The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Bill Little commentary: The road to Thanksgiving
11.27.2013 | Football, Bill Little Commentary
Football and the Longhorns are a bonus on the day we celebrate Thanksgiving in America.
Even with new and improved highways and upgraded automobiles, it is still a five hour drive and almost 300 miles from Winters, Texas, to College Station, Texas. And as a high school senior paired with my brother and best friend, Harvey, and piled into his hand-me-down Buick on a cold and wintry day in 1959, I first saw Texas play live and in person on Thanksgiving Day.
In its own way, that trip was an important part of growing up at the end of the decade of the 1950s. Thanksgiving days have revolved and evolved since that trip. Life has its way of doing that. It is impossible to be around what the veteran announcer Chris Shenkel used to call "the color and pageantry of college football" and not respect the value of a singularly important national television appearance when America settles down from its turkey and dressing and watches Texas play football. The Longhorns have played more games on this special holiday than any BCS college football team in the country.
Fact is, the tradition of Texas and Thanksgiving Day dates all the way back to the beginning, when 120 years ago, a gathering of UT students crawled aboard a train bound for Dallas and walked down Main Street smoking big cigars as they prepared for the school's first ever football game -- an 18-16 victory over the vaunted "Dallas Football Club" in the school's first-ever football game.
Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium was officially dedicated 90 seasons ago when UT defeated rival Texas A&M, 7-0, in 1924. Since that time, you can pick almost any year (with rare exceptions) and Texas and Turkey have run concurrently with moments and memories.
Thursday will be no exception.
The Longhorns are in the second year of the new Big 12, and are playing in Austin with what officials hope is becoming a tradition. Last year, Texas played TCU, this year, it is Texas Tech. As both Texas and Texas A&M adjust to the Aggies' departure from the league, both schools bring strong state of Texas ties with their presence in Austin. The TCU rivalry is one of the oldest on record for Texas, and the Longhorns and Texas Tech have had a growing sibling rivalry ever since the Red Raiders joined the old Southwest Conference in the early 1960s.
Long before professional football began telecasting games on Thanksgiving Day, Texas occupied the mid-afternoon national television spot, just about the time the pumpkin pie was being served in households across the country. In 1972, as prime time television grew, Texas was a part of one of the early night games on Thanksgiving Night.
Thursday begins a new era of sorts, as FOX Sports takes over broadcasting the game to a national audience.
It will be a poignant moment in the stadium.
First, it is Senior Night, with as many as 20 or so Longhorns making their final home appearance. It is also the last home game for Men's Athletics Director DeLoss Dodds. It has been 33 football seasons since DeLoss watched his new team open the season of 1981.
The final home game of this 2013 season also carries special meaning for the Longhorns football team. You could make the case that few teams in recent UT history have withstood as much as these guys have, and they have held together despite all that has been thrown at them. They have endured injuries to high profile players, and have pulled closer and closer together every step of the way in a season of challenge.
In their separate and similar ways, this year's Longhorns -- and DeLoss -- have shared something rare and special. Both have had significant successes, but most of all, what they have earned is almost universal respect -- and you can't buy that at any price.
I began this commentary with a mention of that first Turkey Day game for me. The years are many, and the years are long, since that day Harvey and I rolled away on an early Thanksgiving morning to go and see the Longhorns play. It was a big deal. Time has its way of making you think about your values. Harvey's gone now, and there are good folks -- even with a freshman at UT this year -- living in the house across the street from the high school. What you learn is that at Texas Thanksgiving Day is -- as it should be -- about faith, family and friends. And to that for the Longhorns you can add football.
It is true that highways and cars, television and so many other technological advances, have all changed. But what hasn't really changed -- and it is important to remember -- is the reason for the season.
Football and the Longhorns are a bonus on the day we celebrate Thanksgiving in America. The heart and soul of the day is the opportunity that we have in our country to be free because brave men and women stand in harm's way for us. For that we are thankful.
When the Longhorns played their Thanksgiving weekend game on Friday, the team used to meet after their meal on Thursday and one by one, each player had an opportunity to express what they were thankful for. When the game was moved to Thanksgiving Day, the schedule changed -- and that's a good thing. There is no way they could have withstood the emotion of the meeting and then gone out and played.
Because in that space, young men opened their hearts and arms to each other. They have played together, fought together, laughed together and cried together. And Thursday night, for the last time in the stadium they have all grown to love and think of as home, they will play together.