Scott Appleton Remembered

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Bill in Sinton

5,000+ Posts
He was a great All American Defensive lineman that played for us on the great 1961 to 1963 teams. He put the team and football first and was very dedicated. Unfortunately he all but destroyed himself with alcohol years later but he did come back and became a minister touching many lives before he passed away. He was within the rules. In fact when he turned pro he chose to play for Houston rather than Dallas and when he told the Dallas official that he had an old car and the Dallas official had to give him a push with his car as Scott started his trip to Houston. No fancy house for him.
At UT the team was put first and he exhibited the traits that good players need to exhibit now. At UT Texas only lost two games and tied one and had a perfect record his senior year as UT won the NC in 1963. After each blemish he was angry and disapponted and not cool with it. While at UT he never embarassed himself or the team or university.
He worked himself into an angry state for each football game. He would read comments by the other team to where when he was in the game he was angry and played great. He had great desire and pride and his play showed it. He knew he represented a great university and was determined to help us win our first NC.
My late brother in law who also would have played for UT if not for a career injury used to study with Scott. There were times when Scott would be over and they would hit the history books to get ready for tests while my sister prepared snacks for them. Unfortunately, I never got to meet him.
He loved his team and put them first. One time Running Back Ernie Koy, Jr. wanted to borrow his keys to take a pretty UT coed on a date. When Ernie told Scott who the coed was it turned out it was one Scott was very much interested in. He slowly took the keys out and gave them to Ernie. After Ernie left he just shruged his shoulders and said "If Ernie's happy I guess it's good for the team."
Greater love hath no man for his team.

Thanks for the great time you gave us Scott. RIP.

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Great post Bill.

And I was fortunate enough to meet Scott and get his chin strap.

As a young kid I would leave the knothole section a few minutes before the game ended, when it was in hand by the way, and rush under the west side to greet the team as they headed into the lockerroom. I would say to each player as they went by...."take me in, take me in". One of the players would always put his hands on my shoulders and put me in front of him and take me into the lockerroom.

I had chin straps from some of the greatest players in Texas history including Appleton, Nobis, Ford, Gilbert, Koy, Street and on and on. Unfortunately I never marked them to know who they belonged to. I am not sure where they are actually but I hope they are in my parents attic somewhere in a box.

Those were great times for sure.
Hard to believe it was over 45 years ago.
 
Agreed. Great memories from those days. I ran into Olen Underwood a year or two ago and needless to say,he has great stories to tell.
 
Scott Appleton managed a Dairy Queen on 1960 near Spring back in 1972. A friend of mine worked for him and I had the pleasure of talking to him a few times. Even as a junior in high school, I was aware of how his station in life at the time could be considered a fall from the glory of nine years before.

He was a great guy. These were still his drinking days, and I remember him jokingly getting in a three point stance in front of my car one night when I picked up my friend. The headlights showed the playful face of a boy.

A week before two-a-days were to start my friend and I asked him what we should do to prepare.

"You been working out over the summer, staying in shape?" he asked.

"Uh, no, not really."

"Hell, just put your feet up and drink something cool, because there's nothing you can do about it now."

So, sure, these were his drinking days. If his life improved by not drinking, I'm glad. I will say that his good soul was quite evident before he dried out and took to the ministry.

Reading that he has died makes me appreciate the fact that I carry a few moments of Scott Appleton around in my memory. They're good moments from a man I liked.

RIP
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Thanks for sharing everyone.
Olhorn I think Olen Underwood is a district or federal judge now (or he may be retired). My brother in law knew him and he once told us that he was one of the unsung heros on the UT team.
 
He made one of the great plays in Texas history and it never gets discussed. In the 1963 Baylor game, Lawrence Elkins broke free past DBs (Hix Green and Joe Dixon, I think) and was streaking down the field with no Orange jersey within 10-15 yards. Don Trull cocked and started to fire a sure TD when Appleton hit him. The ball went about 15 yards rather than th 40 and fell harmlessly incomplete. Yes, Duke Carlisle saved the day with the INT, but Scott Appleton's hit on Don Trull saved a Baylor TD in a game Texas won 7-0.
 
I'm sure Roger Staubach remembers Appleton well, since Scott pimp-slapped and mauled him mightily in Cotton Bowl '64.
 
Scott was the biggest man on the team - 6'4", 240 lbs., as I recall. A truly good guy.

My brother went fishin' with Olen Underwood a few times.
 
Great thread.

Thanks for the pictures, especially of those sweet F.B. cards orngblud!

Roger found one guy he could not dodge on 1/1/64.
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My dad was from Brady and an acquaintance of Coach Royal. He followed highschool football in Brady and Brownwood. When he learned about Appleton, he asked Royal if he could "help" recruit him. Royal told him, in no uncertain terms, "No, Bob. I'll take care of this...leave it alone." Dad was not of the means to offer a car or the like, but it was this experience that confirmed my belief that Royal ran the program by the rules. He didn't want boosters tinkering with recruiting in any way.
 
My memories were good as were all of yours. He was a BIG, DT back then. The NC year they beat OU 28-7,I think, and Scott had something like 18 tackles. Guess who was across from him? Ralph Neely, an all-pro for the Cowboys forever. It was later viewed as one of his greatest games as he just owned Ralph Neely that day and Neely was not chopped liver by any means!
 
I remembered when he died in 1992 - it was a sad day after what glory and struggles Appleton experienced in his life. I was 10 in 1963, but I remember watching a few games on TV of that '63 team and my Dad would say son watch # 70 Scott Appleton, he is really good. I remember my Dad hooting and hollering as the Horns mashed Bud Wilkenson, Joe Don Looney & ou 28-7 that fall. I especially remember Appleton getting after Staubach in that '64 CB.

Scott Appleton is a Longhorn legend
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Love these kinds of threads Bill.

Sometimes our younger fans need to be reminded that Texas Football has a long and very proud tradition that continues to the present.

And that tradition is made by individuals who all have a story to tell.

Keep 'em coming Bill.
 
Thanks everyone for your support and sharing your memories. I know not many are around that remember even earlier years but these kind of memories are treasures. Some I pass on from what some tell me who unfortunately have passed away. I will be posting a key contribution about Coach Bible very soon.
Hey Not That Bob, Coach Royal was one that fought to keep enthusiastic boosters from enterfearing with recruits or players (unlike many coaches then and today). I remember once some were wanting to buy a "used" car for a UT player that really needed it. Coach Royal was one for sticking with the rules and when they asked him about it he told them he would see that they never set foot on UT campus again. It may have seemed harsh but he knew the rules and knew the penalties and disgrace that came with breaking them.
 
The first crush I ever had on an "older man" was on Scott Appleton. I was about 4 and I wanted to marry him. Longhorn football was always the dominant topic of conversation in our home and even as a tyke I could recite the roster: names, numbers, hometowns. My mama and daddy would always talk about Scott Appleton and was a player he was, and I developed quite the crush on him.

Mama used to take us (my sister and me) under the stadium in the last three minutes of the game so we could see our heroes and maybe even touch an arm as they went past on their way to the locker room. A group from the Longhorn Band would be down there as well, and we'd listen tuned while we waited for the Longhorns. Then, after the team had gone past, Daddy would meet us under there (he always wanted to see the end of the game), and we'd go somewhere to eat and talk about the game.

I wouldn't trade those childhood memories for anything.

I was greatly saddened that day in 1992 when I heard of Scott's passing. I never met him, but I always felt I knew him, because -- even as a little girl -- I could see his passion on the football field.

To this day, he makes all Longhorns proud.
 
I was born in January '64. Too young to see him play, but my mom told me years ago I was named Scott because she was (is) a Texas fan and especially was a fan of him.
 
My Liberty Panthers played the Brady Bulldogs in the state regional playoff in Kyle Field in 1958 and won. I promise you we knew who Scott Appleton was before, during and after that game.

in 1989, I took my eleven year old son to a preseason team-fans get together under the upper deck above Belmont Hall. Scott was there, and I told my son that I wanted to introduce him to one of the greatest Longhorn players of all time.

This made my son come up to Scott with big, wide eyes, but Scott couldn't have been more gracious to my son and me. I asked him to sign his photo in my 1962 Arkansas game program, and he wrote "God bless. Scott Appleton. UT '63, National Champs".
 
Not long before he died he was working at the Burger King in Dobie Mall. I was a bit startled when I saw his name tag, and I told him who I was. He said, "Your Aunt Audrey has been leaving a whole bunch of messages on my answering machine!"
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It was the only time I ever met him, but a few months later (IIRC) one of my coworkers left a newspaper on my desk at work with the headline that he had died. The memory of my encounter with him was so fresh and it was really sad.
 
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