By Lee Davis
In 2007, Edgar Welden was inducted into the Alabama High School Sports Hall of Fame.
As Welden is quick to say, the induction was not because of his playing days at Wetumpka High School in the late 1950s.
“I did set one record,” he said, laughing. “As a quarterback, I threw a 99-yard completion that didn’t go for a touchdown.”
Maybe Welden didn’t score that day, but he scored heavily for his community in the decades that followed. The 73-year old Mountain Brook resident has had his fingerprints on sports successes at all levels, particularly in high schools.
“Activities such as sports and band can be so good for a kid,” Weldon said last week. “Supporting those activities is a good investment in our young people.”
Welden’s overall work in the community has earned him yet another honor. The Alabama Sports Hall of Fame will honor him as its 2016 Distinguished American Sportsman at its annual induction ceremony in May. Previous honorees include legendary entertainer Bob Hope, former President George H.W. Bush and former Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs.
The decision came as a surprise to the recipient.
“They did it over the objections of the chairman,” joked Welden, who has been the chairman of the Hall of Fame since 2003.
Welden’s work with high school athletics includes his long-time efforts with the Crippled Children’s Foundation, for which he currently serves as chairman. In conjunction with the Monday Morning Quarterback Club, of which he is a board member, Welden helped coordinate efforts with the Alabama High School Athletic Association to bring all classifications of the high school football championships to Birmingham’s Legion Field in the 1990s.
He also was involved with efforts at about the same time to bring the boys and girls basketball championships to the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex in a Final Four setup.
“I really think putting the boys and the girls in the same venue was one of the best things that ever happened for girls basketball in the state,” Welden said. “We put them on equal footing with the boys and gave them a showcase they hadn’t had previously. Other states have followed our format.”
Welden always passes credit to others.
“Please understand that none of this is about me,” he said. “You can’t do anything without the hard work of a lot of people. I’ve been fortunate to be involved with great people who have wanted to make things happen.”
Helping Out the Schools
Perhaps Welden’s proudest achievement is the founding of the Birmingham Athletic Partnership in 2004. BAP is a non-profit organization that supports city of Birmingham public middle and high school athletic, band and cheerleader programs through financial and in-kind contributions.
“The city schools in Birmingham have a great athletic tradition,” Welden said. “But we realized that today a coach in Pratt City simply can’t compete with the suburban schools. Most didn’t have booster clubs. They needed support, and it just looked like a good project in which to be involved.”
There was some skepticism at first. “We had a meeting of the city coaches and athletic directors and said we want to help,” Welden recalled. “They had heard a lot of this kind of talk before. One even asked if we would still be around in three months. I assured him we would be.”
In 12 years, BAP has done much more than just be around. It has raised more than $3 million dollars to help city athletics.
“This is a giving community,” Weldon said. “So many folks in the business sector participated in high school athletics and want these kids to have the same experience, so this was a very easy sell.”
Mike Vest was the original executive director of BAP. Former Oak Mountain coach Toney Pugh presently directs the organization.
Welden’s athletic reach goes far beyond the high schools. He was a minority partner in the Birmingham Fire professional football team in the World League of American Football. He along with Alabama Sports Hall of Fame Executive Director Scott Myers and attorney David Benck spearheaded the successful bid to bring the 2021 World Games to Birmingham.
“We’ll be looking at an economic impact for the area of about $250 million,” Welden said. “Plus we’ll get incredible positive media exposure.”
Welden was also at the forefront of founding the Bryant-Jordan Student Athlete Program, which has provided thousands of dollars of college scholarship money to the state’s top scholar-athletes.
Ultimate Fan
As committed as Welden is to civic activism, he may enjoy being a sports fan even more. In 1997, he took a year off and traveled more than 120,000 miles to all 50 states and seven continents while attending more than 250 sporting events – ranging from the World Series and Super Bowl to the X-games and a regatta in Great Britain. He occasionally participated in the sport, such as the running of the bulls in Spain and the Alaskan Iditarod.
“When it came to the running of the bulls, I moved to the side very quickly,” he said, smiling. “In the Iditarod, the mayor of Anchorage was kind enough to give me his seat, so I got to ride in it.”
A trip to Antarctica rounded out Welden’s visit to all seven continents.
Welden chronicled his year in sports in the book Time Out! A Sports Fan’s Dream Year. He credits his wife, Louise, for the success of his world tour and for much of his activism. The couple has two children and seven grandchildren.
“Louise is a special lady to put up with all of my foolishness,” he said. “None of this would be possible without a wife who would let me do these crazy things.”
Sometimes Welden’s activism can take the role of being a promoter. In 2003, in an effort to promote the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, Welden, an avid tennis player, traveled to all the state’s 67 state counties to play the game. The only problem was that one county didn’t have a single tennis court within its boundaries. No problem. With characteristic resourcefulness, Welden played in the hallway of the county courthouse.
Welden, who was successful in the property management and mortgage business, has many outside interests beyond sports. He has long been a patron of the arts and humanities and is heavily involved in state and national politics. Welden served as chairman of the Alabama Republican Party in 1975-76 and served three terms as the state’s Republican National Committeeman.
With so much going on all the time, Welden needs someone to set his schedule. His long-time secretary Karen Pierce fills that role. “Please give Karen a lot of credit,” he said. “She tells me where I’m supposed to be.”
Blessed with good health, Welden said he has no plans to slow down.
“Maybe I need to retire,” he said. “But I’m just not ready yet.”
Edgar Welden may retire from business, but he’ll never retire from living life to the fullest.
