Friday, February 20, 1998

Switzer takes stand, testifies he's not racist

By Ed Housewright

The Dallas Morning News

(KRT)

DALLAS - Former Dallas Cowboys' coach Barry Switzer tearfully testified Thursday that he is not a racist and apologized for cursing a man who is suing him.

"I love black people," Switzer said during a civil assault trial. "I have always felt comfortable around black people."

The attorney for the two black plaintiffs asked Switzer why he called one of them a "big son of a (expletive)" at a hotel in 1994, and said that "you could play for me."

Switzer responded that he meant the remarks playfully as "guy talk" and that he was shocked that Randy Mayes took offense. He said he tapped Mayes on the chest with the back of his hand, denying Mayes' contention that he hit him so hard that he forced him into a wall.

"It wasn't meant in a derogatory way," Switzer testified. "I've done it on many occasions. I'm a very animated guy."

He said he became angry when the other plaintiff, Stephon Bolton, called him a racist and threatened to sue him after he made contact with Mayes.

"I made a mistake and retaliated," Switzer said, referring to the expletive he used.

Then, his voice cracking with emotion, he recited actions that he said show his friendship with black people. He said he recruited black quarterbacks when he coached at the University of Oklahoma before many other colleges did. He said he helped start a scholarship fund for black students at OU. He said he pays the medical bills of a 97-year-old black woman who has been a longtime family friend.

Mayes and Bolton, both 36, are seeking $900,000 in damages for an Oct. 22, 1994, incident at the Melrose Hotel on Oak Lawn Avenue.

Before Switzer testified Thursday, a former executive director of the Texas Department of Commerce told the jury that Switzer appeared drunk and agitated when he encountered the two men.

Cathy Bonner, who was in Dallas as a consultant to Ann Richards' gubernatorial re-election campaign, said that Switzer struck Mayes so hard that he stumbled backward. She said she thought police should have arrested Switzer.

"He got up in their faces and shouted," said Bonner, who owns an advertising and public relations firm in Austin. "My feeling was that it was a racist attack. It was unprovoked."

Later Thursday, the head of security at the Melrose Hotel and a former bellman there testified that Switzer gently tapped Mayes on the chest with the back of his hand.

Immediately after the incident, Mayes and Bolton began discussing the possibility of a lawsuit in the lobby, said Patrick Eskew, a former bellman. He said he told a friend at the hotel that "this is getting hokey."

He said Switzer had been in the hotel several times before and had playfully grabbed some bellmen.

"We thought it was kind of neat that he was talking to us," Eskew said.

He and Joseph Johnson, the hotel's head of security, testified that they did not see Switzer grab Bolton, as he alleges.

Johnson said that Switzer did not appear drunk. Earlier Thursday, Switzer testified that he had had about three glasses of wine the evening of the encounter.

A longtime friend of Switzer's testified that she told the men that Switzer didn't mean any harm to them.

"I was confused about what they were concerned about," said Sharon Pyeatt of Norman, Okla., who was visiting Switzer with her husband. "I said, 'Barry was never meaning to be offensive. That's not his style. Barry is just a friendly, gregarious type of guy. I've seen him greet many people like that over the years.' "

She said that Switzer didn't understand why the men wanted an apology.

"Barry said, 'Did I really hurt you?' " Pyeatt testified. "He was probably a little sarcastic because he felt it was a little ridiculous."

The plaintiffs' attorney, Luis Avila, said he thought the hotel employees and Pyeatt had "come up with their own version of what happened."

"It's admirers helping the coach," Avila said in an interview.

(c) 1998, The Dallas Morning News.

Visit The Dallas Morning News on the World Wide Web at http://www.dallasnews.com/

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.