Originally published Friday, September 12, 2008 at 12:00 AM

Florida football town's future looking grim

Surrounded by a sea of sugarcane, this poverty-ravaged town on the southeastern edge of Lake Okeechobee has long been one of the country's...

By Antonio Gonzalez

The Associated Press

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BELLE GLADE, Fla. — Surrounded by a sea of sugarcane, this poverty-ravaged town on the southeastern edge of Lake Okeechobee has long been one of the country's most fertile football areas.

It's a place where running backs of the future are said to gain speed chasing rabbits, where college coaches begin recruiting trips and where Friday nights produce future NFL stars. Football is the main diversion in Belle Glade, aka "Muck City," a place so depressed it lacks a movie theater and even a big discount store.

Now football is being threatened.

When U.S. Sugar — the nation's largest sugarcane producer — agreed in June to sell its nearly 300 square miles of farmland to the state for $1.75 billion, the deal was touted as an environmental victory for the government's ongoing Everglades restoration project. But for the community, it's a big blow.

In what is already one of the country's poorest areas, about 1,700 U.S. Sugar employees will lose their jobs when the transfer to the state is consummated in six years. The rest of the local economy also will suffer.

"The only thing most people around here know how to do is grow sugar and play football," 70-year-old resident Jack Brown said.

The town of about 15,000, which got its nickname from its soil's black muck, has football talent just as rich.

Jacksonville Jaguars running back Fred Taylor, Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Santonio Holmes and dozens of other current and former NFL players call Belle Glade home.

"Football is going to be hit hard," said Willie McDonald, football announcer.

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