05-10-2011 06:24 AM

He says he didn’t do it for the money. That point may be moot, anyway, since Grambling — the Louisiana-based HBCU that fired Melvin Spears as head football coach after the 2006 season — says it’s going to appeal a dramatic half-million dollar judgment handed down last week in his wrongful termination suit.

No, Spears says it was vindication. Vindication that he shouldn’t have been so quickly shown the door, just one year after going undefeated on the way to a Southwestern Athletic Conference championship. Vindication for the long journey he took after that firing, as Spears returned to assistant coaching for four seasons before finally rejoining the head-coaching ranks this offseason at his alma mater, Alcorn State.

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