A story of Chris Gilberts years as a Longhorn as told by Professor Larry Carlson and many other fans

Below is Chris’ Obituary. To read more and see many photos, fan and team comments, and the history of Longhorn sports during the 1966,1967, and 1968 seasons, visit

OBITUARY

Chris Gilbert

A funeral service is to be conducted at eleven o’clock in the morning on Thursday, the 19th of February, in the Jasek Chapel of Geo. H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Road in Houston. Immediately following, all are invited to a reception in the adjacent grand foyer. Here is the link to the obit

https://texaslsn.org?fluentcrm=1&route=email_preview&fc_newsletter=af66ecac64c8488ffbe2a3f44d934a69

For those unable to attend, virtual attendance may be accessed by selecting the “Join Livestream” icon in the service section below.

https://texas-lsn.squarespace.com/chris-gilbert

It was said by Darrell Royal that his star running back ran like a lizard. He was quick, he was fast, he was steady, he was elusive and he was durable. He once lugged the pigskin 38 times in one afternoon for Texas, something not even the great Earl Campbell ever did.

He established the standard for standout runners to come who would don the burnt orange. He even became the answer to a query in the game of Trivial Pursuit.

John Rooke

Chris Gilbert was my first Longhorn “hero” as a kid.- John Rooke

Texas Longhorn legend Chris Gilbert was indeed college football’s first player to rush for 1,000 yards in each of three seasons. The Houstonian, listed at 5-11, 180, did the deed in his three varsity years – 1966 through ’68 — back in the era of the ten-game regular season.

The list of collegians with three such thousand-yard seasons is a short one, almost 56 years since Gilbert last ravaged Southwest Conference defenses. For perspective, Ricky Williams had three of those super seasons of one grand, in more games. Earl Campbell had two, as did Bijan Robinson. Only Cedric Benson chalked up another perfect stat line, going four-for-four from 2001-2004.

UT had the Knot Hole section in the north end zone. Anyone under 18 could watch a game there for 50 cents. I remember that second half against USC. Texas started the second half deep in its own territory. That provided me with the perfect vantage to watch Chris go to work. I fell in love with his running style and was a huge fan from that time on.- Tom Prikryl

But back to Gilbert. He came to the Forty Acres as a freshman in autumn ’65, fresh from a superb high school career with the Spring Branch Bears, piling up 272 points and more than 3300 yards. Chris was heavily recruited and highly touted but upon arrival in Austin, he still slid a little under the radar. An East Texas QB dubbed “Super Bill” Bradley was getting the biggest share of rave reviews. By the time the two were eligible for varsity play a year later, Texas Football Magazine did a short spotlight feature on Gilbert.

It was headlined this way: Texas’ “Other” Soph: He’s A Winner, Too.

It took almost no time for Longhorn fans to learn that Gilbert was the real deal. In the opener at home, unranked Texas was going toe-to-toe with ninth-ranked Southern Cal but trailed 10-0 at halftime.

Patrick Scott Pevoto

Chris was my cabin leader at Camp Olympia, the camp he started with Corby Robertson. He was a great guy!!- Patrick Scott Pevoto

Coach Darrell Royal started Gilbert in the second half, seeking to jump-start UT’s new “I” formation led by Bradley. The slashing young tailback gave Texas some instant juice. He burned USC for 103 yards on 14 carries. But Texas, with legendary former Trojans player Marion Michael Morrison, better known as John Wayne, on the sidelines alongside buddy Darrell Royal, could not make a heroic Duke-like rally. The visitors held on in the defensive struggle, 10-6.

Beset by a then record number of injuries, Royal’s young team stumbled to a 2-3 start, and Bradley – slowed by a hurt knee against Indiana – was perhaps never the same as a quarterback. He sat out the OU game and the Sooners broke the Horns’ eight-game win streak in the big rivalry.

One positve became clear as the weeks marched on. UT’s “other soph” was getting better with each game. Texas lost four contests by a total of 19 but displayed resiliency in winning four of their final five in Southwest Conference warfare. Against Baylor, young Gilbert piled up 245 yards on 24 carries. For the regular season, he topped 100 six times and set the Longhorns’ single season record with 1,080 yards.

I played football for Spring Branch High School 2 years behind Chris Gilbert and the man was absolutely legendary to those of us who followed him….I can remember late summer workouts prior to the football season and Gilbert would come and workout with us, getting ready to go back to U.T. He would run circles around us so effortlessly. Interestingly we had a very good Spring Branch team that year and ended up playing San Angelo Central in the 4A state finals in Memorial Stadium in Austin in December of 1966. Darrell Royal rolled out the red carpet for us, being Chris Gilberts high school alma mater. I can still remember Chris and Darrell Royal watching us from the observation tower at Memorial Stadium doing our pre-game warmup for the State Final Game. Memories such as this one takes to his grave….Chris Gilbert was one of a kind and his modesty about his achievements made him all the more respected. Rest In Peace Chris Gilbert….. P. Jurica

Texas finished during the Christmas season by wrapping up Ole Miss, 19-0. Gilbert and Bradley put a bow on it, as each went over the century mark in rushing and Chris, with 156 yards, was named MVP.

That outing led to perhaps a level of optimism that was unwarranted. Burnt Orange bumper stickers decorated cars across the Lone Star State, reading “1967: Year Of The Horns.”

It didn’t turn out that way. Gilbert zipped for 250 yards in the first two games but the Horns scored just 13 points per contest and lost those close road matches to USC and Texas Tech. Embarrassed UT fans ripped away the bumper brags.

Properly humbled, Texas rather quietly reeled off six straight wins, Gilbert leading the way. With just the loss in Lubbock scarring the Horns’ record, they were in position to win their first conference title since ’63, when UT had won all the national marbles. But for the third time in TCU’s last four trips to Austin, the lowly Horned Frogs found a way to upset the Steers. Gilbert had done more than his part, sprinting 96 yards for a score – a record run that still stands in the UT record book – and adding a 61-yard burst. But one guy faster than Gilbert helped TCU overcome a late eleven-point deficit, blazing 78 yards on a punt return touchdown. It was Bubba Thornton, who later coached almost 200 track and cross country All-Americans, first at his alma mater, then for 18 years at Texas. The Frogs got the game’s last 17 points and Texas was toast. Five days later, it got worse. Chris Gilbert suffered a hip pointer at College Station, missed the second half and had to watch Texas lose to the Aggies for the first time in more than a decade. Frustration in Texas booster circles was rampant.

Mr. Dale: Thank you for this and all of your informative posts. I came to UT from a small town in 1966 and I had never seen a college game except for the weekly Game of the Week on TV. I was dazzled by the talent. IIRC, Gilbert was nicknamed “The Lizard” because he seemed to just be able to slither through the smallest hole. I remember watching a game (don’t remember which one) where under a full head of steam Gilbert put a hand on the ground and changed direction 180 degrees from where the play was intended to go. He was tremendously entertaining. I am very sorry to hear of his passing.- Randall Gibbs

Some perspective now. After a four-year, off-the-charts W-L chart of 40-3-1, Darrell Royal’s teams had just gone 6-4, 7-4 and 6-4. And the two most productive rushing seasons in Longhorn history had gone for naught. The coaching staff pressed a new intensity in the ’68 spring drills and again in summer. More than a few hot Horn prospects gave up football. But the stronger ones endured and weathered a rocky 0-1-1 start for a revolutionary new offensive formation created by assistant coach Emory Bellard. It came to be known as the wishbone. And it gushed gold for Texas.

For Gilbert’s part, the triple option meant just a few fewer touches but more running room, more flying starts to his dashes and slashes. He wasn’t the only Texas threat. Sophomore bruiser Steve Worster was sledgehammering the middle when Gilbert wasn’t taking last-second pitches around the edge from QB James Street. By game six, an easy win over Rice, number 25, the senior from Spring Branch, had become the Southwest Conference’s all-time ground gainer. A week later, “the lizard” had a 76-yard dash en route to 145 steps in a 38-7 beatdown of a good SMU team.

It only got sweeter for Texas. The Horns ended the season on a nine-game roll, blasting Tennessee 36-13 for the Cotton Bowl crown. Ranked number three, UT was considered by many to be the nation’s best team. Chris Gilbert, now a consensus All-America pick (he was second team as a junior and was a three-time All-SWC selection), piled up a career best 1132 yards and 13 TDs, a Texas record. He averaged an impressive 6.2 yards per carry and was honored as team MVP for the third consecutive career.

Drafted in the fifth round by the New York Jets, who had won the Super Bowl in January, Gilbert did not have a future in the NFL. He was not big and did not flash what would now be termed “elite” speed. Gilbert was also one semester away from his degree and worked out a deal to attend classes at UT and drive three hours north on Fridays for a practice session and get paid to play a few games for the Fort Worth Braves of the Continental League. He made good money for the era, on a team that also brought in former Longhorns Greg Lott and Danny Abbott.

Years ago I got on an elevator in Houston with Chris as the only other passenger.

“Hi, Chris. I was at UT the years you played and from Corpus when you were at Spring Branch. We were in the same district and played every year.”

“You ran for more yards than our whole team each time we played you!”

Chris just grinned and said, “I’m just glad someone remembers me that I don’t owe money.”

Through and through a superb athlete, and a grounded man of integrity and humor.

Condolences to the family.- Herb Agan

But business, not football, was the future for Chris Gilbert. Alongside friend and Texas teammate Corby Robertson, a ’67 All-America linebacker, he founded what would become one of the best-known kids’ camps in the South, Camp Olympia in Trinity, TX. He achieved great and continued success through the establishment of Gilbert Investment Company in Houston.

Gilbert was duly elected to the UT Hall of Honor, the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame.

Born the son of a Longhorn grad, my first football hero was Chris Gilbert. When I was 7, I received a non-descript football jersey close to burnt in the hue of orange for Christmas. The week after that Christmas day I found some white paint in the garage and painted #25 front and back of that jersey and wore it with pride in many tackle football games for a couple of years, regardless of the freshly starched feeling of the paint. Bill Miller

Texas football fans of a younger generation might not know or yet appreciate the scope of Chris Gilbert’s contributions to football at UT. The History of Longhorn Sports is here to remedy that.

For those of us fortunate to have witnessed his steady greatness and his explosive potential to pop the long gain on any carry, the memories are strong.

And for the opponents who tried vainly to corral a lizard-like runner, there are memories, too, flashbacks of a frustrating sort.

Chris was my uncle. Really great guy. So nice to see all the kind words about him and all the awesome memories that people have. He was a very special person.

RIP Uncle Chris 💔😢❤️- Jill Duncan

(TLSN’s Larry Carlson is a member of the Football Writers Association of America. He teaches sports media and electronic media writing at Texas State University and lives in San Antonio.)

Below are some quotes from Kirk Bohl’s recent article about Chris.

“He was the most affable, humble guy you’d ever want to know,” said Texas’ All-America linebacker Corby Robertson, Gilbert’s roommate and long-time business partner. “He was an absolute joy. What’s amazing is as much acclaim as he had, it never went to his head.”

“They took him to a movie to see ‘Mary Poppins,’ ” Chris’ younger brother Brad said. “And that did it. He wasn’t going to Notre Dame. He was 17, 18 years old and that wasn’t what he was looking for.”

Besides being a star running with the Spring Branch Bears when he ran for 3,303 yards and scored 272 points and made Parade All-American, he was a terrific outfielder in baseball and played in a Little League all-star game. He once ran a 9.6 in the 100-yard dash and competed in some Longhorn track meets. Few knew he was a Gold Glove champion in boxing when he was no older than 9. He got knocked out of a football all-star game in Pennsylvania and came back to score the winning touchdown, only to have it over ruled because he returned from a concussion.

Brad says Chris used to do 100 push-ups with him sitting on his back and “could walk on his hands as good as you and I can our feet.”

Heck, he even took modern dance lessons with his sister, Sharon, a fact his brother Brad said helped his footwork in football.

“We have bittersweet sadness,” said Brad Gilbert, who was also a Longhorn running back but injury prone and never lettered. “He’d been suffering quite a while with Alzheimer’s, and he hadn’t been himself. But he was such a humble, fantastic person. That’s what set Chris apart besides the fact he was a fabulous athlete.”

Billy Dale, another Longhorn running who would score the winning touchdown to beat Notre Dame in the 1970 Cotton Bowl, remembers how graceful Gilbert’s running style was.

“He was such a smooth runner,” Dale said. “One of my favorite quotes from Coach (Darrell) Royal was when we watched the game film and watched Chris make a cut, Royal said, “it was like taking two or three frames out of the film and re-splicing them together. I was a sophomore and when we watched him make his cuts, it happened so quickly and most amazing is he didn’t lose a lot of his forward momentum speed after the cut. And he had a tremendous sense of balance.”