Behind the Bastards – Part One: Buford Pusser: The Worst Sheriff Ever

Podcast: Behind the Bastards (Cool Zone Media & iHeartPodcasts)
Host: Robert Evans
Guest: Dan O’Brien
Date: September 23, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Robert Evans and guest Dan O’Brien dig into the myth and reality behind Buford Pusser, the infamous Tennessee sheriff romanticized by the film Walking Tall as a vigilante lawman “fighting the mafia.” The pair explore how Pusser’s reputation as a gritty, hard-nosed cop was built on a shaky, often violent and deeply problematic foundation. Evans and O’Brien peel away the folk hero myth, recounting Pusser’s violent upbringing, astonishing family lore, unchecked behavior, and early adulthood, setting the scene for the broader story of corruption and brutality that follows.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

The Myth vs. Reality of Buford Pusser

• Pop Culture Legacy:

  • Pusser was immortalized as a lawman fighting organized crime in the 1973 film Walking Tall and its remakes, which portrayed him as a lone hero battering criminals with a wooden club.
  • Evans highlights how this myth “became the model for the gritty cop who breaks the law to get results”—an idea forming the cultural backdrop for antihero cops in 70s/80s American pop culture ([08:20]).
  • The myth has only been seriously questioned in the last year as new investigations tarnish his hero image.

• Questionable Heroic Narrative:

  • The LA Times, echoing the film's image, credited Pusser for single-handedly taking down bootleggers and being “shot and stabbed... killed a thieving female motel owner...his wife murdered in an ambush” ([10:30]).
  • Evans quickly notes, “Almost none of that's true, with the exception of...he did get shot and stabbed on several occasions. Everything else, kind of open for reevaluation...” ([10:43]).

Early Life: Violence as Normalcy

• Dangerous Practical Jokes:

  • Family lore paints Pusser as a child who shot at his grandfather with a shotgun as a "prank" ([20:14]).
    • Quote (Evans): “That’s not a prank. That’s just shooting at your grandpa with a shotgun.” ([20:15])
    • Dan O’Brien: “No, he just fires a 12 gauge at his grandfather. The toilet is a non factor, really. That prank works in any setting.” ([20:45])
  • Evans and O’Brien express disbelief at the normalization of such “pranks.”

• Untreated Trauma & Casual Violence:

  • Commonplace violence in rural 1940s Tennessee, including churchyard knife fights and children discovering dead peers.
  • Pusser’s own daughter, Dwana (whose biography is the primary source), unwittingly provides evidence of the disturbing family culture, recounting tales of violence as “just boys being boys” ([17:03], [20:14], [21:05]).

• Mother’s Paranoia:

  • Upon moving to a “city” (pop. 1,000), Pusser’s mother responds to a knock on the door by shooting through it, killing the family cat—then going calmly back to bed ([29:43]).
    • Evans: “She just fires a shotgun through it and then goes to bed. That’s wild.” ([30:14])

The Seeds of the Violent Cop

• Early Cop-like Behavior:

  • As a teenager, Pusser fabricates being stabbed by rival boys to manufacture justification for a drive-by shooting (nine shotgun blasts at the other group’s car) ([43:34]).
    • O’Brien: “That is some very sophisticated cop creation of reason to do violence against people you don’t like.” ([43:59])
  • Evans: “He is already the guy he’s going to be his whole life at 17... a very cop style drive by.” ([44:46])

• Proclivity for Gambling, Brothels, and State Line Crime:

  • Pusser and friends frequent illegal establishments run by the State Line Mob—still as clients, not yet adversaries ([46:09]).

The World of the State Line Mob

• Rise of Organized Crime:
  • Following a mafia crackdown in Phoenix City, Alabama, criminals migrated to the Tennessee/Mississippi border, escalating illegal alcohol, gambling, and prostitution.
  • The “State Line Gang,” led by Jack and Louise Hathcock, establish criminal empire on US-45 ([34:18]).
    • Louise Hathcock: Known for beating unruly gamblers with a ball-peen hammer—a vivid example of the era’s lawlessness ([57:16]).

The Reality Behind Pusser's Legend

• True Origins of the ‘Vigilante’ Story:
  • In 1957, Pusser is beaten and robbed at the Plantation Club by the mob for accusing the house of cheating at dice. He suffers 192 stitches ([59:09]).
  • Rather than being scared straight, he vows violent revenge. Shortly after his marriage, he and friends ambush (and nearly kill) W.O. Hathcock Jr. with a fence post—avenging his own pride, not upholding the law ([66:08]).
    • Evans: “The real story is that he and his friends ambushed a man who was alone. And while they held him down, he bashed this guy's head in with a fence post. And it wasn’t because he hated crime. It was because he had been committing crimes badly and they’d beaten him up earlier.” ([66:56])

Absurd and Endearing Side Stories

• Bizarre Outlandish Family Names:

  • Pusser’s siblings: Gaylia and John Howard; his daughter Dwana; grandfather Bliss Harris—a running joke on their spelling and eccentricity ([14:17]).

• Bear Wrestling & Myths:

  • County lore claims Pusser wrestled and beat a grizzly bear. Reality: as a teen, he wrestled a declawed, possibly sick, black bear at a traveling carnival ([61:02]).
    • Evans: “They're all kind of this level of off... He did fight a bear at one point, but it’s not as impressive as it sounds initially.” ([63:31])
    • O’Brien: “He fought a bear, but so did anybody else who had $4.” ([63:31])

• Working as a Mortician:

  • After a car accident and a failed stint in the Marines, Pusser becomes a mortician’s assistant, displaying odd pride and inviting his mother to admire his embalming technique ([51:12]).
    • O’Brien: “If I died, even if the mortician’s assistant thought he did a really good job, don’t like, show me to people. I don’t want that.” ([51:18])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Pusser’s Name:
  • “I don’t even know if Buford or Pusser is more ridiculous, but together it just does not sound like a real person.” – Evans ([06:37])
• Myth vs. Reality Summed Up:
  • “Almost none of that’s true, with the exception of... he did get shot and stabbed on several occasions.” – Evans ([10:43])
• Childhood ‘Prank’ Culture:
  • “That’s not a prank. That’s just shooting at your grandpa with a shotgun.” – Evans ([20:15])
  • “The prank works in any setting.” – O’Brien ([20:50])
• On Early Signs of Cop Behavior:
  • “That is some very sophisticated cop creation of reason to do violence against people you don’t like.” – O’Brien ([43:59])
• On Legendary Bear Wrestling:
  • “He fought a bear, but so did anybody else who had $4.” – O’Brien ([63:31])

Important Timestamps

• Buford’s Place in Pop Culture and Reality ([06:00-10:43])
• Family and Early Life: Practical Jokes, Childhood Violence ([14:06-22:54])
• Mom Shoots Through Door, Kills Cat ([29:43])
• Migration of Organized Crime and State Line Mob ([32:08-34:18])
• Rise of Jack and Louise Hathcock, State Line Mob ([34:18-39:07])
• Shotgun Drive-by Incident ([43:34-44:46])
• Pusser’s Entry Into Mortuary Work and Carnie Bear Wrestling ([49:30-63:31])
• First Major Violent Attack and Birth of the ‘Walking Tall’ Myth ([66:08-67:23])
• Wrap-up and what’s next ([68:17-end])

Episode Tone and Chemistry

Evans and O’Brien employ sardonic humor and incredulity to great effect, frequently pausing to lampoon the absurdities of Pusser’s family, the extreme normalization of violence, and the American penchant for valorizing deeply flawed figures. There’s a consistent thread of dark humor (“That’s not a prank. That’s just shooting at your grandpa with a shotgun.”), a running tally of bizarre family names, and an ongoing effort to contrast the “gritty cop” myth with the historical, often disturbing reality. O’Brien is jovially skeptical throughout, and the two riff naturally on both the details and the wild storytelling.

Conclusion

Part one sets the stage for debunking the heroic legend of Buford Pusser. Evans, with O’Brien’s comic partnership, exposes the underbelly: Pusser’s violent childhood, casual lawbreaking, and personal vendettas shape not only the man but the myth. The episode leaves listeners ready for part two, promising to delve deeper into Pusser’s tenure as sheriff and the legacy of brutal policing he inspired.

For more:

• Listen to “Quick Question” with Dan O’Brien and Soren Bui (as plugged at [68:17]).
• Stay tuned for Part Two, picking up with Buford’s rise to sheriff and ongoing battles with the State Line Mob.