There's a train a 'coming: the recruiting class that changed college football
I was on the faculty at Texas A&M for 27 years and taught sociology of sports. Now my son and I are writing a book about the 1972 recruiting class and the fascinating story of the integration of Aggie sports.
That recruiting class - Bubba Bean, Ed Simonini, Pat Thomas, Jackie Williams, Carl Roaches, Garth Ten Napel, Skip Walker, Alvin Bowers, Richard Osborne, Edgar Fields, Bucky Sams, and other Aggie legends - was arguably Texas A&M's best ever. It was also one of the most important in college football history, and it accelerated desegregation in the sport across the South.
Below are ten quotes about Aggie sports greats from the 1960s and 1970s that will be used in the book. Some are quotes you may have heard before. Others are from our recent interviews.
Can you use context clues and guess who the comment is about? The subscriber with the highest score will receive a free signed copy of the book!
Don Albrecht
Mathew Albrecht '03
1. Emory Bellard: "This youngster might end up being one of those great returners, a little Johnny Rodgers."
2. RC Slocum: "There was a little airstrip outside of town in Kirbyville and three or four private planes came in every day."
3. Shelby Metcalf: "I think he'll be the best ball handler in the SWC and I haven't even seen the others yet."
4. John Paul Young: "He didn't just lead by example. He made others around him think they could be great too. He made them think they could do things they had never imagined before."
5. Emory Bellard: "I told Dee to forget about those two players he was talking about because they couldn't play. But I told him to get the name of that defensive end who was running all over the dang field for Wheatley."
6. Melvin Robertson: "--------- is the quickest defensive back I've had in 24 years coaching and can jump up there with any receiver."
7. Donnie Wigginton: "------- wasn't highly recruited. But we saw him when he was running track, and he could fly."
8. Shelby Metcalf: "If I ever need a heart transplant, I want ----'s heart."
9. Bucky Sams: "------ was always having girl problems. He'd have two girlfriends, both drop-dead gorgeous. One would be the homecoming queen of Lee and the other the homecoming queen from Churchill."
10. John Paul Young: "I never knew ---- would be that good. I never knew he would be an All-American. He just got better and better. Pretty soon he was as good as Ed."