(It doesn’t seem the first part of this has a point to it. But it does. And it doesn’t have anything [much] to do with football. The first four paragraphs are just there to lead you to the first of two points).
Arkansas 2022 offensive line commit Eli Henderson (6-4, 305 pounds) of Duncan (S.C.) Byrnes gave his pledge to the Razorbacks on Aug. 10, 2020, despite having never set foot on campus.
Henderson, who chose the Razorbacks over Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia Tech, Arizona State, Louisville, and 15-other Power 5 schools, was emotional walking into Reynolds Razorback Stadium with Arkansas coach Sam Pittman. “The Zoom and online stuff doesn’t do it justice,” Henderson said. “I have to tell you that when I first walked into the stadium with Coach Pittman by my side, I almost teared up a bit, because you don’t get the full impact until you are actually there.”
Henderson has talked plenty of his desire to play for Pittman. “He is a genuine guy in a very non-genuine profession,” Henderson said. “You don’t see that much. He is a very special guy in a very special city. Everyone there loves him and it’s not just because he is the head coach and they are not just saying it, you can see that everyone actually does love the guy.”
After he and his family spent four days in Fayetteville last week, Henderson said, “My family loved it. My mother had a ball up there. They showed her a great time . . .”
(And here is the first point of this): “We went out a couple of nights while we were there … and I talked to as many people as I could to ask them about the area and I literally heard nothing bad at all. We tried to look for a piece of trash on the ground, but we couldn’t find one. It was amazing how clean it was. It was awesome.”
In Paris, Texas, its difficult to find a piece of ground without trash on it.
If Fayetteville, Arkansas can do it, why can’t Paris Texas?
Fayetteville, the woo, pig, sooie! capital of Arkansas, was founded in October, 1828; Paris, once the North Star of Texas, was founded in December, 1839 – only 11-years later.
In 1920, Fayetteville’s population was 5,362; population in Paris was 15,040.
So, where do the two cities stand today?
Fayetteville: The 1990 federal census showed population to be 42,099, an increase of 15 percent from the 1980 census. And the 2020 census reported a population of 73,580. It has been chosen as the best city in all of the SEC states to live in, and the #3 best place in the nation to live, by Forbes Magazine.
Paris: From a 1880 United States census population of 3,980, the population of the City of Paris increased to 25,898 at the 2000 census; in 2020, however, its population had declined to 24,171.[3]. It now ranks as the 9th worst place to live in Texas by the Texas Police News, which uses the crime rates for property and violent crime for its assessment. According to their statistics, you stand a one in 17 chance of becoming a violent crime victim in Paris.
NOW, don’t shoot the messenger.
The Paris Texas Chamber is just reporting existing information and data. We don’t like the bed we find ourselves in. Either.
It’s hard to feel pride when you’re in a city known as the 9th worst place to live in a state with 254 counties, and 1,216 incorporated cities.
So, as promised: The second point being the question, what made the difference between these two towns?
There’s always a reason . . .
return to Paris Texas Chamber of Commerce