A little bit of history...
On this date forty-one years ago we were facing Southern California in Texas A&M's only appearance in the Bluebonnet Bowl. It was the 19th of 29 Bluebonnet Bowl games that were played in Houston's Astrodome, the "Eighth Wonder of the World." We didn't come out winners in this high-scoring slugfest but it was still a monumental occasion in many regards for the Aggie football program.
This wrinkled preseason poster featuring some of the members of A&M's 1977 senior class is now 40 years old and somehow still intact. I guess it was the zenith of promo graphics at the time. The elected team captains just happened to be positioned at the top of it: DB Mike Williams, myself for the second year, C Mark Dennard, and LB Kevin Monk. All-SWC OT Frank Myers is also pictured. My great friend and longtime college football coach Phil Bennett is bottom left with DT Steve Spitzenberger on the bottom right.
It's very likely this is the only college football team in history that played five consecutive road games.
When we left A&M after this final bowl game in 1977 (my fifth year, since I didn't play in 1975) we didn't know any of the impressive "firsts" that this class had established for Fightin' Texas Aggie Football. Here's the short list:
So many other outstanding achievements occurred during this class's time at Texas A&M that they're too numerous to list, like the first back-to-back 10-win seasons ever in 1975 and '76 (repeated only 3 times in school history - all under RC), and playing on the last A&M team to be ranked as high as No. 2 in the country (1975), and being part of the greatest defenses ever to take the field statistically since 1976, and in 1976 being part of the only Aggie football team that ever (1) beat our arch-rival Texas Longhorns in Austin, (2) won their bowl game (Florida), and (3) finished AP Top 10. Ever.
All in all the 1977 Aggie football class set the standards for teams and generations to come in Aggieland, and we're understandably very proud of our legacy, as washed away by time and a subpar sense of history as it has shown to be at Texas A&M.
The members of the 1977 class, perhaps most importantly of all, were the last to have the privilege of calling the very first African-Americans ever recruited to play football for Texas A&M "teammates" — Jerry G. Honore and Mike Bruton. Before the early 70's black college football players weren't as prominent of a force, but the 70's era quickly changed that perception across the country, particularly in the South.
Thanks for reading. Gig 'em and Happy New Year's from Texas A&M Football's modern day Trailblazers, Trendsetters, and Builders of the Maroon and White's Winning Tradition!
The Book sharing the story of this great era of Aggie Football is available here.
This wrinkled preseason poster featuring some of the members of A&M's 1977 senior class is now 40 years old and somehow still intact. I guess it was the zenith of promo graphics at the time. The elected team captains just happened to be positioned at the top of it: DB Mike Williams, myself for the second year, C Mark Dennard, and LB Kevin Monk. All-SWC OT Frank Myers is also pictured. My great friend and longtime college football coach Phil Bennett is bottom left with DT Steve Spitzenberger on the bottom right.
It's very likely this is the only college football team in history that played five consecutive road games.
When we left A&M after this final bowl game in 1977 (my fifth year, since I didn't play in 1975) we didn't know any of the impressive "firsts" that this class had established for Fightin' Texas Aggie Football. Here's the short list:
- 1977's was the first senior class in Aggie football that ever averaged 9 wins per season, winning 36 games overall in becoming the winningest class in school history. This win total has been surpassed by only four classes during the past 40 years, all of whom played under coach RC Slocum. The program's all-time record of 42 victories was set by the 1994 senior class. (Note: 12-game regular season schedules were instituted in 1996, which was the same year A&M entered the Big 12. However, no senior class since 1995 has exceeded 36 victories, and only the 2015 class has matched the 1977 class's 36 wins during the 12-game era.)
- 1977's was the first senior class who ever won at least 8 games in all four seasons. It's notable that their schedules consisted of sixteen current Power 5 teams and three current Group of 5 teams — namely SWC foes Houston, Rice, and SMU. It was top competition game-in and game-out and each victory was extremely hard-earned. No current FCS or D-II teams were ever scheduled.
- 1977 was the first senior class that won at least 8 regular season games in all four years. To perhaps put this accomplishment in proper context, A&M owned a 48-100-6 record in the 15 years prior to my arrival there, accounting for only one winning season. As their quarterback during two full seasons and two partial seasons I became the winningest QB in A&M history with 25 wins as a starter, and today still rank second in this category. The Aggies were 30-12 overall (.714) in games in which I was under center.
- 1977 was the first senior class ever ranked in the AP Top 10 during all four seasons. Let this achievement soak in for a moment. It was the reason a 50% addition to seating capacity at Kyle Field was completed several years later, enlarging the stadium from 48K to 72K.
- 1977 was the first senior class since 1942 that was ever ranked in the AP Top 5 during three seasons, hitting the mark in '74, '75, and '77 (and were so close in '76 at No. 7.) The other time three Top 5 rankings occurred within four years at Texas A&M was before WWII, back in 1939, '40, and '41.
- 1977's was the first senior class since 1943 that played in 3 bowl games (a school record fourth invitation was unfortunately declined in 1974.) There were only 11 bowl games in existence in 1974 and 1975, 12 in 1976, and 13 in 1977, as opposed to the 40 bowl games we have today. Bids were extremely difficult to come by.
- 1977 was the first senior class who ever won 18 games at Kyle Field, becoming the winningest senior class of all time at home (18-3 overall). The victories included a No. 2 vs No. 5 win over the Texas Longhorns in 1975. The three losses were to 13th-ranked Texas Tech in 1976 (our last loss before finishing the season on a 7-game winning streak) and AP Top 5 teams Arkansas and Texas in 1977. (Arkansas was led by first-year coach Lou Holtz and Texas under first-year coach Fred Akers came into its game at Kyle Field ranked No. 1 in the country, led by eventual Heisman Trophy winner Earl Campbell.) The 1974 and '75 Aggie football teams went undefeated at Kyle Field.
- 1977's was the senior class who graduated with the current A&M single-game rushing record of 606 yards set against TCU in the team's fifth straight win over the Horned Frogs. That streak has now stretched to 24 straight.
- The 1977 senior class graduated with the greatest back-to-back scoring seasons in school history with a total of 714 points in '76 and '77, and over their four years had scored more points (1155) than any other Aggie football class.
So many other outstanding achievements occurred during this class's time at Texas A&M that they're too numerous to list, like the first back-to-back 10-win seasons ever in 1975 and '76 (repeated only 3 times in school history - all under RC), and playing on the last A&M team to be ranked as high as No. 2 in the country (1975), and being part of the greatest defenses ever to take the field statistically since 1976, and in 1976 being part of the only Aggie football team that ever (1) beat our arch-rival Texas Longhorns in Austin, (2) won their bowl game (Florida), and (3) finished AP Top 10. Ever.
All in all the 1977 Aggie football class set the standards for teams and generations to come in Aggieland, and we're understandably very proud of our legacy, as washed away by time and a subpar sense of history as it has shown to be at Texas A&M.
The members of the 1977 class, perhaps most importantly of all, were the last to have the privilege of calling the very first African-Americans ever recruited to play football for Texas A&M "teammates" — Jerry G. Honore and Mike Bruton. Before the early 70's black college football players weren't as prominent of a force, but the 70's era quickly changed that perception across the country, particularly in the South.
Thanks for reading. Gig 'em and Happy New Year's from Texas A&M Football's modern day Trailblazers, Trendsetters, and Builders of the Maroon and White's Winning Tradition!
The Book sharing the story of this great era of Aggie Football is available here.
Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the 1976 Fightin' Texas Aggies
(If you'd like a pdf version of the above graphic, please click here.)
A team for the ages: The 1976 Fightin' Texas Aggies
It's the 40th Anniversary of Texas A&M's Centennial Team, the 1976 Fightin' Texas Aggies. This team accomplished things no historian worth his salt could miss. Here are several distinctions relative to Texas A&M's 114 year old football history.
The 1976 Fightin' Texas Aggies, coached by Emory Bellard and quarterbacked by David Walker, became the second of only four football teams in Texas A&M history to beat Texas, win their bowl game, and finish in the AP Top 10...and the first to do so since the 1939 National Champions--a span of 46 years.
This team is one of only five teams in A&M history to win their bowl game and finish their season in the A.P. Top 10. Their Thanksgiving Day victory in 1976 over the Texas Longhorns was the Aggies' first at Memorial Stadium in 20 years, and was Texas A&M's second-only victory in the stadium's 52-year history. It would be one of only two Aggie victories in Austin over a span of 55 years.
The 1976 team was Texas A&M's first AP Top 10 team in 19 years and the school's only Top 10 team over a span of 28 years. The 76'ers were the first A&M team in 36 years to earn a bowl win as well as a spot on the AP Top 10 final rankings. The 76'ers were the first A&M team to BEAT TEXAS, earn a bowl win, and get voted into the A.P. Top 10 since the 1939 National Champions (37 years).
The 1976 team became the first team to win 10 games in consecutive seasons in school history, a feat matched only three times since. The 76'ers are one of two A&M teams in modern day history to become a Top 10 team without the benefit of a conference championship, with the other being Johnny Manziel's 2012 team. These are the only two Aggie football teams that lost their first two conference games before running the table for the remainder of their schedules. The 2012 team won its final six games while the '76 team won seven.
The 76'ers are the only Aggie football team in history to rebound from two initial conference losses and record a victory over Texas, a bowl win (over Florida), and a Top 10 ranking. Only three teams in the country had better records than the 76'ers; Tony Dorsett's National Champion Pitt Panthers at 12-0, and USC and Maryland at 11-1. The Sporting News ranked the 76'ers No. 3 in the country behind Pitt and USC, commenting that of the top three teams, "the one you WOULDN'T want to play at this point is A&M."
It's the highest final ranking of any Texas A&M team by a national publication since 1939.
The 76'ers beat coaching legends Frank Broyles and Darrell Royal in the final games of these legendary coaches' careers against Texas A&M. The 1976 team still holds Kyle Field's all-time single game rushing records for carries (79) and yardage (526 yards). The 1976 defense still ranks No. 1 in total defense over the past 40 years and is No. 3 over the past 60 years. It is also one of only two teams to hold opponents to less than 11 points per game since it last walked off the field in 1976.
The '76 Aggies were represented on the All-SWC team by defensive tackles Jimmy Dean and Edgar Fields, defensive end Charles "Tank" Marshall, and All-Americans Robert Jackson at middle linebacker and safety Lester Hayes, who still ranks second in career interceptions. Offensively, the Aggies were represented by linemen Dennis Swilley and Frank Myers, tight end Gary Haack, and wishbone fullback extraordinaire George Woodard. Woodard still holds the all-time record at A&M for scoring in a bowl game. Tony Franklin, with boots of 64 and 65 yards during the regular season, and an all-time mark in bowl games of 62 yards, was the All-American place kicker in 1976.
The 1976 Fightin' Texas Aggies, coached by Emory Bellard and quarterbacked by David Walker, became the second of only four football teams in Texas A&M history to beat Texas, win their bowl game, and finish in the AP Top 10...and the first to do so since the 1939 National Champions--a span of 46 years.
This team is one of only five teams in A&M history to win their bowl game and finish their season in the A.P. Top 10. Their Thanksgiving Day victory in 1976 over the Texas Longhorns was the Aggies' first at Memorial Stadium in 20 years, and was Texas A&M's second-only victory in the stadium's 52-year history. It would be one of only two Aggie victories in Austin over a span of 55 years.
The 1976 team was Texas A&M's first AP Top 10 team in 19 years and the school's only Top 10 team over a span of 28 years. The 76'ers were the first A&M team in 36 years to earn a bowl win as well as a spot on the AP Top 10 final rankings. The 76'ers were the first A&M team to BEAT TEXAS, earn a bowl win, and get voted into the A.P. Top 10 since the 1939 National Champions (37 years).
The 1976 team became the first team to win 10 games in consecutive seasons in school history, a feat matched only three times since. The 76'ers are one of two A&M teams in modern day history to become a Top 10 team without the benefit of a conference championship, with the other being Johnny Manziel's 2012 team. These are the only two Aggie football teams that lost their first two conference games before running the table for the remainder of their schedules. The 2012 team won its final six games while the '76 team won seven.
The 76'ers are the only Aggie football team in history to rebound from two initial conference losses and record a victory over Texas, a bowl win (over Florida), and a Top 10 ranking. Only three teams in the country had better records than the 76'ers; Tony Dorsett's National Champion Pitt Panthers at 12-0, and USC and Maryland at 11-1. The Sporting News ranked the 76'ers No. 3 in the country behind Pitt and USC, commenting that of the top three teams, "the one you WOULDN'T want to play at this point is A&M."
It's the highest final ranking of any Texas A&M team by a national publication since 1939.
The 76'ers beat coaching legends Frank Broyles and Darrell Royal in the final games of these legendary coaches' careers against Texas A&M. The 1976 team still holds Kyle Field's all-time single game rushing records for carries (79) and yardage (526 yards). The 1976 defense still ranks No. 1 in total defense over the past 40 years and is No. 3 over the past 60 years. It is also one of only two teams to hold opponents to less than 11 points per game since it last walked off the field in 1976.
The '76 Aggies were represented on the All-SWC team by defensive tackles Jimmy Dean and Edgar Fields, defensive end Charles "Tank" Marshall, and All-Americans Robert Jackson at middle linebacker and safety Lester Hayes, who still ranks second in career interceptions. Offensively, the Aggies were represented by linemen Dennis Swilley and Frank Myers, tight end Gary Haack, and wishbone fullback extraordinaire George Woodard. Woodard still holds the all-time record at A&M for scoring in a bowl game. Tony Franklin, with boots of 64 and 65 yards during the regular season, and an all-time mark in bowl games of 62 yards, was the All-American place kicker in 1976.
A Sense of Aggie Football History: The 1976 Fightin' Texas Aggies
- Only team in Texas A&M history to beat Texas AT Texas, win its bowl game, and earn an A.P. Top 10 ranking
- One of FOUR teams in Texas A&M history to BEAT TEXAS, win its bowl game, and earn an A.P. Top 10 ranking
- One of FIVE teams in Texas A&M history to win its bowl game and earn an A.P. Top 10 ranking
- First team since 1940 to beat Texas, win its bowl game and earn an A.P. Top 10 ranking (36 seasons)
- First team since the 1939 national champions to beat Texas, win its bowl game, and earn an A.P. Top 10 ranking (37 seasons)
- Only team in 45 years (1940-1985) to win its bowl game and earn an A.P. Top 10 ranking
- Only team in 46 years (1939-1985) to beat Texas, win its bowl game, and earn an A.P. Top 10 ranking
- First Texas A&M team since 1956 (20 years) to beat Texas in Austin at Memorial Stadium
- One of two Texas A&M football teams to beat Texas in Austin at Memorial Stadium in the facility's first 55 years of existence (1956)
- First A.P. Top 10 team at Texas A&M in 19 years (1957)
- Only A.P. Top 10 team at Texas A&M between 1957 and 1985 (28 years)
- First team to win 10 games in consecutive seasons in school history, a feat matched only three times since
- Own the highest ranking in a national publication since 1939 (No. 3 in the Sporting News)
- Hold Kyle Field's all-time single-game rushing records for carries (79) and yardage (526 yards)
- Hold the record at A&M for Total Defense and are No. 2 in Scoring Defense since their 1976 season (40 years)
- Beat coaching legends Frank Broyles and Darrell Royal in the final games of their careers against Texas A&M
- At 10-2 owned the fourth-best record in the country behind Tony Dorsett's Pitt Panthers at 12-0, and USC and Maryland each at 11-1
- One of two teams in Texas A&M history to finish the season undefeated (7 wins), win a bowl game, and earn an A.P. Top 10 ranking after losing its first two conference games (2012-6 wins)
- One of two teams ranked in the A.P. Top 10 without the benefit of a conference championship (2012)
- Only team in Texas A&M history to beat Texas, win a bowl game, and earn an A.P. Top 10 ranking after losing its first two conference games
The Best Seasons in Texas Aggie Football History
There have been some incredible teams in Texas A&M history. However there are only four teams in school history that own the following collective accomplishments, achievements that for decades have been deemed among the most important to the university and its fans:
1) Each had 10-win seasons
2) Each had strong finishes that included bowl game triumphs
3) Each BEAT TEXAS, and
4) Each had an Associated Press Top 10 final ranking.
In other words, the following four Fightin' Texas A&M teams finished their seasons in about as glorious a manner as it gets around Aggieland:
1939 (11-0, won 11 straight, National Champions);
1976 (10-2, won 7 straight, No. 7, Sun Bowl Champions);
1985 (10-2, won 6 straight, No. 6, Cotton Bowl Champions); and
1987 (10-2, won 8 straight, No. 10, Cotton Bowl Champions.)
A fifth team that definitely deserves mention is that of 2012 (11-2, won 6 straight, T-No. 5, Cotton Bowl Champions), a bowl-winning Top 10 team who did not have the opportunity to defeat the Longhorns (but surely would have) as A&M had made the move to the Southeastern Conference and no longer played t.u.
These five teams can be thought of as arguably the best to ever play at Kyle Field.
Even if you take away the records and the winning streaks, the '39, '76, '85 and '87 teams are still the only four to ever BEAT TEXAS, win their bowl games, and earn spots in the final A.P. Top 10 poll...in the history of the school! The longest gap between two Texas-beating, bowl-winning, Top 10 teams is 37 years, spanning from the 1939 national champions to the 1976 Sun Bowl champions. The current streak (1987 - present) rose to 24 years before the rivalry game with Texas was halted following the 2011 season, and there it remains.
No team since 1987 ever pulled off the coveted trifecta.
Top 10 finishes
In addition to the 1939, 1976, 1985 and 1987 teams, here are the other seven teams in A&M history that earned Top 10 rankings in the final AP Poll:
1940-6th
1941-9th
1956-5th
1957-9th
1992-7th
1993-9th
1994-8th
The only one of the above seven, however, to win its bowl game was the 1940 team, but they unfortunately lost to Texas in their last regular-season game while positioned at No. 2 in the nation. The '56 and '94 teams were ineligible for bowl games, and fortunately for the 9th-ranked '41 and '57 teams, their loss in a bowl game did not occur until AFTER the final poll had already been released at the end of the regular season, thus maintaining their Top 10 statuses. (Note: The final A.P. Poll didn't become a post-bowl poll until 1968.)
In 2012 Texas A&M claimed its 12th overall Top 10 ranking in the AP Final Poll. Seven of these teams, beginning with the 1976 team, earned their positions in the AP post-bowl polls. Top 10 finishes at A&M occurred in back-to-back years only once ('56 and '57), and only twice in history have there been three consecutive years of Top 10 teams ('39, '40, '41 and '92, '93, '94.)
A&M Quarterbacks who finished with bowl victory and Top 10 ranking
Five quarterbacks have led a Fightin' Texas Aggie football team to a bowl victory AND an AP Top 10 ranking during their careers:
The other A.P. Top 10 teams in Aggie football history were quarterbacked by Derace Moser (1941), Roddy Osborne (1956, 1957), and Corey Pullig (1992, '93 and '94.) Pullig, Walker, Murray and Richardson, all four-year starters, are the four winningest QBs in school history.
In 1956 and 1976 Osborne and Walker quarterbacked their respective teams to the only victories against the Texas Longhorns inside Memorial Stadium in the facility's first 55 years of existence. Walker's '76 team was the only Aggie football team that beat Texas, won a bowl game (Florida in the Sun Bowl), and was voted onto the A.P. Top 10 over a span of 46 years (1939-1985.)
A&M Coaches in the AP Final Top 10
The A&M coaches who guided their team(s) to Top 10 status in the final A.P. polls are:
1) Each had 10-win seasons
2) Each had strong finishes that included bowl game triumphs
3) Each BEAT TEXAS, and
4) Each had an Associated Press Top 10 final ranking.
In other words, the following four Fightin' Texas A&M teams finished their seasons in about as glorious a manner as it gets around Aggieland:
1939 (11-0, won 11 straight, National Champions);
1976 (10-2, won 7 straight, No. 7, Sun Bowl Champions);
1985 (10-2, won 6 straight, No. 6, Cotton Bowl Champions); and
1987 (10-2, won 8 straight, No. 10, Cotton Bowl Champions.)
A fifth team that definitely deserves mention is that of 2012 (11-2, won 6 straight, T-No. 5, Cotton Bowl Champions), a bowl-winning Top 10 team who did not have the opportunity to defeat the Longhorns (but surely would have) as A&M had made the move to the Southeastern Conference and no longer played t.u.
These five teams can be thought of as arguably the best to ever play at Kyle Field.
Even if you take away the records and the winning streaks, the '39, '76, '85 and '87 teams are still the only four to ever BEAT TEXAS, win their bowl games, and earn spots in the final A.P. Top 10 poll...in the history of the school! The longest gap between two Texas-beating, bowl-winning, Top 10 teams is 37 years, spanning from the 1939 national champions to the 1976 Sun Bowl champions. The current streak (1987 - present) rose to 24 years before the rivalry game with Texas was halted following the 2011 season, and there it remains.
No team since 1987 ever pulled off the coveted trifecta.
Top 10 finishes
In addition to the 1939, 1976, 1985 and 1987 teams, here are the other seven teams in A&M history that earned Top 10 rankings in the final AP Poll:
1940-6th
1941-9th
1956-5th
1957-9th
1992-7th
1993-9th
1994-8th
The only one of the above seven, however, to win its bowl game was the 1940 team, but they unfortunately lost to Texas in their last regular-season game while positioned at No. 2 in the nation. The '56 and '94 teams were ineligible for bowl games, and fortunately for the 9th-ranked '41 and '57 teams, their loss in a bowl game did not occur until AFTER the final poll had already been released at the end of the regular season, thus maintaining their Top 10 statuses. (Note: The final A.P. Poll didn't become a post-bowl poll until 1968.)
In 2012 Texas A&M claimed its 12th overall Top 10 ranking in the AP Final Poll. Seven of these teams, beginning with the 1976 team, earned their positions in the AP post-bowl polls. Top 10 finishes at A&M occurred in back-to-back years only once ('56 and '57), and only twice in history have there been three consecutive years of Top 10 teams ('39, '40, '41 and '92, '93, '94.)
A&M Quarterbacks who finished with bowl victory and Top 10 ranking
Five quarterbacks have led a Fightin' Texas Aggie football team to a bowl victory AND an AP Top 10 ranking during their careers:
- Marion Pugh in 1939 and 1940;
- Louisiana Lefty David Walker in 1976 (the Aggies' first Top 10 team in 19 years and their only appearance in 28 years);
- Kevin Murray in 1985;
- True freshman Bucky Richardson in 1987
- Heisman winner Johnny Manziel in 2012 (Texas A&M's first Top 10 team in 18 years.)
The other A.P. Top 10 teams in Aggie football history were quarterbacked by Derace Moser (1941), Roddy Osborne (1956, 1957), and Corey Pullig (1992, '93 and '94.) Pullig, Walker, Murray and Richardson, all four-year starters, are the four winningest QBs in school history.
In 1956 and 1976 Osborne and Walker quarterbacked their respective teams to the only victories against the Texas Longhorns inside Memorial Stadium in the facility's first 55 years of existence. Walker's '76 team was the only Aggie football team that beat Texas, won a bowl game (Florida in the Sun Bowl), and was voted onto the A.P. Top 10 over a span of 46 years (1939-1985.)
A&M Coaches in the AP Final Top 10
The A&M coaches who guided their team(s) to Top 10 status in the final A.P. polls are:
- Homer Norton (1939, '40, '41 - regular season poll)
- Paul "Bear" Bryant (1956, 1957 - regular season poll)
- Emory Bellard (1976 - full season poll)
- Jackie Sherrill (1985, '87 - full season poll)
- RC Slocum (1992, '93, '94 - full season poll)
- Kevin Sumlin (2012 - full season poll)
Here are Head Coach Emory Bellard and the offensive starters from the 1974 Fightin' Texas Aggie football team that helped make winning a tradition again at Texas A&M. That 1974 season was followed by the school's historic back to back 10-win seasons in '75 and '76. To read more about this exceptional era and how these players and others forever changed the fortunes at Texas A&M, get your copy of David Walker's "I'll Tell You When You're Good!" (Artwork courtesy of Jerry Sams.)
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It didn't escape me that what I, the first black player recruited to play football at Texas A&M, and my teammates were doing in the seventies was history making. We were laying the foundation for the future generations of the modern era. It was pressure packed and the excitement, particularly with all the consistent winning the university enjoyed, was unprecedented. It was a most unique time for our great Aggie fans, the conference, and the nation. Jerry G. Honore |
The 12th Man Quarterback
 Youngest NCAA QB
Former Texas A&M quarterback David Walker is the youngest player in NCAA history to start at quarterback for a major college football team.
At only 17 years of age, the All-State lefty QB from Sulphur, Louisiana suited up for the Aggies and began a career that had enough ups and downs to make "Rocky" seem mundane. "I'll Tell You When You're Good!" is an extraordinary story about Walker's playing days and the teammates and coaches who impacted his career. In the book, the quarterback describes what it was like for a hometown boy to de-commit from LSU to play for the Aggies and the challenges, hardships, heartaches and triumphs he faced once he arrived. With toughness and a never-give-up spirit fostered by his high school coach, Louisiana Hall of Fame legend Shannon Suarez, Walker helped lead the Aggies to their first winning season in five years and earned the honor of Freshman of the Year, as voted on by the coaches of the Southwest Conference (SWC). Incredibly, A&M had experienced only one winning season in the 15 years prior to Walker's arrival on campus, but had four consecutive winning seasons and three bowl appearances afterwards. |
 Only Aggie QB to ever beat Florida.
Reaching yet another notable milestone, Walker quarterbacked the Aggies to their first win over Texas in Austin in 20 years and followed that up with a stunning defeat of Florida in the Sun Bowl. That remains Texas A&M's only victory over the Gators.
When he left A&M, Walker was the winningest quarterback in school history and remains the second-winningest quarterback to ever don the maroon and white. He also finished his career as the 5th winningest quarterback in SWC history and ranked second in all-time total offense for A&M, all while running Emory Bellard's complex triple-option. In his memoir, the former QB explains why the talented Aggie teams of those years never won a national championship even though they were tantalizingly close. In his unique voice--a mixture of Cajun-authenticity and Texas swagger--Walker recounts the glory days of Aggie football that paved the way for the modern-day teams. Throughout his book, Walker reminds A&M fans of just how phenomenal his teammates were, and he pays homage to some of the best talent to ever set foot on Kyle Field. Ed Simonini, George Woodard, Carl Roaches, Robert Jackson, Lester Hayes, Pat Thomas, Glen Bujnoch, Garth Ten Napel, Blake Schwarz, Jimmy Dean, Tony Franklin, Curtis Dickey, Bubba Bean, Bucky Sams.....they're all in "I'll Tell You When You're Good!" |
If you can't get enough of college football lore, you won't want to miss out on one of the most exhilarating, gut-wrenching, entertaining TRUE sports stories you'll ever read.
Order from AmazonIf you would like to order a hard cover, soft cover or e-book version of David's book, please click here and you will be taken to the book on Amazon.com.
Check out what readers have to say about "I'll Tell You When You're Good!"
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Sulphur High School Hall of Fame Induction
Pictured here with emcee John Bridges of KPLC-TV, Lake Charles.
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In 2013, David Walker became a charter member of the Sulphur High School Hall of Fame at the school's Centennial Celebration, and the lone inductee from the classes spanning the last fifty years. David is one of thirteen to be chosen for the award in the school’s 100-year history. |
"David has the gift of eloquence of the written word and conveyed his story in a manner that anyone would find enjoyable. Whether or not you are a sports fan, you will find his tale to be entertaining, enlightening and uplifting." |
David Walker's 1982 MVP ring from Jackie Sherrill's first Spring Game, dubbed the "Alumni Game," at A&M. David was named the Outstanding Player of the Game and given this ring by Coach Sherrill -- the only one of its kind in existence.
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