The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Remembering Ricky: Wane McGarity
03.29.2012 | Football
March 29, 2012
Wane McGarity played tailback and wide receiver at Texas in 1995, '96 and '98. He holds the UT record for most receiving touchdowns in a game with four at Texas Tech in 1998. He ranks 10th all-time in receptions in a single season (58 in 1998) and ninth all-time in touchdown receptions in a career (14). He ranks sixth all-time for receiving yards in a single season with 1,087 in 1998. His 97-yard touchdown reception against Oklahoma in 1998 is the longest pass completion in UT history and also the longest touchdown reception. Including two TD receptions in bowl games, Wane McGarity averaged a UT-record 40.3 yards per TD reception during his career. He was drafted in the fourth round of the 1999 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys and played three seasons with Dallas and the New Orleans Saints. He sat down with MB-TF.com and shared some memories of his days playing with Ricky.
I mean, just from the beginning you knew he had something special. That size, that speed, his work ethic; there was always just something different about him. I would always just enjoy going to practice and watching that. Things like that are contagious. When you see a guy working like that every single day and he is your star, it stood out to the rest of the team. In the years that I played with Ricky that was all I saw. [He was] a guy that ran right through the field and then came back and took the next play. It is in his DNA. It was always fun to talk to him, and just to watch him go out there on the field and work every single day was a joy.
[He has meant more to the university] than what I can even imagine. For someone to come in - and I can honestly say this - Ricky came in and I think he was a major reason that there was a big culture change football-wise at the University of Texas. From that time frame on, there was a big change in the direction that the program was going. That is not to disrespect the past, but there was something that changed when Ricky won that Heisman. There was always something special about him. Ricky was a little out there, yet in the end the way that he approached things to get a Heisman trophy, a top-round draft pick and everything that came to him, I don't think he realized how much it meant to the university at the time. They had never seen anything like that. No one had. It's crazy because I don't think he knows how special he is to that university.
Ricky has definitely taken me places that I have never been before. A lot of people judge him. I wouldn't call him weird; he was just different. But everyone from California was like that to me. Ricky has always been a good friend to me no matter if I haven't talked to him in a year. When I pick up the phone and I call him or if he calls me, it is just like I talked to him yesterday. Everything that I'd ever need or he ever needs, we have that type of relationship with each other. That is good to have, especially going through that time frame and the '98 season. [It was good being able] to spend all that time with Ricky, during a time when he could have left. Who knows where we would have been if Ricky didn't come back and win the Heisman. You have to think about that. If it wasn't for that class, that senior class to take that upon them and say that this Heisman trophy is his. They needed to do that for him. There was such a team aspect of it that year. It was great. He took it in stride. We used to go eat burgers a couple days before the game and just talk. Those conversations were great. Ricky would have those things where it would be a normal conversation and then halfway in he would say something where you would be like, "Man, what the hell did you just say. Like, I don't even know what that means." He would say, "Just think about it for a second." He would try to bring you into his world and into his way of thinking. It was a beautiful thing. If it wasn't for Ricky I don't know where I would have been as a professional athlete or anything right now. A lot goes to him and he will take it in stride. He will say, "You worked hard and you got those things." But it was all because of him that a lot of us got careers, to be honest.
The play where he bumped the record, that will always stand out to me. [Watch a video of the play that Wane McGarity is describing.] Even if the run didn't break the record, if there was nothing special about the run, it was against your rival. A big game. All the world is looking at Ricky. When he breaks out on that run I remember sitting there and thinking to myself I am going to catch him from the opposite side of the field. I went and caught him and ended up getting the block that got me into history. It was just amazing. That one play and everyone knowing who was going to get the ball.
The first time I went back to see Ricky was the speech where they honored him at the Longhorn Hall of Honor. I was like, "Do you even have a speech?" He said, "No." I said, "You don't even know how big this is, do you? This is huge." He just takes it like that. He got up there and delivered a great speech and ended off a great night. I just can't wait to see him do that again. I think he is going to be really excited about this - to know that the statue is going to be there for the rest of his life for all to see. I know every time I look at it I am going to think of some [special memories.]
