The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Three former Longhorns inducted into Texas High School Football Hall of Fame
05.07.2016 | Football
Linus Baer, Mike Baab and Vince Young inducted as part of 2016 class
WACO, Texas – Three former Texas Longhorns were inducted into the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame on Saturday night, as part of the Class of 2016. Linus Baer, Mike Baab and Vince Young all joined the prestigious group of former Longhorns to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Members of the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame are selected by a statewide committee made up of sportswriters, high school football coaches and members of the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame Board of Trustees.
Baer, from San Antonio Lee High School, produced one of the state's all-time great performances in what many observers judge the greatest high school game in Texas history. The 5-10, 185-pound senior accounted for 339 yards, 5 touchdowns and 37 points in the Volunteers' 55-48 playoff win over San Antonio Brackenridge in 1963. Baer ran for 195 yards on 19 carries, caught 3 passes for another 94 yards, returned a kickoff 95 yards for a TD and kicked 7 extra points to win a duel with fellow all-state RB Warren McVea, who ran for 215 yards and 6 TDs for Brackenridge. Baer, who led Lee in scoring 4 straight years, earned all-state honors and Scholastic Magazine All-America honors after rushing for 1,614 yards (8.7 avg) and scoring 33 TDs as a senior. He scored 226 points for an average of almost 19 per game. Baer also had a 41.4 yard punting average. He received the Thom McAn Award as the best player in San Antonio and the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce Texas High School Outstanding Football Player Award. Considered the state's top RB recruit, he signed with Texas but injured a knee in the first half of the North-South All-Star Game that spring and missed his first season at UT. He finished his college career at The University of Texas as a three year letterman and was voted team captain his senior year in 1967. Baer also received the University of Texas Sportsmanship Award, the Team Leadership Award and the D.X. Bible Scholarship Award as a senior.
"The community gets involved in it (Texas High School football) and the student body too," Baer said. "When you get to the next levels – college and the NFL – it becomes more commercialized. The development of friendships I had in high school was special. Some of my best friends I have now came from high school. This is one of the highlights of my life. Playing football when I was a young man, I could've never dreamed I'd be here today."
Baab, from Euless Trinity High School, earned All-America and first-team all-state honors as a senior in 1977 despite playing for a 4-5-1 Trinity squad. A big and fast (6-3, 230, 4.9) center, Baab made the Texas Football Super Team and was ranked by recruiters the top interior OL in state. Baab was selected to play in the 1978 THSCA All Star game. As a Longhorn, he was voted first-team all-SWC, second-team all-American as a senior co-captain in 1981. In 1981 Baab's team had a 10-1-1 record that included a 14-12 upset of No. 3 Alabama in the Cotton Bowl that led to a No. 2 ranking for Texas. The Longhorns posted a 35-12-1 mark in his 4 seasons before he was drafted by Cleveland in the 5th round of the 1982 draft. He spent 11 seasons with the Browns, New England and Kansas City before retiring in 1992. Baab is a member of the UIL All- Century team and Texas Football Magazine's All-Time Texas High School Team.
"Anytime an offensive lineman gets an award, we like it," Baab said. "It's interesting that you go through your whole career and you never get a trophy or anything like that, even though I'm not a trophy hunter kind of guy. And then at the end of your life, you know older, as an offensive lineman is when you get to go do things like this and now actually I get a trophy."
Young, a graduate of Houston Madison High School, was the inductee from the 2000s. He passed for 3,819 yards and 59 TDs as senior in 2001, earning 5A Player of Year honors in Texas as well as national POY recognition from Parade and School Sports magazines. He led the Marlins to the state semifinals, where he threw for 400 yards and 5 TDs (18-of-30) and ran for another 92 yards plus a touchdown in a 48-42 loss to Austin Westlake. Young was a three-year starter and Texas Football Super Team member who finished his high-school career with 12,987 yards of total offense. He was named the top high school prospect in the nation by The Sporting News and signed with Texas. In 2005, Young led Longhorns to their first national title in 35 years, culminating in a 41-38 win over top-ranked Southern Cal in the Rose Bowl. He passed for 267 yards, ran for a BCS-record 200 yards and 3 TDs, including the 9-yard score on fourth down with 19 seconds left to end the Trojans' 34-game winning streak. Young finished second to USC's Reggie Bush in the Heisman Trophy vote, and became the first UT quarterback to earn consensus all-American honors.
"I'm very honored, very happy," Young said. "It took a lot of hard work over the years, but God has been very good to me. We always want to give our respect to the alumni (at Texas) – the lettermen have been great. When I set foot on campus, I wanted to make sure I made those guys proud. To have guys like that here getting inducted (Baer and Baab), it just shows you how much hard work those guys put in."
In addition to these three former Texas stars, the Voice of the Longhorns Craig Way was also recognized on Saturday night.
The entire 2016 Class includes:
1950's and before Kenneth West – Stamford High School
1960's Linus Baer – San Antonio Lee High School
1970's Mike Baab – Euless Trinity High School
1980's Kevin Smitih – West Orange Stark High School
1990's LaDainian Tomlinson – Waco University High School
2000's Vince Young – Houston Madison High School
Eddie Joseph Coach Category - Gary Joseph - Katy High School
Eddie Joseph Coach Category - Bob Ledbetter - Southlake Carroll High School
Dave Campbell Contributor to the Game - Craig Way - Media