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 from 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 said it? The subscriber with the highest score will receive a free signed copy of the book!
Don Albrecht
Mathew Albrecht '03
1. (Referring to Earl Campbell) ""He tried to run me over! I have no idea why he thought he could run me over."
2. "Back then, if you didn't like somebody, you'd fight them. And we hated Baylor."
3. "I don't care about race. I want good young men who are good football players."
4. "War is all teamwork. Fighting a battle is a lot like playing football, only in war the teams are bigger and the stakes are deadly."
5. (In reference to the injury to Marty Akins) "Man, if they say that was the difference, they're sick. I don't like 'em anyway"
6. "It was hell. It really was. But they weren't able to get rid of us. Some of the coaches weren't happy about that."
7. "My parents wanted me to stay in the state. They trusted R.C. I'd never been anywhere. The only time I'd left Texas was when we went to Arkansas once to get a hunting dog."
8. "We weren't trying to be pioneers. We were just trying to be Aggies. We wanted to be a part of it."
9. "I want to destroy the will of the ball carrier to carry the ball. I want to see which one will get up, him or me."
10. (Referring to Ed Simonini) "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."
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 from 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 said it? The subscriber with the highest score will receive a free signed copy of the book!
Don Albrecht
Mathew Albrecht '03
1. (Referring to Earl Campbell) ""He tried to run me over! I have no idea why he thought he could run me over."
2. "Back then, if you didn't like somebody, you'd fight them. And we hated Baylor."
3. "I don't care about race. I want good young men who are good football players."
4. "War is all teamwork. Fighting a battle is a lot like playing football, only in war the teams are bigger and the stakes are deadly."
5. (In reference to the injury to Marty Akins) "Man, if they say that was the difference, they're sick. I don't like 'em anyway"
6. "It was hell. It really was. But they weren't able to get rid of us. Some of the coaches weren't happy about that."
7. "My parents wanted me to stay in the state. They trusted R.C. I'd never been anywhere. The only time I'd left Texas was when we went to Arkansas once to get a hunting dog."
8. "We weren't trying to be pioneers. We were just trying to be Aggies. We wanted to be a part of it."
9. "I want to destroy the will of the ball carrier to carry the ball. I want to see which one will get up, him or me."
10. (Referring to Ed Simonini) "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."