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Memories abound at Cotton Bowl

Memories abound at Cotton Bowl

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  • David Tewes •
  • Originally published January 3, 2009 at midnight, updated January 3, 2009 at midnight

Contrary to what my colleague Wes Bloomquist might believe, I have not seen every Cotton Bowl game. I'm not that old.

I wasn't around when Doak Walker put the stadium on the college football map. I was fortunate enough to meet the legendary SMU running back when he held a news conference introducing the Doak Walker Award during one of the many trips I made back to Dallas over New Year's week.

I can't remember the first Cotton Bowl game I attended, but I'm fairly certain my dad brought me to the 1964 game when Texas defeated a Navy team that had Heisman Trophy winner Roger Staubach playing quarterback.

I was no stranger to the Cotton Bowl or Fair Park, where the stadium is located. One of the benefits of growing up in Dallas was getting to miss a day of school for Fair Day every year during the State Fair.

I also was able to land a job selling programs at the Cotton Bowl. This included SMU games, the Dallas Cowboys Salemanship Club exhibition game, which was usually against the Green Bay Packers, the Texas-Oklahoma game and the Cotton Bowl game. The job was not a pathway to riches - the most I recall making was $10, if I could sell 100 programs - but it was a way to get into the games.

I always seemed to find a seat in the stadium and I was fortunate enough to do so when Texas A&M defeated Alabama in 1968, and Alabama coach Paul "Bear" Bryant grabbed Texas A&M coach Gene Stallings in a bear hug and lifted him off the ground when they met on the field after the game.

The first Cotton Bowl I covered for the Advocate was the 1983 game between SMU and Pittsburgh. The contest featured SMU running backs Eric Dickerson and Craig James and Pitt quarterback Dan Marino, but turned into a defensive struggle that SMU won 7-3 on a fourth-quarter touchdown run by quarterback Lance McIlhenny.

After the game, I stood outside the SMU dressing room in the sleet waiting to interview Victoria High graduate and offensive lineman Ricky Schulte while fat cat alums were inside. I'll leave the rest to your imagination, but SMU wound up on probation soon thereafter and eventually received the NCAA's death penalty.

The next year I was making my way to the field for postgame interviews and had just emerged from the tunnel in time to see Texas' Craig Curry fumble a punt that allowed Georgia to score a touchdown and claim a 10-9 win, which deprived the Longhorns of a national championship.

Looking back, so many of the games stand out and others have blurred as time passes. I remember shaking like a leaf while interviewing Bay City's Scott Lark, who was Texas A&M's deep snapper. I was coming down with the flu even though there was no way I was going to admit it.

I recall the respect Palacios' Oscar Giles received from his Texas teammates and I am not surprised Giles has returned to his alma mater as a coach. I enjoyed the reckless abandon Yoakum's Dennis Mudd showed as a member of Texas A&M's 12th Man kickoff team, the joy Bay City's Beau Trahan exuded playing on special teams for Texas, and it was fun watching Stroman graduate Buddy Wyatt make a triumphant return to Texas as an assistant coach at Alabama.

Alabama's win over Texas Tech was the first Cotton Bowl game my son attended and I can't forget the Arkansas-Tennessee game because my wife and I sat in the hotel lobby on New Year's Eve listening to the piano player play "Rocky Top" more times than we cared to count.

Beautiful weather - never a certainty in January in Dallas - greeted the record crowd of 88,175 who were on hand for the final game at the old stadium. Mississippi spoiled the day for Texas Tech by capturing a 47-34 win in a game that set a Cotton Bowl record for total points scored. Ironically, Texas Tech lost to Southern Cal 55-14 in the final Cotton Bowl before the Southwest Conference was dissolved.

Next year's Cotton Bowl will be played at Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones' new stadium in Arlington. The stadium will have much better amenities for fans and there's no doubt the Cotton Bowl has its eye on a BCS game in the future.

Getting sentimental over a stadium serves no purpose. The stadium, which was recently refurbished, isn't going anywhere and it will be the site of the Texas-Oklahoma game at least through 2015.

I remember visiting with the late Harrison Stafford, an all-American at Texas, at his Inez home to talk about his career some years back. Stafford said in the years to come most people would forget about the Southwest Conference.

As much as I hate to admit it, the same may be true for the Cotton Bowl at the old stadium at Fair Park.

Mike Forman is a sports writer for the Victoria Advocate. Contact him or comment on this column at 361-580-6588 or by e-mail at mforman@vicad.com.



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