TOUCHING MANY

The build-up to Super Bowl XLV is already having an impact in unexpected ways — just ask the staff at Woodrow Wilson High School

By Steve Pate

January 25, 2010

Think of it, if you will, as the Super Bowl’s trickle-down effect. How remarkable is it that North Texas’ first ever Super 
Bowl, still a year away, has already touched so many who would have never dreamt they’d be involved?

It is mid-January and we are in the hallway near the main entrance of the historic auditorium on the campus of East Dallas’ Woodrow Wilson High School. A member of the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee is ushering the great Abner Haynes to a teacher’s lounge that for this one day has been converted into a hospitality room for some of the greatest names in NFL history.

But Haynes halts in front of four teenage boys wearing Woodrow football jerseys, standing casually nearby. One by one, Haynes, one of the game’s legendary running backs of a half century past, shakes the hand of each player, asks for his name, what position does he play, does he love football, etc. Each Woodrow player is suddenly solemn, incredibly respectful, suddenly gripped by the thoughtfulness of this man.

One of the players later admitted they had never heard of Abner Haynes. Nor did they know what position he had played. Or that he had broken the race barrier of Texas’ all-white college football programs. But they were in awe of the man and the time he gave them.

When the staff and students at Woodrow Wilson heard that the Super Bowl XLV Host Committee wished to use its historic auditorium (built circa 1928) for a magical ceremony, they went to great lengths to help their school shine in the moment. This was a big thing to them.

And that’s part of what made it such a great day as well for the legendary players who for one afternoon filled Woodrow’s hallways and sat on their auditorium stage.

Roger Staubach. Troy Aikman. Michael Irvin. Tony Dorsett. Mean Joe Greene. Tim Brown. Eleven legends on the stage and others scattered in the auditorium, just to be there and show their support.

When the Super Bowl XLV Host Committee decided the public should vote on “The 100 Greatest Moments in North Texas Football History”, the support of North Texas’ greatest players seemed a crucial endorsement. So, too, was the care given by that high school – the only public school in the country to have produced two Heisman Trophy winners (TCU’s Davey O’Brien in 1938 and Notre Dame’s Tim Brown in 1988).

Those legendary players, just as they did on the football fields of their day, have not disappointed the Host Committee. One of the more interesting traits of great players is that their own fondest memories are not necessarily individual accomplishments, or events that would make anyone’s Top 100 list. But they do illustrate just how strongly football has been a part of the North Texas landscape for a century and more.

“To be involved at all in North Texas’ first Super Bowl is great,” said Norm Bulaich, TCU’s star running back of the late 1960’s who went on to a 10–year NFL career.

Bulaich once ran for 198 yards with the Indianapolis Colts, a record that stood for 30 years. He played in a very gritty NFL. But this day at Woodrow, and the rare opportunity to hang with his peers, brought a great smile to his face.

Billy Sims was smiling and laughing loudly.

“I did play in four Texas/OU games,” said Sims, the former Sooner running back of the ‘70’s. “My town of Hooks is 10 miles from the Arkansas border in far East Texas, and Earl Campbell was a few years ahead of me in Tyler. He was a senior at Texas my freshman year at OU, and in the Texas/OU game that year he ran over two of our All-American linebackers and scored. I couldn’t believe a running back could be that good. It still impresses me today when I think about it.”

A few feet away in the same Teacher’s Lounge stood Tony Dorsett, the Cowboys’ electric running back of the ‘70’s and ‘80’s.

“This is a great, great thing,” Dorsett said. “There’ve been a lot of great football players and a lot of great events take place in North Texas. I don’t know how they’re going to get the list of 250 down to 100, but I’m just happy to be a part of it.”

Craig James, one half of SMU’s Pony Express backfield with Eric Dickerson, feels strongly that North Texas could work its way into a Super Bowl rotation because of its rich football tradition.

“I think the Century in the Making voting is fabulous,” James said. “If you think about all the great football and football players and teams, to have that be the showcase for the biggest game of all sports, that’s cool.”

As for any talk of North Texas getting another Super Bowl, James said, “If they go to a loop where they confine it to a few cities, absolutely North Texas deserves it. I don’t see how you could not have the Super Bowl here. You’ve got all the hotel facilities, all the restaurants, all the entertainment. You’ve got the size of Cowboys Stadium and the weather protection. There’s no reason not to have the premier stadium in all of America be a part of the Super Bowl.”

Only a few days after the Woodrow ceremony, fan voting officially kicked off at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo. Former Cowboys Charlie Waters and Rayfield Wright, and rock-steady Haynes, cast the first unofficial ballots.

Before voting, Waters stressed, “It was never about the individual accomplishments. It’s the feeling of the family that we loved the most.”

That feeling of family is bonding all of North Texas for Super Bowl XLV on Feb. 6 2011. All ages, all communities, all levels of football and fans, are being touched.