PB Hall of Fame: Austin Tinsley

Austin Tinsley speaks during the Poplar Bluff Sports Hall of Fame banquet Thursday night at the 5th & 6th Grade Center. (DAR/Brian Rosener)

Austin Tinsley was inducted into the Poplar Bluff Sports Hall of Fame for a second time Thursday night at the 29th annual banquet.

Tinsley and his teammates from the 1990 Mules football team were inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2003.

"Football is such a team sport," Tinsley said after the event. "To have personal recognition is sometimes difficult. I look at all the guys like (Shane) Kearbey and the linemen blocking for me and everything else.

"It's extremely difficult to accept an individual honor without thanking them."

Tinsley also thanked his coaches, including Paul Webber and Jim Brown who introduced Tinsley, as well as his family, adding that his parents never missed a football game from "Fred M. Morrow Stadium to the Orange Bowl."

Tinsley still holds records for rushing yards in a game (302), season (1,671) and career along with records for touchdowns in a game (6) and career (45). He played on undefeated teams in eighth and ninth grade before the '90 Mules were unbeaten in the regular season and reached the state quarterfinals.

During his career at Arkansas State University, he had 100-plus rushing yards against Miami, Missouri State and Virginia Tech twice.

Tinsley told the story during his speech of how during the first game of his junior year, Kearbey called for a fake punt on a fourth-and-12 play from the Mules' 8-yard line. His throw to Tinsley went for a touchdown, then the longest in team history. After the game when asked about the play, Tinsley said Kearbey's response was "I knew Austin would catch it."

Tinsley said that play was instrumental in his career and that season, during which the Mules won 11 straight as Tinsley ran for over 100 yards eight times.

"When you play you don't think about it, you're out there and it's just a rush. You live for the moment with your teammates," Tinsley later said. "It's nice to accomplish that but at the same time, those are things for the records and records are made to be broken."

Tinsley's touchdown record may not last much longer with current Mules running back Zach Ferguson one shy heading into tonight's homecoming game against Cape Central. Tinsley said it would be even more special for Ferguson to break his career rushing record the same year he's inducted. Ferguson needs 409 more rushing yards to do just that.

When he chased the record in 1991, Tinsley said Mike Moss, who held the record and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2004, was there to congratulate him, adding, "I want to do the same thing for Zach."

In the weeks leading up to his record-setting night of 302 yards against Kennett, Tinsley had fumbled six times in two games.

Moss talked with Tinsley and coach Paul Webber gave his senior a football to carry around school the entire week.

"I walked around the entire high school, the entire week with a football stuck in my side," Tinsley recalled. "It was a nice little lesson I learned. (Coach Webber) always did neat little things like that."

Here's a story from June 24, 2004 by Jeff McNiell:

On the football field and ultimately through his professional life, Austin Tinsley has always dedicated himself to the task at hand.

The summer between his junior and senior years he worked out three times a day and ate massive amounts of protein to bulk up from 170 to 195 pounds. The result was the top rushing season in Mules history by more than 100 yards and the No. 1 spot on the team's career list. He later took a leap of faith from a secure job at the hospital into the business world. That result was a physical therapy business alongside Casey that has grown exponentially every year.

It's been nearly a decade since Tinsley strapped on a pair of shoulder pads or buckled a chin strap. But as he reclines in a chair at his office, recalling those moments when he did gives him chills. Tinsley says he still gets nervous on Friday mornings before a big game.

With a rare mix of speed, agility and brute strength, Tinsley rewrote the rushing records at Poplar Bluff in the early 1990s. He owns eight school records: career rushing yards (3,178), single-season rushing yards (1,671), single-game rushing yards (302), touchdowns in a game (six), touchdowns in a career (45), points in a game (36), carries in a year (233) and carries in a career (502).

"He was so balanced. He always ran with his shoulders parallel and his knees up," said strength and conditioning coach Jim Brown, a Mules defensive coordinator in 1990. "When you weigh 195 pounds, you're going to get somebody's attention when you keep those shoulders squared up. That's what made him so tough. A lot of people thought they might have him down or might knock him off balance, but because his balance was there he just kept going. His records speak for it."

Tinsley, whose old No. 45 jersey hangs in a local McDonalds, was a big part of reviving football in Poplar Bluff. Under coach Paul Webber and with several teammates Tinsley still considers close friends, the 1990 Mules turned a perennial losing program into a winner. That team -- the only 10-0 team in school history -- was inducted last year into the Poplar Bluff Sports Hall of Fame.

Tinsley proved to be a dangerous weapon in the Mules' run-and-shoot attack. He gained 1,346 yards -- now fourth all-time -- and had a 92-yard touchdown reception that established a school record. One of his biggest plays was early in the season against Blytheville, Ark. when Tinsley slipped outside and dove into the pylon for the only touchdown in a muddy early-season victory that sparked the Mules' undefeated regular season.

Despite his success, Tinsley was approached by Webber and Brown during the offseason. They told him he needed to bulk up for his senior season, and Tinsley did. Beginning at 5:30 a.m., Tinsley lifted weights, ate, took part in a polymetrics session, ate again and finished his day with a sprinting workout. That tireless work and 200 grams of protein per day resulted in a 25-pound weight gain.

"My entire senior year I did nothing but dedicate myself to football," Tinsley said.

That dedication produced the top rushing season in Mules' history. Behind an offensive line that averaged 175 pounds -- only Brian Wisdom outweighed him -- Tinsley topped Mike Moss' previous single-season rushing record by 128 yards.

"I simply told him the possibility of reaching his highest potential had to start in the weight room, and that's all it took," Brown said. "From that point on, the kid never missed a workout, was never late -- if you can hardly believe that because they're always late for church. But he never missed a workout and was never an attitude problem. We made the recommendation and he followed it."

After considering Missouri and Alabama, Tinsley chose to follow former Air Force Academy coach Ray Perkins to Arkansas State. But Perkins left for the New England Patriots after just one year, leaving Tinsley in a six-year quagmire.

Following his freshman season, Tinsley sustained a knee injury that cost him his entire second season. He played another year before breaking his scapula -- the first documented injury of that sort in Division I history. Tinsley, who previously hadn't missed a game due to injury in his career, suddenly couldn't escape the injury bug.

He said he had to fight the temptation to give up during those trying years.

"To be honest with you, my parents would never let me quit anything," Tinsley said. "I'd call them and say, 'Hey, this is horrible and I don't know if I can handle this anymore.' They'd say, 'Oh yeah, you can.' It was a 'You're not coming home type of situations.'

"It's a very difficult and challenging situation, but at the same time, it teaches you about life. Football is a game I'll take with me forever. Not necessarily the sport itself, but just the lessons in life."

Tinsley preserved through the injuries and with the help of two medical hardship redshirts, produced some memorable moments. His 72-yard touchdown run against Louisiana Lafayette in '95 earned him college football's AT&T Long Distance award of the week. His final year in '97, Tinsley rushed for 100 yards against Miami at the Orange Bowl, then the following week had career highs of 142 yards and three touchdowns against Southwest Missouri State.

Tinsley tested well for several professional scouts -- he ran a 4.41 40, benched 460 pounds and squatted 650 -- and was invited to a NFL combine. But he never went. Upon graduating with a BS in Biology and Master's in Exercise Physiology, Tinsley began working for an occupational medical clinic in Jonesboro.

"I don't regret anything," Tinsley said. "You can't go back and say, 'I wish I would have done this, I wish I could have done that.' What I have now -- I don't care if I would have played in the NFL. You can only do that so long. I've got a wonderful company, a wonderful family and I live in a wonderful community. I wouldn't trade any of those things."

Upon returning to Poplar Bluff after a school shooting in Jonesboro spooked he and his wife, Tinsley was hired as the director of out-patient services by Tenet Healthcare Systems. He was home, but he wasn't completely happy. During a 6 a.m. workout just two years into his job, Tinsley and former teammate Chad Casey decided it was time to pursue their dream of opening a physical therapy company. Of course, giving up a secure, well-paying job wasn't a popular decision.

"He put in his notice, I put in my notice, we put up our houses, dogs, cars and everything we owned and started a business," Tinsley said. "I remember my wife saying, 'Austin, what have you done?' I was taking home a fraction, a quarter, of what I was bringing home when I was at the hospital. I said, 'Honey trust me,' but I wasn't sleeping at night."

It didn't take long for the bold move to look brilliant. Since forming Ozark Physical Therapy in 2001, Tinsley and Casey have branched their services throughout the area. They've hired 65 employees and opened four clinics. They provide services in physical therapy, sports medicine, therapeutic rehabilitation and cardiopulmonary rehabilitation. Just last year, Tinsley took on another task as executive director of Health First/Independent Physicians Alliance where he provides help to about 75 area physicians.

"It's a special partnership. There's a brotherly love between us and we have a lot of respect for each other," Casey said. "He's a very talented and intelligent business man. I respect his decisions and interpretations of things. He brings to much to the table as not only a partner and business man, but a friend. It's nice to have that in a business and partnership."

Although his playing days are over, Tinsley has managed to stay close to the action. He and Casey volunteer their time as trainers for the Poplar Bluff football team. They also provide free services for other high school athletic teams.

"We love high school athletes. That's our absolute passion," Tinsley said.

It's even more special with Tinsley's younger brother, Todd, carrying on the family tradition in the Mules' backfield. Wearing the same No. 45 his brother wore, Todd became the first eighth grader and last year just the 13th varsity running back in Poplar Bluff history to rush for more than 1,000 yards.

Although it's unlikely Todd will break his brother's career rushing record -- he needs 1,972 yards, which would set a new single-season mark -- Austin will be right there, pulling for him to do it.

"Right now I'm in a situation where I can actually live through my little brother," Austin Tinsley said. "That makes it even more special. Just being around, watching him makes me re-live football.

"Who better to break my records than my little brother? It's not really breaking my records, it's strengthening my records because I live through him now. Eventually it's going to happen and if it does, I want him to do it."