NATCHEZ — Two weeks before the start of football practice at Ole Miss, Natchez native Bob Priester and teammate Hugh Shelton were hard at work.

The two had decided to meet up in preparation for the gauntlet awaiting them, which was Ole Miss football.

“Being a freshman player at Ole Miss was a big deal,” Shelton said. “They signed a lot of guys and just weeded us out.”

Priester traveled to Baton Rouge to train with Shelton, while Shelton returned the favor by coming to Natchez.

“We ran twice a day,” Shelton said. “We ran the hill in Natchez down and back up. He was in such great shape and I was barely making it. I remember him running backwards laughing at me.”

So when his friend, teammate and roommate dropped dead on Aug. 31, 1965, while running a few days before official practice started for Ole Miss, Shelton was floored.

“It was a huge event in my life, and I became disillusioned about what the glory of football would be,” he said.

Shelton said the tests were tough from Ole Miss head coach Johnny Vaught.

“We had to run a six-minute mile,” Shelton said. “In 1964-65, we didn’t know about running heel-toe, so your calves would pump up and you could hardly run with about 2:20 left. It was tough for the big boys.”

Shelton said he remembers the day vividly, especially seeing his friend not looking like he normally did.

“We were sitting on the steps about one-third of the way around the track, and Bob came around and was obviously struggling,” Shelton said. “He was tired, and we didn’t know what was wrong. I had never seen him like that. Then with about 110 yards left he just passed out. Coach started hollering to get up, and that was his first reaction because Bob was in great shape. He was like a lean deer.”

Priester’s older sister, Jan Byrne, was also taken aback by the devastating news.

“They said he was the finest specimen of a human being they had examined,” said Byrne of the doctors who performed the autopsy. “It was without a doubt one of the hardest times of my life.”

At the end of August, the 50th anniversary of Priester’s death on the field passed. But still, his memory remains quite alive.

“I really can’t believe it has been that long,” Byrne said. “I think about him every day.”

He isn’t far from Shelton’s mind either.

“When Jan told me it had been 50 years, it was difficult for me to believe it had been that long,” he said.

Although his life was cut short, both Shelton and Byrne said memories with Priester are ones they will hold onto forever.

“We were like the odd couple,” Shelton said. “I was the sloppy one and he was the neat one. We had a tile floor, and Bob was always complaining to me about the mess. I remember he took chalk and drew a line down the middle of the room and said anything of yours that is on my side is going out the window. We were friends and had our differences, but I loved him like a brother.”

Byrne even named her son after her brother.

“At the time, it was too soon to have him called Bob, so we called him Priester,” she said. “But I called him Bob. I always told him it was an endearment and meant a lot to me. I’m glad he is carrying on Bob’s name.”