Coming PR disaster

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huisache

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A movie about Ernie Davis is set to be released and it is going to be a real black eye for Texas in general and our school in particular.

Davis was the first black Heisman trophy winner and was the first pick in the pro draft. He was diagnosed with Leukemia and died without playing a down in the pros.

Our involvement? In his senior year he led Syracuse to the national championship and a Cotton Bowl berth against the Longhorns. In addition to getting the usual warm southern welcome that black athletes traditionally got in those days he was subjected to severe racial taunting from our fans at the game and a few of our players.

He starred in their 23-14 win over the Horns and the ugly racism was publicized all over the country.

A lot has changed in fifty years and thank God for Ricky and Earl and Vince and all the other great black athletes we have enjoyed watching.

I remember as a kid crying when we lost and being humiliated by the bad press we got.
 
an example of a PR disaster is having 2 or more players get DWI's in the same summer while others are busted for holding up drug dealers at gunpoint.

This is a movie about some stuff that happened half a century ago. I think that people are smart enough to see the movie and notice that our roster has some folks of color on it. We have had black athletes doing great things at Texas for a long time. It's no big deal.
 
I doubt the movie includes the fact that the trouble started when the syracuse team was being racist and insulting Texas's Mexican players.
 
oh ****.

who did the review of aggy or somebody and said a receiver longs for the day he was covered by guys named chuy instead of brothers named jeremetrius?
 
judging the the trailer it looks exactly like Glory Road except for football. doubt anyone outside a couple schools will care that it builds up to a championship game against UT.
 
I will second extra large, It all happened a long time ago during a period where ignorance ran ramped throughout the nation and College Programs everywhere.Not just the South and not just Texas.You all wont suffer anymore than UK did for Glory road(And shouldn't).Just a sign of the times in an embarassing period in our nations history.You all have a proud tradition of famous black athletes just as extra large said.
 
I'll ask my dead grandparents what they remember about that game.

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How many black All Americans has Texas had since then?

The world changed, and Texas changed with it. This story took place almost 50 years ago.
 
Yaa, that was a long time ago. Times have changed drastically since then. Besides, Alabama turned out ok from the racism that was in Forrest Gump.
 
I feel sorry for Coach Royal on this, though. He has answered to this before, but I doubt the movie presents his side.
 
Of course they won't present Royal's side. That'll make it more dramatic.

"One man vs. the evil, angry South." Thankfully things HAVE changed and we can all make fun of stuff like this.
 
Could someone educate me on Coach Royal's side? Was he late in changing his opinion on black's in college football, or was it alumni pressure not to change ? My uncle played for UH in the 70s when Royal wouldn't recruit those guys. Yoeman/UH was more accepting than Royal /UT was for whatever reason.
 
I'll have to check my reference books later on Royal's side; I hesitate to post it from memory.

As for racial relations, your uncle is presenting the UH side. Royal actually first coached African Americans at UW in 1956. UT's rules and the Jim Crow south limited him in the early 60s. When UH and SMU broke the color line, UT tried to follow suit. They struck out on a couple of offers, who understandably were more interested in a normal college experience than in being UT's jackie Robinson. The first Africcan American player UT recruited flunked out in '68 (his first year). Julius Whittier was the second, and 1969 was his freshman year.
 
Ernie Davis' story is an inspirational story that I think all fans will enjoy. I am sure Hollywood will ham it up like they do everything.

There are things that we should know about ourselves. Racism is an ugly thing that holds mankind back. We will never get past it without thinking about it and dealing with it. Sometimes I think being racist is as much a trait of being human as being born uncivilized.

People like Ernie Davis helped us get to the point we are today. His story should be told.
 
I think I wrote a paper on this in college... the topic was somehting about myth and its impact on how we view history in Texas: One section was about racism and UT athletics.

As I recall the position of Royal is / was that playing for Texas was a real big deal... Maybe bigger than it is today, and Royal seemed to understand that the first black player at Texas needed to be someone exemplary on and off the field, becasue it would be such a watershed moment, that the person experiencing it would need to be pretty unique to handle the scrutiny and immense difficulty the went with it. So waiting for that person took some time.

Similarly, there was a sense that the black players understood that difficulty as well and perhaps felt more comfortable at other schools and with a profile more appropriate to a student athlete. ultimately no one wants to be a pariah.

I think he saw integration as a welcome event... But also certainly felt constrained by the times and institutions of which he was a part. there is of course a good argument that that stance is racsit and cowardly too... But, at the end of the day Royal knew that it would happen, starting in the north at smaller schools and then the big schools and eventually the south...

Now, I cannot tell how much of the above is ******** and how much of it is genuine, but that is the party line as I understand it. It generally seems reasonable... also based on the stories you hear about Royal's relationships later with his black players, it looks like if he was a racist himself at some point, or simply benefitting from a racist system, he eventually abandoned that completely... I have heard that Earl Campbell basically lived at the Royal home his first few semesters on campus and that Earl ate more meals prepared by Edith Royal than those prepared by the athletic dorm staff...

There is a funny / sad quote though, I want to say it was the Baylor coach? maybe not? but it went soemthing like...

"Everyone wants to know if Darrell is a racist. Well Darrell always said he'd dance with who brung him. Well the darkies didn't bring him, hell they weren't even invited to the dance back then."
 
Sounds like Broyles was limited by what the administration wanted to do...just like Royal. As I posted before, Royal coached African Americans at UW in 1956, and possibly did also in the CFL.
 
I wasn't thinking so much about coach Royal when I started this thread. As I recall, it was a couple of linemen who did the trash talking. Royal was always a gentleman.

As for recruiting blacks, my recollection is that he busted a gut trying to get Warren McVea because he wanted the first black player to be someone extra special. McVea had two problems: he did not want the pressure and he didn't want to go to school. At UH he didn't have a problem with either.

We should also keep in mind that Austin at the time was still a very sleepy southen city. I went there in '69 and it felt like I was in Alabama. I can't imagine what it was like for black athletes----Houston would seem like a more comfortable fit with its larger black population. While I was there Austin elected a mayor whose main claim to fame was that he was head of the school board when they fought desegregation.

I just hate seeing anybody say or think anything bad about my school. Even if it was fifty years ago. Maybe because I'm 60 it effects me more than younger people.
 
I think it is a good thread. I really don't see this movie being a PR disaster for UT. This is Ernie Davis' story not a story about racism at UT.

I have seen the previews and trailers for the movie and not being a young man myself I remember the 60's well. This is a movie about triumphs and doesn't seem to focus on the evils as such.
 
OK. The book, "The Darrell Royal Story" says that there was a brawl just before half time. Evidently, the official called an illegal block on Syracuse, an African-American OL protested, a Texas player told him to shut up using an ethnic slur, and a brawl broke out. The Orangemen were leading 15 - 0 at the time, which was a huge lead back then. After the game, Syracuse accused Texas of dirty play. Royal claims that after reviewing the film, the Syracuse staff acknowledged the Horns were not playing dirty. Also, the Orangemen complainedabout segregated Dallas.

A review of a SI article from the time states a much harsher slur than the Royal biography. It does not accuse Texas of dirty play, but does point out the ugly pre-half brawl.
 
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