The `B' Line . . . October 10, 2002
10/10/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 10, 2002
This is another "B" Line column, a periodic collection of news items of particular interest to members of the Baylor "B" Association. Contribute news about you or your teammates via e-mail to Lee Harrington (leenelaine@281.com), Dutch Schroeder (Dutch_Schroeder@baylor.edu), Reba Cooper (Reba_Cooper@baylor.edu), Kyle Penney,(Kyle_Penney@baylor.edu) or Jack Loftis (Jack.Loftis@chron.com). The mailing address is Baylor "B" Association, P. O. Box 8120, Waco, TX 76714
THE INSPIRATION - Maybe it would have happened anyway, but having Baylor's 1957 Sugar Bowl Champions in the stands certainly did not hinder the current Bears from beating Kansas and ending a 29-game Big 12 losing streak. Thirty-eight players from the 1956 team that defeated the University of Tennessee in New Orleans showed up in Waco over the Oct. 4-6 weekend for a reunion that will be best remembered by a moving talk by Charley Driver, their only living coach. Hardly a dry eye could be detected in the "B" Association Room on Friday night as Driver recalled for his aging former students the fourth-quarter rally that gave Baylor a stunning, but convincing 13-7 over the No. 2-ranked Volunteers. And he stressed in a spiritual sense that most in the room were entering the fourth quarter of life and that it is not too late to finalize hopes, plans and commitments. His message was not lost on former All-American and All-Pro Bill Glass, the famous evangelist who now spreads the gospel to prisons across the nation. Driver's world also got an "amen" from the Rev. Bill Anderson, who came in from Florida for the event and led a remembrance service in honor of deceased teammates and coaches . . . But the evening also had its lighter side, as players and wives sat down with veteran sportswriter and editor Dave Campbell to talk about the trip to Louisiana and what must be considered Baylor's finest post-season victory of all time . . .
GLAD TO GIVE IT UP - To help keep memories honest, a game film provided by Bobby Gill was shown during dinner. Gill said he obtained the video from former Tennessee tailback Johnny Majors, who was an All-American in his senior year on all game days except the one played before 82,000 at Tulane Stadium . . . Nobody absorbs humor better than Pat Sisk and the former football-baseball player was put to the test as he was reminded throughout the night of the punishment he took posing as Majors in the bowl-preparation practices . . . The reunion dinner was special for Jim Pate and his lovely wife Laura of Dallas. It was their 44th wedding anniversary . . . Al Witcher, the former end for the Bears and the Houston Oilers, is now a successful Waco lawyer, but he recalled for his Baylor teammates how Coach Driver managed to rummage up some extra clothes to go with the two pairs of jeans he brought with him to the BU campus . . . No other Baylor football player has had the hard luck of Doyle Traylor, the most sought after high school quarterback in the nation following his 1953 season in Temple. But in three straight years at Baylor he suffered three broken bones. He once told a sportswriter that he lettered three years - at Waco's Hillcrest Hospital. He was reminded at the reunion that those letters should have been I, C and U. Doyle says he has a grandson who want to play football. "I recommended golf," he added . . .
HUSBANDS AND WIVES -- Many of Baylor's Sugar Bowl players were married and the university flew their wives to New Orleans, where they stayed at the Roosevelt Hotel. "Baylor paid for my honeymoon," Bill Anderson said. And everyone on the trip must have gotten their money's worth because Dick Baker remembered you could then buy a lobster dinner for only $3 . . . Two of the three Baylor quarterbacks who saw action in the game, Bobby Jones and Buddy Humphrey (Traylor was the third), are deceased. Jones died in a car-train accident in Tennessee where - ironically - he was an assistant coach for the Volunteers . . . Many recall the exploits of the late Charlie Bradshaw, who continued to grow and grow and eventually became an outstanding lineman in the National Football League. Billy Joe Kelly told of the time Bradshaw had borrowed his car and came back to the dorm with bad news: "I sort of damaged your car." He overturned it coming back from Waco's Cameron Park . . . Charlie Joe Bennett said he had to behave during his Baylor days because he roomed with Glass and Anderson . . . Don Berry, whose winning field goal against Texas paved Baylor's way to the Sugar Bowl, is now retired from coaching, but his son is the head coach at Corsicana High School . . .
JACK LOFTIS
CO-CHAIRMAN
COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
