Leon Bramlett

Leon Crow Bramlett Jr. (September 17, 1923 – October 19, 2015) was an American farmer, football player, and politician.

He briefly worked as an end coach for the team while serving in the United States Marine Corps before returning to Clarksdale to farm cotton.

He lost the 1979 Republican gubernatorial primary in Mississippi but secured the nomination four years later before losing in the general election.

[15][16] During the campaign Bramlett attacked Allain for being a "bachelor" and emphasized that he was "blessed" with a wife and children and thus more qualified to manage education and healthcare issues.

[17] Allain accused Bramlett making "smears and innuendo" and of rumor–mongering, and emphasized that he had once had three step-children through his previous marriage.

[17] Meanwhile, three Republican oil company executives, having heard rumors that Allain regularly solicited sex from black transvestites, decided to enlist attorney Bill Spell and a private detective agency to investigate the veracity of the claims.

[18] The attorney and detectives interviewed three black transvestites who testified that they had sex with Allain and repairmen from his former apartment complex who said they had seen gay pornography in his unit.

[19] The oil executives informed Bramlett of their findings, but he expressed disbelief at the allegations and refused to support their efforts.

[20] After failed attempts to get the media to report the story, Spell held a press conference on October 25 to publicly reveal the allegations, noting that the claims were supported by the three transvestites—who had undergone polygraph examinations—and by police officers who had reported witnessing Allain attempt to solicit transvestite prostitutes in the Farish Street District of Jackson.

Allain eventually took a polygraph test which supported his denials and his lawyer obtained an affidavit from one of the transvestite's parents, denouncing their son's credibility.

[23] By the close of the campaign, the contest had devolved into questions of the credibility of Allain and Spell, and Bramlett was largely forgotten by the public.