Episodes
Wednesday Dec 29, 2021
Ep 31: Cotton Bowl Classic Stories
Wednesday Dec 29, 2021
Wednesday Dec 29, 2021
Players share memories of playing in the Cotton Bowl in the 1960s and 1970s and the seasons leading up to the big game. Featuring Edd Hargett of Texas A&M, Jerry LeVias of SMU, and Alois Blackwell of Houston. Also included are humorous stories from sportswriter Mickey Herskowitz about coaches Bear Bryant and Gene Stallings in the 1968 Cotton Bowl Classic between Alabama and Texas A&M. Groundskeeper George Toma also shares about changing the field over from the Cotton Bowl Classic to the 1966 NFL Championship Game overnight.
The Texas Sports Hall of Fame Podcast is presented by the Hampton Inn Waco. The show is hosted and produced by author and oral historian Jackson Michael (of The Game Before the Money).
#CottonBowl #CottonBowlClassic
Friday Feb 28, 2020
Friday Feb 28, 2020
Author Michael Hurd joins the Texas Sports Hall of Fame Podcast to discuss his book Thursday Night Lights: The Story of Black High School in Texas, a book that celebrates the rich history of Prairie View Interscholastic League (PVIL) football -- a league that produced many pro and college football stars including Dick "Night Train" Lane, Bubba Smith, and Ken Houston.
The PVIL stood as the governing body for black schools in Texas throughout the decades of segregation. The league provided a home for the biggest high school event in America in its heyday, the annual Turkey Day Classic between Houston Yates and Houston Wheatley.
Hurd shares with us the exciting history of PVIL football programs from the hardscrabble days of the 1940s when Joe Washington started his high school’s program while still a high school student in Rosenberg, Texas, and through the glory years in the 1960s when Charlton Pollard coach Willie Ray Smith, Sr. and Hebert coach Clifford Ozen seemed to produce football star after football star through their rivalry in Beaumont, Texas. Joe Washington’s son -- Joe Washington Jr. – wound up being the fourth-overall pick in the 1976 NFL draft. Three sons of Willie Ray Smith, Sr. were all major recruits coming out of high school, most notably future NFL legend Bubba Smith.
Hurd also conveys the excitement of Kansas City Chiefs star Otis Taylor showing off his new Ford Thunderbird to Hurd and his schoolmates as well as the tremendous athletic ability and ultimately tragic story of Eldridge Dickey, a man who earned the nickname, “The Lord’s Prayer” for his prayers before games and his accomplishments at quarterback.
This episode Texas Sports Hall of Fame Podcast is presented by the Hampton Inn Waco. The show is written and produced by host Jackson Michael, author of The Game Before the Money: Voices of the Men Who Built the NFL.
Tuesday Feb 05, 2019
Ep. 6: Jerry LeVias Part 2 -- In the Locker Room with Jerry LeVias Part 2
Tuesday Feb 05, 2019
Tuesday Feb 05, 2019
Jerry LeVias overcame both polio and racial segregation to star for SMU in the 1960s. He integrated the Southwest Conference as the first black scholarship athlete in Southwest Conference football history. He earned consensus All-American honors in 1968 before being drafted by the Houston Oilers.
In this second part of a two-part series, Jerry shares the story of how his faith guided him through the ardent task of integrating Southwest Conference football. Jerry also tells us about how one of his greatest touchdowns taught him a valuable lesson. Listen to his stories of meeting the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, leading the Mustangs to the Cotton Bowl as a sophomore, the leadership of SMU Head Coach Hayden Fry, and the magical plays that made Jerry LeVias one of college football's most sensational players of the 1960s. Also hear about his pro career and life after football.
The Texas Sports Hall of Fame Podcast is presented by the Hampton Inn Waco North. Jackson Michael, author of "The Game Before the Money" hosts and produces the podcast. Please visit www.TSHOF.org for more information about the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.
Tuesday Feb 05, 2019
Ep 5: Jerry LeVias Part 1 -- In the Locker Room with Jerry LeVias Part 1
Tuesday Feb 05, 2019
Tuesday Feb 05, 2019
Jerry LeVias overcame both polio and racial segregation to star for SMU in the 1960s. He integrated the Southwest Conference as the first black scholarship athlete in Southwest Conference football history. He earned consensus All-American honors in 1968 before being drafted by the Houston Oilers.
In this first episode of a two-part series, Jerry talks about growing up in Beaumont, Texas, his stellar high school football career, and how SMU coach Hayden Fry lured him to play for the Mustangs. Jerry and friend Bill Bradley (University of Texas, Philadelphia Eagles) remember the monumental 1965 Big 33 Classic, a high school all-star game that matched the best in Texas versus the best in Pennsylvania. The Texas team, coached by NFL legends Bobby Layne and Doak Walker, overpowered the Pennsylvanians led by future Notre Dame star Terry Hannratty.
The Texas Sports Hall of Fame Podcast is presented by the Hampton Inn Waco North. Jackson Michael, author of "The Game Before the Money" hosts and produces the podcast. Please visit www.TSHOF.org for more information about the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.