Davis humbled by devotion of OU fans
I’ve written and blogged quite a bit this week about the Sunday book-signing of OU’s five national championship quarterbacks — Claude Arnold, Jimmy Harris, Steve Davis, Jamelle Holieway and Josh Heupel. The crowd was enormus, with the autograph line snaking through the little Sooner Schooner store in Norman and going out the door. The event lasted four hours.
Davis, 32-1-1 as a starter and the quarterback on the Sooners’ 1974 and 1975 national title teams, sent me a nice email, pondering the day. I thought I would share some of it with you:
“These events always humble me when I think of the devotion of the Sooner fans. Only today am I beginning to realize the full impact of the success of the those teams I was honored to lead as its QB.
“I remember as a young boy working in my grandfather’s grocery store on those glorious fall Saturday afternoons past when I would carry groceries out the back door and into the common parking lot of Farmer’s Furniture store in Sallisaw. It was there, on many occasions, where my grandfather would find me watching an OU football game and dreaming of my future. I guess, on those football Saturdays, customer service took a backseat to my passion for following my heroes.
“Last Sunday I was reminded of how devoted many OU fans are and how Oklahoma University football has impacted many lives…….they can recall events, dates, wins and losses as well as any of the five national championship QBs could today. It all makes me realize the impact of sport on our society and the passions it creates and sustains. It’s funny, I just thought I was going to spend a little time with two of my football idols (no offense to Josh or Jamelle) on a pleasant Sunday afternoon. Boy, was I mistaken.”
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.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
Great to read about Steve. He had a promising career in broadcasting on college football at a time when those with any accent could not get a chance. I assume he is doing well.
I would like to read some follow-up on Jamelle. He has had some ups & downs since his playing days. What is he doing now?
It was a pleasure to be able to see Steve and the well oiled machine operate. They just seem to have the flow that you could watch unfold right before your eyes. Must have been a tremendous pressure on those guys. They were expected to win every time. But that is what makes a good Sooner fan.
Sooners Illustrated used to have a fold-out in every issue. Now, I see one on occasion but it is usually spoiled with a small ad at the bottom or side. One fold-out from years ago was of Steve Davis with a simple 31-1-1 at the bottom. I carefully pulled it from the staples in the middle of the page, pressed the staple holes so that they could not be seen and had it nicely framed. I still have that picture hanging on my den wall. Wish I could have been there to see him in person.