A Rabb Travels From Douglassville to Seattle
By Gordon Pynes

After completing the 8 lower grades at the Douglass High school in Douglassville, young Marcus Hatley headed for Atlanta High School just a year after integration began locally.  He was ready to compete in Rabbit sports.  First came football which had not been offered at Douglass High so he needed a quick lesson in just how to put on the pads.  Basketball he knew well but thought his best sport was baseball.  The Rabbits did not have a baseball team in the early 1970’s so he never got to play that sport.  However, he quickly excelled in the other two.

Hatley played tight end and outside linebacker for the Rabbs and had quite a career finishing with the 1973 season as a team Co-Captain with former Atlanta mayor Keith Crow.  He also was recognized as All-District, All-Area and All Northeast Texas.  Another honor was that of most valuable lineman for the Maroon and White.  Marcus was spotted early in his football career by an assistant coach at the University of Tulsa.  The Golden Hurricanes offered him the promise of a football scholarship and Hatley would eventually stay loyal to Tulsa despite other offers.

Marcus also excelled in basketball and during his senior year led the Rabbits all the way to the State Basketball tournament.  Having grown to 6’-3 and 1/2 inches he was outstanding on the hardwoods.  Though tall for a high school basketball player his coach, George Frost, went against conventional wisdom and played Marcus at both center some of time and point guard.  Frost did so with good reason.  Hatley was quick, had huge hands and was a good dribbler who drew double coverage.  An unselfish player he found the open man with his passes and chalked up many assists to teammates.  Long arms and jumping ability made him an excellent all around player.

In the 1973-74 basketball season Marcus led Atlanta to a 26-5 record and only its second trip ever to the State Tournament in Austin.  That season only three larger schools beat the Rabbs.  They were Arkansas High, Texas High and Marshall.  Coach Frost describes a dog fight to win a District Zone over Jefferson and then District in a tussle with Clarksville.  Then a double overtime victory over North Garland put the Rabbs in the State semi-final game.  Driving down to Austin on a school bus the day of the game left little time to suit up and play Gonzales in the old Gregory Gym on the University of Texas campus.  Frost felt the winner of that game would go on to be the State Champion.  He was right but in a thriller the Apaches from Gonzales survived a furious Rabbit rally that ended in a lay up rolling off the rim at the buzzer - score 68-67.

Gonzales had a 6-5 player who dominated with 41 points.  As Coach Frost had predicted, the Apaches came back the next day and easily won the championship by 15 points over Crosby at 77-62.  Marcus Hatley had been outstanding in the tough Atlanta loss as he and sophomore teammate Frankie Hayden were named to the All Tourney team.  Marcus would be selected to the Coaches All Star North squad played later that summer in Houston.  There he would again be paired against the high scorer from Gonzales on the South team.  This time Marcus was on the winning team.  One former Rabb teammate likened Hatley’s high school ability to the “Lebron James of his day.  He could palm a basketball in each hand and that’s not normal for most high school players.”  Coach Frost summed up Hatley’s career by saying “He was great to coach, a team leader who was unselfish on the court.  Coaching him for 3 years I recall he only missed one practice and he was sick then.”

Despite a great basketball career, Marcus accepted the promised football bid from Tulsa.  Following the Coaches All-Star basketball game the University of Houston coach strolled into the dressing room and offered him a basketball scholarship also.  Hatley stayed true to his promise, turned the offer down and headed for Tulsa.

During his four years as a Golden Hurricane at Tulsa Hatley earned all Missouri Valley Conference honors his junior and senior season as the league’s best tight end. During four seasons at Tulsa he grabbed 84 passes for 1,219 yards and during the last two seasons had 35 grabs in both.  Each of those years Marcus rolled up over 500 receiving yards.  Tulsa earned the Missouri Valley Co-Champs spot and played in the first Independence Bowl in Shreveport.  McNeese upset the Hurricanes in a tight 20-16 finish.  Sports Illustrated Magazine paid the former Rabbit a high compliment prior to the 1977 season.  In an article reviewing the upcoming season they predicted “TE Marcus Hatley will be a marked man.”  He was, but still managed 35 catches from his tight end position.

Marcus had hopes to continue his football career in the National Football League.  No team drafted him but he was quickly signed to a free agent contract by the Seattle Seahawks.  That summer camp went well for him and he was destined to make the team.  About to break camp in Spokane the Seahawks staged an intra-squad scrimmage for the local fans.  Marcus caught a pass and headed downfield along the sidelines.  A hit on his right knee resulted in surgery and a season on the injured reserve roster.  Although he had been through a year of rehab Marcus related that he had lost a lot of mobility.  The final team cut that second season left him off the team.  Though he had hopes to catch on with another team the call never came.  A fabulous athletic career had come to an ill fated end.

Marcus returned to the Dallas area and served as a Deputy Sheriff for 17 years.
He is the father of two sons, Alex, a Texas State Trooper and younger son Jonathan, who recently finished a Masters’ Degree at Georgia Tech.

Now Marcus Hatley takes his place in the Atlanta Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2021.  His trip from Douglassville carried him a long way but now this very deserved honor puts him back home.