Offense Quarterback—Roger Staubach of Navy (1962−1964) Running backs—Jim Brown of Syracuse (1954−1956) and Herschel Walker of Georgia, (1980−1982) Receivers—Jerry Rice of Mississippi Valley State (1981−1984) and Larry Fitzgerald of Pittsburgh...
Abner Haynes met his new teammates in August 1956, in a parking lot outside of Fouts Field on the North Texas State campus. He would be the first black football player in school history, and none of the White Eagles had been consulted on the...
As I have said before in various ways, I am ambivalent about my alma mater. I attended and graduated from the University of Texas and spent about 30 years in Austin, but it is not the central fact of my life. While UT is a big school (more than...
Now that Bart Starr has entered eternal rest, I had to look into his life and career. Sixteen years as the Green Bay Packers’ quarterback and five championships (including the first two Super Bowls, in both of which he was named MVP) say...
I enjoy corresponding on a semi-regular basis with John Mackovic. This man had a long career as a college football coach at Wake Forest, Illinois, Texas and Arizona (not to mention a stint with the Kansas City Chiefs of the NFL). He’s...
I have met or interviewed (or both) five head football coaches at my alma mater, the University of Texas: Darrell Royal, Fred Akers, David McWilliams, John Mackovic and Mack Brown. I draw your attention to the fourth of those gentlemen, Mackovic...
Magnolia Park is just a few miles north of downtown Beaumont, Texas. That is where, in the early 1960s, high school football players gathered to practice and play informal games. Recreation for black kids then was minimal, so they created their...
I was on a radio show about 20 years ago. One of the other interviewees was Dr. John Butler, a faculty member at the University of Texas. Dr. Butler, a tall, savvy man of African descent, had helped integrate Louisiana State University as an...
In July 1990, the University of Arkansas—by which I mean former football coach and then-AD Frank Broyles—declared that it would leave the Southwest Conference, of which it had been a member for 76 years. The Razorbacks were going to the...
Tuesday marked the end of the life of Julius Whittier, a significant person in University of Texas history. Before him, there had never been an African-American varsity football player at UT. All of his predecessors had been European-American...
I like to say that since moving to Korea 10-plus years ago, I have come to disregard big-time sports. The NBA playoffs? The NCAA Final Four? The World Series? Wimbledon? The Indy 500? The Olympics? University of Texas football? The passion I long...
There is a fundamental difference between receiving an invitation to somebody’s house, and just walking up and knocking on the door. In the first case, you will most likely be invited in and treated with a measure of respect. While that’s...
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