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Updates on Tommy Ford and Randy Bishop are available at the links below.
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McCurey Hercules Walls Podcast
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Herkie Walls flew from Orlando to Austin to give the eulogy for his Longhorn teammate, New York Jet, and Olympic gold medalist Johnny Lam Jones. Herkie’s tribute to Lam was riveting, passionate, and spiritual.
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Hercules Walls was born with God-given athletic talents and the ability to inspire people with words.
Talented in Track and Football
Herkie used his talents, work ethic, and strong will to enhance the Longhorn brand in football and track. Hercules Walls was a consensus choice as All-Southwest Conference split end and a member of the 1980 Olympic team. At the 1980 Southwest Texas Indoor Track and Field Championship, Walls finished first ahead of Curtis Dickey and Carl Lewis in the 60-yard dash.
Inspiring Others with Words
In the 1981 Houston game, Rick McIvor was hurt late in the first half. Coach Aker’s told Robert Brewer, a walk-on with little playing time, that he would start the second half. Herkie Walls knowing Robert would be nervous or might be second-guessing himself went up to Robert before the kick-off and said :
“REMEMBER BREW BABY -CREAM ALWAYS RISES TO THE TOP. “
And it did! Brew Baby finished his career on top with 13 wins and 2 losses.
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Herkie Walls – set many football records as a Horn and in Arena Football.
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Herkie Walls was a member of the 1980 Olympic team.
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Herkie’s thoughts on the USA boycotting the 1980 Olympics held in Russia.
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Podcast
In his podcast, Herkie shares moments about playing football with Johnny “Lam” Jones and lifting weights under the tutelage of Dana LeDuc.
For Herkies podcast and more about his accomplishments delivered in both text, photos and podcast visit:
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Dana LeDuc will share his story via podcast, text, and photos in the next TLSN newsletter.
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Coach Akers and his Quarterbacks
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From 1977-1986 18 quarterbacks were at one time or another listed on the Longhorn roster as quarterbacks. Donnie Little, Rob Brewer, Randy McEachern, Todd Dodge, and Bret Stafford started a combined 99 games. (Bret was also the quarterback during the transition years from Akers to McWilliams).
The other 13 quarterbacks during the Akers era – Danny Akers, Donovan Forbes, Ted Constanzo, Rick McIvor, Rob Moerschell, Jason Burleson, Bob Lllljedahl, Doug Hadley, Rob McManis, Mark McBath, Jon Aune, Sam Ansley, and Shannon Kelley- were part of the team the other 41 games.
Some of the 13 were moved to other positions ; some were on the depth chart but played little; and the remainder started anywhere from 2 to 14 games.
Each quarterback has a story to tell, and each story is different. However, all share a brotherhood of self-doubts, injuries, wins, losses, promotions, demotions, and the ability to adjust through challenging psychological and mental attacks on their self-esteem.
The genealogy of Coach Akers and his quarterbacks is at:
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Donnie Little chose to move from starting quarterback to a receiver his senior year. Rick McIvor replaced Donnie until he suffered a serious injury in the Houston game. Walk-on Robert Brewer then took the mantle and never gave it up until he graduated.
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Todd Dodge was part of the “quarterback by committee” season in 1983. Todd Dodge, Rick McIvor, and Rob Moerschell played this year, with Rob starting 9 games.
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Mark McBath suffered an ankle injury in the 1977 Oklahoma game. Jon Aune replaced Mark McBath and immediately suffered an injury which led to the rise of 3rd team quarterback Randy McEachern.
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The Media Projects the Wrong Narrative of Our Great University
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In the 1920’s Universities finally understood that sports, mostly football, do a better job of increasing quality student enrollment than promoting educational benefits, so there was a building boom for sports facilities across the nation. Look around the University of Texas sports complex in 2021, and you can see that 100 plus years later, sports still drive most Division I Universities, and football is still the king of revenue.
FOCUSING ON FOOTBALL IS THE WAY IT IS, BUT THAT IS NOT THE WAY IT SHOULD BE!
To CDC’s credit, his Longhorn vision and marketing skills have enhanced the Longhorn brand. As Harvey Penick told his golf students before swinging the golf club, “take dead aim.” CDC has done that in the North entrance to DKR Memorial Stadium. The “curve” at the stadium gives equal billing to all the great Longhorn athletes in all sports, and that is the way it should be.
Somehow the sports media has missed this message. Over the last 6 weeks, the media in all formats has quite frankly been myopic when discussing Texas joining the SEC. Choosing to stigmatize UT by holding the Longhorn Nation hostage to Horn football teams which have had questionable results the last 10 years. As Longhorn fans, we must drown out this one-dimensional narrative of Texas and value UT as a whole package. A value determined by Texas exceptionalism in sports and academics, and that is how it should be!
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AT Least the Learfield Directors Cup honors what the media chooses to ignore.
In 2021 The Learfield Director’s Cup officially labeled the Horns as the “best-of-the-best.” The award is given to the collegiate athletic department with the most high-placing finishes in NCAA Championship action. No SEC or Big 12 team has ever won this award- only Texas. Congratulations to CDC, Chris Plonsky, John Bianca, and all the Longhorn teams and individuals who helped engineer this great accomplishment.
Here is the link to the Learfield Director’s Cup:
https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com%2Fcollege%2Ftexas%2Fnews%2Ftexas-athletics-wins-programs-first-ever-learfield-directors-cup&data=04%7C01%7C%7Cf4a476c23cc44e728c2c08d955317dee%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637634493320453696%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=8PQwCD8hhXsXACi%2BgqeQXNhjj2R1dSM7qx9DAzdeurU%3D&reserved=0
The NCAA top V award also celebrates the diversity of Longhorn sports. Seven former Longhorn student-athletes have received this prestigious award – 3 Longhorn swimmers/divers, 2 football players, 1 soccer player, and 1 softball pitcher. Below are the honorees of this award.
Below are the winners of this prestige award.
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Betsy Mitchell- swimming /diving
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Vera Ilyina -swimming/diving
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Alison Gibson -swimming/diving
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TLSN is not associated with the UT Athletics Department or any organization closely aligned with UT.
TLSN is an independent organization celebrating Longhorn Sports History and assisting qualifying Horns who need temporary financial assistance.
The TLSN website and newsletter are free, educational, historical, and insightful. Sharing Longhorn sports history through the eyes of those who created it.
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