News Article: Houston Chronicle: Bama muddied No. 1 Aggies' fantasy in 1957

[banjeaux]

FULL ARTICLE: http://www.chron.com/sports/aggies/article/Bama-muddied-No-1-Aggies-fantasy-in-1957-4022132.php

Bama muddied No. 1 Aggies' fantasy in 1957

By Brent Zwerneman | November 8, 2012

COLLEGE STATION - John David Crow, larger than life in Aggieland, owns a couple of poignant reminders in the past month of one's mortality, no matter the legend.

In 1957, Texas A&M's Crow won the Heisman Trophy ...

Crow, 77, said with a slight chuckle that every morning he wakes up these days he's "glad to see the ceiling and not dirt."

"It's a good world we live in," added Crow, both A&M and Paul "Bear" Bryant's lone Heisman winner.

In Bryant's fourth year at A&M, the senior running back Crow and the Aggies had the world by the tail in earning a No. 1 ranking by reeling off eight consecutive wins to start the 1957 season, the last occurring 55 years ago today with a 19-6 victory over SMU. But the day before A&M played at Rice a week later, Bryant vehemently denied a report in a San Antonio newspaper that he intended to leave College Station for his alma mater of Alabama.

 

[GrayTide]

Great read banjeaux thanks. Fewer and fewer people around who remember those days.

 

[banjeaux]

Great read banjeaux thanks. Fewer and fewer people around who remember those days.

Glad you enjoyed it, GrayTide. Indeed, fewer people remember. Yet, with Internet & google all can catch up, if they know what to google. :biggrin:

See who you recognize in following video:

 

[GrayTide]

John David of course and Coach Stallings not sure about the others. Great video.

 

[banjeaux]

John David of course and Coach Stallings not sure about the others. Great video.

The Internet is our friend. I knew Crow's son, John David Jr, played for Coach Bryant in the '70s. :-( Until this morning, I didn't know what happened to him:

OBITUARY:

John David Crow Jr., a former Alabama running back and son of the Heisman Trophy winner from Texas A&M, was killed in a traffic accident near Birmingham, officials said.

Crow, 39, was struck by a vehicle at 7:13 p.m. Saturday while retrieving a hubcap that had fallen from his truck on Interstate 65, a police spokesman said.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...II1AAAAIBAJ&sjid=ijMDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1728,2830397

 

[banjeaux]

One for the Aggies, one for the Bear

Another good read:


http://espn.go.com/dallas/ncf/story/_/page/heisman-dallas-week5/john-david-crow

Paul Bryant coached Alabama to 232 victories, six national championships and a unique place in the hearts of Crimson Tide fans for more than a half-century.

There were so many great players in those 25 seasons, yet none won a Heisman Trophy.

One Bryant player did win the Heisman ... in the season that paved the way for Bryant to return to Alabama to coach his alma mater. This Heisman race took place with a team bearing down on a national title, only to see that dream fade in the season's closing weeks after Bryant's contractual courtship with Bama went public.John David Crow, a halfback and linebacker for Bryant at Texas A&M in 1957, won the Heisman as a senior. His offensive statistics weren't impressive, even by 1957 standards; he topped 100 rushing yards only once and didn't even lead the Southwest Conference in rushing. But playing at 6-foot-2 and 214 pounds, he was a rugged runner, relentless blocker and ferocious tackler. He even kicked a few PATs when called upon.

"The reason I played was because I could play defense," Crow, 76, said recently from his home near A&M in College Station, Texas. "Coach Bryant thought you win on defense and special teams: 'Just don't screw it up on offense.' He was pretty successful at doing that."
Bryant had stated that if Crow didn't win the Heisman, they should stop giving it out. Crow believes Bryant's "campaign" for him was pivotal.