Readers respond on Jack Mildren
Jack Mildren’s death dominated the emails the last several days, with many very good points.
Jeff wrote, “Very good stuff on Jack Mildren. Not sure he was the greatest, but he certainly was the most important. Also, as a grade schooler or a middle aged fan, was there anybody cooler than Diamond Jack Mildren? Tough, smart and on the cutting edge. If only he would have been asked to pass more on 11/25/71.”
Here’s what’s crazy about Mildren’s 1971 season. Jason White won the 2003 Heisman with crazy-good numbers; 40 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions, on 451 passes. That’s a TD every 11 passes or so. Mildren had 10 TD throws and two interceptions — on 68 passes. That’s a TD every 6.8 passes. Amazing.
Jeff wrote, “In honor of our Oklahoma football legend and one of our favorite adopted citizens, the management of WKY 930 should, from now through the end of June, change the stage name from JOX 930 to JAX 930. I think it would be a fitting tribute and a popular decision.”
Interesting idea. But I’ve got to tell you, I thought the Sports Animal’s all-day tribute on Friday was way too maudlin. Jack Mildren’s life warrants Boomer Sooner or Stars & Stripes Forever, not something befitting CBS’ over-the-top Masters coverage.
Another Jeff read my blog ranking OU quarterbacks and has another cause. “Love the fact that you included Jack Mitchell! Wish (they) would induct him in the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame. Still holds two NCAA records. Great QB. Recruited Barry Switzer to
Bud Wllkinson’s first quarterback certainly deserves consideration, but I would say the biggest problem with the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame is too many OU football players inducted.
Gerald chimed in, “All I can say about Mildren was that he started me on the way to becoming a Sooner fan. For a kid from western Nebraska, I figure that is enough. I just regret that he is one Sooner great that I never got to meet.”
Amazing how much respect remains from Sooners and Cornhuskers of the 1970s era. I don’t see the same thing in any current OU series. Talking about it and living up to it are two different things.
Sam wrote, “I appreciated your comments about Jack Mildren — he was both young and old. I have an impressionistic fragment to share, in which Mildren figures as a typical viewer — of my artwork. About 12 ago I displayed some stippled ink drawings at an outdoor sale in Nichols Hills Plaza. Most artists, especially ink artists, tend to draw a single image with some peripheral decoration or a few internal accents. But I like to draw a scene, not an emblem. I also like to think that my scenes are self-explanatory, even though experience has taught me that many people are confounded by them and are offended when I don’t clarify the confusion by answering their questions, something I try not to do. Well, here comes Jack Mildren. I recognized him right away. Having been lieutenant governor had kept him and the aging process in the papers, but I could still see the youthful player underneath. He looked at the picture in the center of my display. His brow furrowed, his lip twitched, his eyes narrowed, his jaw clinched, he gave me a sharp look and walked away. There was something in the picture that wasn’t right. About five minutes later, here he comes again. He turned his head slightly to the right, then slightly to the right, then he gave a small smile and gently raised his head as if to acknowledge something — maybe he saw that Notre Dame cathedral and a three-room cottage belong together, after all. He looked at me and nodded and walked away again. To me, that provides the best example of people interested in my art. At first they are put off, but the intelligent or courageous ones come back and suddenly they get it. So, to me, it’s not my art that’s particularly revealing or profound, it’s their own diligence that sets them free from the restraints of conventionality. He was old, but willing to play young.”
Now you know why Jack Mildren was the renaissance man. Athlete. Oil man. Politician. Banker. Radio host. And finally, art critic.
Nick on Mildren, “Thank you for finally saying out loud what all of us who have watched OU all our lives already knew: that Jack Mildren was the greatest and most important quarterback in OU history. However, you still don’t go quite far enough. Not only did he change OU football forever, he changed college football forever. Because of what he accomplished in his senior year, 1971, the entire landscape of college football was transformed. Within five years, more Division I teams ran the wishbone than any other offense. But even more than that, option football was given a solid role in the college game that many teams still employ today and this is growing again in increasing numbers. If Jack and the wishbone had failed in 1971, none of this would have developed like it did and still is developing. I really wish you would take it upon yourself to see to it that Jack finally gets the recognition he is entitled to, the College Football Hall of Fame and special recognition at OU.”
Well, OU already honored Mildren, last November, an prescient move by athletic director Joe Castiglione. As for the College Football Hall of Fame, sorry, I can’t get worked up about it one way or the other. When a Hall of Fame has more than 1,000 members, how can it be relevant? I’m not criticizing anybody or questioning anyone’s inclusion (although I certain could). But I just can’t find any passion for something so large that tries to cover so much ground. There’s just too much there to get your arms around. As for Mildren changing college football, maybe. I’m not convinced. OU, no doubt. But option football already was raging across the college gridiron. Heck, OU was running the option before it switched to the wishbone. The Houston veer is an option offense. And yes, Alabama switched to the ‘bone because OU did. But OU switched because Texas did. No doubt all kinds of teams used it going down the root of Texas-Oklahoma-Alabama. Take one school out of the mix, and I don’t think the wishbone withers.
Chuck wrote, “You finally did it. You wrote a column I agree with 100 percent. Jack Mildren was not only OU’s best quarterback, but in my opinion, the best option quarterback to play the college game. He was also a good man!”
Thanks for the compliment. I think.
Joe wrote that Mildren “was a class guy. In my mind, he will go down as one of the top two or three wishbone QBs of all time, and there were some good ones. OU,
Well, that’s just one heck of a letter, because it made me think of the greatest wishbone quarterbacks. Wishbone, not option. So no Turner Gill or Tommie Frazier. I was going to rank them, then I discovered I had no real pool from which to pick. To me, it’s Jack Mildren and Nolan Cromwell 1-2 or 2-1, and then who knows? Texas’ best optioneer? James Street, I suppose. One reason for the Longhorns’ gradual slide after 1969 was lack of a star quarterback. Alabama’s greatest wishbone QB? Steadman Sheely? What about the Air Force guys? UCLA’s Mark Harmon? I just don’t know. But I know this. At the top is either Mildren or Nolan Cromwell.
And the week wouldn’t be complete without some politicking for a name for the NBA team. Don wrote, “A buddy and I have come up with a perfect name for the OKC basketball team. What do you think about the Oklahoma City Spirit? Colors red, white and blue. A transparent American flag with a background containing a thunderbird, an oil derrick, a plow, a spacecraft and a peace pipe. An action figure of a basketball player dribbling the ball, superimposed on the flag. The cheerleaders would be the Spirit Squad, and their gimmick would be a hair ribbon of the team uniform. Have a spirit box for each home game, recognizing four individuals with passes to the game for their spirit in promoting OKC. Firemen, policemen, servicemen, the possibilities are endless. We would like to present our idea to the owners and exchange the rights to the name for season tickets. What do you think?
I think you’d better start saving up for tickets to a team that will be called something other than Spirit.
Also, we have to hear from the proverbial Seattle fans. Pete wrote, “I’m a 17-year-old high school junior living in Seattle. I’ve watched this team all of my life and would like to think that I’m somewhat knowledgeable when it comes to the Sonics issue. I’m not writing this letter to you to complain about how you guys are stealing our team. OKC deserves an NBA team, and the city proved that with the Hornets. But can you honestly tell me that it is morally correct for a team with four decades of history in a city to be ripped from their roots? Your ‘shed no tears’ for Seattle catastrophe upset me quite a bit. The problem with Clay and his group is that they haven’t taken into consideration the fans of Seattle at all. That has to be reassuring knowing that he could do something just as evil in OKC. Without a doubt, this is a business transaction, and you clearly pointed that out, however I just don’t see how one could feel no guilt rooting for a team that belongs in Seattle. You can call ‘em the Barons and wear black and gold, but they’re still the Sonics. We sat through the 50- and 60- point loss seasons to get Durant and now the No. 4 pick. What is so hard about granting OKC an expansion team and keeping the Supes in Seattle? That is how King Stern should rule this one.”
Sometimes I actually feel for Seattle fans seemingly about to lose their team. Then someone trots out a term like “morally correct” and I lose all empathy. And for the record, I still support Thunderbirds.
Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel.
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Comments
Thunderbird!!!!!!!!!! 1) A classic Ford automobile, 1955-57, that went bad in 1958 and never recovered; 12 generations of disprited copying followed the initial launch. The name was originally pilfered by Ford from an exclusive housing development in Rancho Mirage, CA: Thunderbird Heights.
2) Fortified wine.
I guess that’s appropriate, with the team stinking up the Ford Center, inspiring those who waste a couple of hundred a night to try a bottle of T-bird, or as Lady Clay would say to you…boo hoo!
Of course he was a renaissance man…he was from West Texas. Born and bred with the sense of independence and confidence that comes from being raised where 60 mile an hour winds are considered a fresh breeze and the appreciation that a three hour sandstorm will actually foster a brilliant sunset later that day. Always the hope of something better with hard work, The unending space of the Llano Estacado begets the sense that one has a humble place in the vastness of life. These things are bred into the people from that part of the country along with a great appreciation of the land where 100 acres of scrub is preferred to a penthouse in a city.
Yes, Jack Mildren was a good man you only have to go back to his roots to find out why.
Thanks for the great articles on Jack Mildren. I think a strong case could be made that OU had the all-time top 3 or 4 wishbone quarterbacks (any school). Here’s my list:
1. Jack Mildren (beginning of wishbone era).
2. Thomas Lott
3. Jamelle Holieway (end of wishbone era).
I’m tempted to put Steve Davis in, for what his team accomplished, but I’ll leave it at 3.
Troy