I met James in '81, when I was on the Athletic Council, just about the
time we were hiring a new, very youthful, one Deloss Dodds. James
was always smiling, always glad to see you, and, like Rooster Andrews,
had a handshake and a good word. The thing that lingers with me
about James and that football game is missing the opportunity to sit
on the bench with the team in Fayetteville that afternoon. Coach
Royal invited me to travel with the team and I passed it up for a
hunting trip. Did watch the game on TV, regretting every moment of
that decision as it unfolded. Repenting, I later accepted every
invitation Coach sent. Was on the field 3 times with Willie and
Wayland and Charlie Pride and we lost every one of those Cotton-
Picking Bowls. Went to Baylor with Akers and the boys. Lost that one
too. Looking back, maybe it was good to miss "The Game of the Century."
It is curious that James and Deloss are in the news the same day.
Doc
On Sep 30, 2013, at 12:27 PM, Clayton Stromberger wrote:
For those of you not in Austin, the word has been
spreading today
that James Street, legendary quarterback of the '69 championship
team, has passed away this morning of a heart attack at age 65. If
you paid any attention to Longhorn football in the late '60s, or
heard stories afterwards, you can imagine what this means to people
around here. Lots of shocked and sad folks writing testimonials in
the online guestbook at the
statesman.com site.
Doc, any Street memories or stories to share?
I always wanted to shake his hand, and finally had my chance just
last year. I took Emma to Darrell Royal's funeral and led her down
onto the floor of the Erwin Center after the ceremony, to see who we
could see. We stood next to Willie, saw Frank Broyles, the Arkansas
coach from those days, and then spotted Street. I'd told Emma a lot
about him, so I said, "You wanna meet him?" and of course I did too,
since I had always treasured the '69 team photo signed by him that
my dad had given me that Christmas. Fortunately she said "Okay!"
So we sidled up to him and I introduced myself and Emma and he was
the same charming, friendly, chatty guy with the funny grin I always
imagined him to be from a worshipful distance in my boyhood.
A sad day here, he leaves behind a wife, five sons, and thousands of
close friends.
cs
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