Bobby Lackey
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Weslaco, Texas, U.S.
Weslaco, Texas, U.S.
| No. 22 – Texas Longhorns | |
|---|---|
| Positions | QB, P, DB, K, PR, KR |
| Personal information | |
| Born | October 14, 1937 Weslaco, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | September 2, 2021 (aged 83) Weslaco, Texas, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Listed weight | 205 lb (93 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Weslaco |
| College | Texas (1958–1959) |
| Awards and highlights | |
| |
Bobby Lackey (October 14, 1937 – September 2, 2021) was an American football player who was the starting quarterback for the Texas Longhorns in the late 1950s.[1] An all around athlete, he also played punter, kicker and defensive back and returned both punts and kick-offs. He was the team's top scorer in 1958 and 1959 and helped Texas to win a share of the 1959 Southwest Conference championship, the first of the Darrell Royal era. He was also the first Longhorn to ever appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated.[2]
Lackey was a standout athlete at Weslaco High School where he was an all-American in football, all-state in basketball, and all-district in baseball. He helped Weslaco make four straight playoff appearances, including a trip to the state semi-finals in 1955, and he was good enough at baseball to attract the attention of scouts.[3][4] Nearly six decades later, he was described as "the greatest athlete in the past 100 years of the Valley."[5]
Football
Lackey redshirted his freshman season,[6] but in 1957 he alternated with starter Walter Fondren at quarterback, and also contributed to the varsity team as a defensive back and kicker. The team, coming off a 1-9 season, posted a record of 6-3-1, beating #11 Rice, #17 TCU and Bear Bryant's #4 Texas A&M, while dropping games to South Carolina, #1 Oklahoma and SMU. Lackey led the team in interceptions that year and at season's end, scored all the points including the winning field goal to beat Texas A&M, 9–7. The team went to the Sugar Bowl where it was handled easily by #7 Mississippi. Lackey kicked the team's one PAT and threw both of the team's completed passes.
As the starting quarterback in 1958, Lackey led Texas to a #4 ranking after winning the first five games including a win over #2 Oklahoma - its first win over a team ranked that high since 1941. Lackey beat Oklahoma in every facet of the game. He recovered a fumbled punt on the 1-yard line to prevent an OU touchdown, set up the team's first touchdown with a 37-yard pass, threw the game-tying touchdown, kicked the winning point after, made an open field tackle of Bobby Boyd to preserve the lead and then, with a 1-point lead and Oklahoma threatening, he made a one-handed interception to seal Darrell Royal's first win over the Sooners.[7] However, after the fast start, the Longhorns dropped 3 of their last 5 and missed out on a bowl game.
In 1959, Lackey quarterbacked a Texas squad that would win a share of the Southwest Conference Championship and compete for the national championship. After climbing as high as #2 in the rankings, their highest ranking since 1941, before being upset by #18 TCU, Texas finished the season ranked #4 in the country. During the final regular season game against Texas A&M, Lackey led the Longhorns on a game-winning 90 yard touchdown drive. Lackey was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1959, walking up the tunnel at the Cotton Bowl after a win over Oklahoma with future wife Judy. He shared the 1959 lead for rushing touchdowns in the southwest conference with Don Meredith and 3 others.
The Longhorns went to the 1960 Cotton Bowl where they faced off against #1 ranked, and National Champion Syracuse. There Lackey threw what was, at the time, the 2nd longest touchdown pass in Cotton Bowl history, a 69 yarder to Jack Collins. The only longer Cotton Bowl touchdown pass at the time was an 87-yard pass thrown two quarters earlier to Heisman Trophy winner Ernie Davis in the same game. The Longhorns lost that game 23-14.
Records
- UT - Longest pass play in a bowl game, (69 yards) - Surpassed by Jim Hudson in 1965
