SMU
fans gather today in Dallas to honor a football legend in the Sixth Annual Jerry LeVias Mustang Golf
Classic…
College
Football Hall of Fame Inductee Jerry
LeVias, the golf tournament’s namesake, will forever hold great
significance within the walls of Southern Methodist University (SMU) and to all
those within the college football community.
On September 24, 1966, LeVias
forever changed college football’s Southwest Conference (SWC) when he started
as an end for SMU in its game against the University of Illinois. He was the
first African-American to receive an athletic scholarship in the SWC.
“Being
first I compare to being like a windshield,” LeVias told the Houston Chronicle for a profile
in 2008. “You always get the bugs.”
Despite
rampant racial indignities from opposing teams, his own teammates and other
supposed luminaries, LeVias would go on to become an All-American wide receiver
and kick returner, leading the Mustangs to the 1966 Cotton Bowl and ensuring
his 2003 enshrinement in the College Football Hall of Fame. The verbal assaults
and slurs, the threats of physical violence … while all of it was painful, none
of it would deter this man from greatness.
In the
Houston Chronicle article, LeVias recalled a 1968 contest versus TCU in which
he was spit on by one of the Horned Frogs’ defenders. His spirit momentarily
broken, LeVias retreated to the sideline for a coping session with then SMU
head coach Hayden Fry before
declaring he would return the next punt for a touchdown. His prediction proved
accurate as the 5’9 native of Beaumont, Texas took the very next TCU punt 89
yards to the endzone and gave the Mustangs a 21-14 fourth quarter advantage.
Still, for all this, LeVias would come to regret the manner in which this
particular score was attained.
“That
was the first time I openly hated,” LeVias told the Chronicle. “When you let hate
get into your system, your mindset, it’s terrible. That’s why that one
touchdown, I’m more ashamed of than anything else. That kind of broke me. That
let hate into my system. Once you let the taste of hatred into your body, it’s
like a poison. Like that vampire when it gets a taste of blood.”
Now
67-years-of-age, LeVias’s journey and accomplishments are celebrated within the
college football community. His story was also featured on the HBO documentary Breaking
the Huddle: The Integration Of College Football.
Prior
to the 2009 season, SMU Mustangs head football coach June Jones announced a deserving football student-athlete would be
chosen annually to wear LeVias’s number "23" to honor his
contributions to America, the sport of football and SMU.
“Not only did he change
football, Jerry LeVias was at the forefront of the Civil Rights movement in
Texas and the South,” said Jones. “He is an exceptional human being and I’m
proud to call him my friend. Allowing one of our players to wear his number 23
will serve as a constant reminder of Jerry and everything he stands for.”
Over
the years, the gentle spirit of Jerry LeVias has made an impact on a number of
lives. After a decorated professional career with the Houston Oilers and San
Diego Chargers, LeVias left football to pursue personal business ventures
outside the white lines. More recently, he has been involved with a Boys &
Girls Harbor of Houston, a 501(c)(3) non-profit home that welcomes children in
need regardless of race, creed, color or financial status. And while LeVias
continues to make an impact on others, it’s clear he’s already achieved more than
some men will in a lifetime.
“I’ve
had a lot of wonderful things happen to me,” Coach Fry told the Chronicle. “The
greatest thing that happened to me was getting Jerry LeVias.”
Article
references…
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