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Novembers, 1994
A Century of Greatness
The Battalion • Page 7
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A&M gets Heisman as Crow flies
Running back
only Aggie to
win Trophy
By Nick Georgandis
The Battalion
In the lobby of the Texas A&M Athlet
ic Office, on the second floor of the
Koldus Building, one item stands out
from everything else in the room. Just
to the left of the grand trophy case, on a
pedestal about five feet off the ground,
rests a statue in that unforgettable pose.
It is 37 years old, it is the only one of its
kind on campus and it is the most covet
ed award in all of college football.
It is the Heisman Trophy, awarded to
Aggie running back John David Crow in
1957, a man whose dedication to his
school began the day he was recruited
and continues on through today.
For A&M, Crow was not even a
bona fide recruit going into his senior
year of high school. Crow grew up in
northern Louisiana, but says he made
the A&M connection when visiting
Magnolia A&M (in southwest
Arkansas) to watch his older brother
perform on the gridiron.
“The coach there (at Magnolia A&M)
was Elmer Smith, and I got to known
him well because I pretty much always
stood on the sideline,” Crow said. “When
‘Bear’ Bryant took the job at A&M, he
hired Elmer Smith, who he had met in
the service, as an assistant. Then Elmer
started recruiting me.”
Playing on both offense and defense
was still the norm for college football
players during the 1950s, and Crow
was known more for his work as a de
fensive cornerback than as a running
back. But NCAA rules of the day stip
ulated that a player coming out of the
game could not return until the end of
that quarter, so Crow and his team
mates had to play on both sides of the
ball to maximize their abilities.
In 1955, Crow began playing regular
ly on offense, and scored his first colle
giate touchdown in explosive fashion.
Against Louisiana State in the second
game of the season, Crow broke several
tackles while rambling for a 77-yard
touchdown run, a sprint Bryant
would later call “the greatest single
run I ever saw”.
In his junior year of 1956,
Crow was named an
AlII-Southwest Con
ference per
former. The
A.ggies won
the SWC
c h a m p i
o n s h i p
for the
Photo courtesy of the Texas A&M Sports Information Office
Former A&M running back John David Crow (left) uses the lead blocks of Loyd Taylor (middle) and Roddy Osborne (right)
to help pave his way to the 1957 Heisman Trophy. Crow, a first round draft choice, went on to play eleven seasons as a defen
sive back for the Chicago Cardinals.
first time in 15 seasons, with a 9-0-1
record and a final rank of fifth in the na
tion. The season included the game
Crow still remembers as his favorite of
his collegiate career.
“I think my best moment was beating
t.u. at Memorial Stadium (34-21) in 1956,”
Crow said. “I ran in the ball for our First
touchdown, and it was the first time any
Aggie had ever scored in the south end of
Memorial Sta-
dium.” _
. Crow en-
>i < tered his
senior
season
as one of
the top
a 1 1 -
around
players
in the
country.
To comple
ment his
individual
excellence, the
Aggies rocketed
out of the start
ing gate, win
ning their first
eight games. On
the 29th of
October,
A&M
position in the Associated Press poll for
the first time since the end of their
1939 national championship season.
The Aggies stayed in the top spot for
three weeks, before being stunped by
Rice in Houston 7-6.
Despite losing the final three games
of the season, Crow was still being
lauded as the best player in the coun
try. He racked up 562 yards rushing,
scored six touchdowns and intercepted
five passes during the campaign. Al
though he lacked big rushing numbers
by today’s standards, Crow’s former
teammates remember him for his total
desire to win and for his “north-and-
south” style of running.
“He was a great football player, the
best we ever had from that period,”
Dennis Goehring, ’56, said. “There is
better talent today, guys that are
stronger and faster, but he was such a
great competitor.”
Bobby Joe Conrad, ’57, said he
thinks Crow’s defensive mentality en
abled him to punish would-be tacklers
when he carried the ball.
“He was more of a bruising back
than anything,” Conrad said. “He just
kept busting into them, and then he’d
just take off.”
Despite the flamboyance and hype
now associated with the annual Heis
man race, during Crow’s time, the
award was not very well-known.
“1 bad never really beard of it(the
Heisman),” Crow said. “One day, Jones
Ramsey, who was the sports informa
tion director at the time, asked me to
stop by his office to ask me some ques
tions for some newspaper. There was a
picture of the Heisman Trophy in his
office with some little description on it,
and I asked Jones what it was.
“He said it was the Heisman Trophy,
but I never would have remembered
asking that if history didn’t take the
turn it did.”
Even after being awarded the trophy
at the Downtown Athletic Club in New
York City, Crow received another
award, which at the time, he considered
to be a much greater honor.
“At the time the Walter Kemp
Memorial Award, which was the award
for the best running back in the coun
try, was a lot bigger thing,” Crow said.
“The Kemp award was at a hotel, it
was a black-tie affair, and Vice-Presi
dent Nixon was there. Tom Harrington
was the president of A&M at the time,
and he called home to tell my mother
about it.
“Right at that time, I walked into the
house and she said, ‘The president of
the University just called,’ and I
thought to myself, ‘Oh god, what have I
done now?’ because I thought I was in
some kind of trouble. My mother was
as excited as she could have been.”
Unlike many recent Heisman win
ners, Crow did not peak after winning
the award. He was a first-round draft
choice of the Chicago Cardinals in
1958, and played 11 seasons as a de
fensive back, making the Pro Bowl four
times. He was named to the 1960s all
decade NFL team, and was inducted
into the College Football Hall of Fame
in 1976.
Altbougb be believes the next
Heisman trophy winner at A&M may
not be too far away, Crow said he is
very proud that he is still the only Ag
gie winner, both for himself and for
his old coach.
“1 think we’ll definitely have another
winner, in fact he may be on the team
right now, if he doesn’t go to the NFL,”
Crow said. “Coach Bryant only had one
Heisman Trophy winner (in 29 years of
coaching), and it was me. He’ll never
have another one, and that’s very grati
fying for me.”