyson stepped down as Pam Pack coach in 2013 to help with the P.S. Jones football program, as his son, currently in sixth grade, tries to work his way through the same system. Tyson hopes to coach at the high school level again once his son reaches ninth grade.