TLSN is building bridges to the past, present, and future Darrell K Royal – The Bridge Builder. There is no period after Royal’s middle name. Darrell lost his mother a short time after his birth and the “K” is the first initial of his mothers name – Katie . DKR’s Story is a Horatio Alger…
The art of stealing signals Below is an article about stealing signs in the 1960s inspired by an article written by Fort Worth star-telegram sports columnist Jim Trickle for Dave Campbell’s magazine. The 1963 story of Texas deciphering Navy’s defensive signals was not officially made public until 1973. Longhorn Coach Bill Ellington shared the story…
Early October 2019, I received a phone call from a bartender in Hawaii who said he read the TLSN website and knew he could reach me via my profile on the website. The bartender said that a guest at the hotel found a Big XII Texas track Championship ring on the beach near the hotel….
There is more than just talent involved in starting and maintaining winning traditions. Coaches who excuse defeat because the other team has more resources and a year-round developmental program, miss the point and will continue to lose. Starting or maintaining a winning tradition begins with attitude, discipline, and execution. Of these three variables, discipline is…
From 1969 through 1994, the University of Texas held the NFL record for the most athletes from one university to win the World Championship. Longhorns Pete Lammons, George Sauer, John Elliot, and Jim Hudson are Super Bowl and College National Champions. They were 4 of 11 Texans on the Jets roster in 1969. One concerned…
THREE GENERATIONS OF COLLINS UT LETTERMEN It is a goal of TLSN to remember the family tree of former Longhorns who have created Longhorn sports history. Author Mark McDonald shares the Mauldin clan’s family tree at https://www.texaslsn.org/the-mauldins-by-mark-mcdonald, and Billy Dale shares the impressive story of Stewart Keller’s family trees impact on UT sports history at https://www.texaslsn.org/stewart-kellers-longhorn-roots-start-in-1899-orns-sitennis-football-diving. …
Bobby Wuensch shares a story about one of the Arkansas players comments made to him 40 years after the game. The Arkansas player says that during the game the Razorbacks on defense were amazed that near the end of the 3rd quarter down 14 to 0 that there was no dissention, no name-calling, no grumbling,…
Learning from Julius WHO SOMEONE ROOMS WITH SHOULD NOT BE A NEWSWORTHY EVENT. HOWEVER, ON SEPTEMBER 8, 1970, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WROTE A “PROVOCATIVE” ARTICLE THAT SAID, “WHITTIER, TEXAS BLACK OFFENSIVE GUARD, IS ROOMING WITH A WHITE PLAYER AND OCCASIONALLY DATING WHITE WOMEN.” I AM THAT “WHITE PLAYER.” IN 1970 COACH ROYAL CALLED THREE SENIORS…
Track is the only sport that athletes reveal their character to the fans as the event unfolds. In the picture to the left, Von Letscher’s struggle is visible. Von Letscher I don’t know if Von finished first or last in this event. Winning or losing is not the message in the photo. The message is much…
DKR WAS AFRAID OF PUBLIC SPEAKING Once while an assistant coach at North Carolina State, he completely forgot his speech at a banquet. Royal said, “I got up to talk and drew a complete blank. If you’ve never had this happen to you, you don’t know how frightful it is and how painful it is…