Junction Boys
Encyclopedia
The Junction Boys is the name given to the “survivors” of Paul “Bear” Bryant’s
10 day summer football camp in Junction, Texas
beginning September 1, 1954. The ordeal has achieved legendary status and has become the subject of a 2001 book The Junction Boys by Jim Dent
and a television movie produced by ESPN
.
hired Bear Bryant
as head football coach in 1954, replacing former coach Ray George
. Bryant arrived in College Station
on February 8, 1954 and began cleaning house. He felt that many of the players on the team were weak and not properly trained or coached. He decided that his players needed a camp away from the distractions on campus; thus, he arranged for the camp to be held at the 411-acre (1.7 km²) adjunct campus of Texas A&M at the small town of Junction (now the Texas Tech University Center at Junction
).
At the time of the camp, the Texas hill country
was experiencing an epic drought
and heat wave
. The drought, the worst in the recorded history of the region, had lasted four years and would last another two after the camp was over. According to the National Climatic Data Center
, all 10 days of the camp saw hot temperatures with a couple of days topping 100 °F (38 °C).
The oppressive heat combined with the brutal practice schedule caused many players to drop out of the football program from illness or disgust. The situation was compounded by Bryant's refusal to allow water breaks. This practice, which is now widely recognized as dangerous, was at the time commonly employed by athletic coaches in an attempt to "toughen up" their players. The only relief provided the players were two towels soaked in cold water; one towel was to be shared by the offensive players, and one by the defense. One of the Junction Boys, future NFL coach Jack Pardee
, would later say in an interview that losing 10% of your body weight in sweat in a day was not unusual.
Practices began before dawn and usually lasted all day with meetings in the evening until 11:00 PM. The conditions were too much for many players and each day, there would be fewer and fewer players at practice as men would quit the team. By the end of the 10-day camp, only a fraction of those that started were left.
were:
There were three freshman from Alice, Texas who began training with the Junction Boys. Two of them completed the camp but are not listed among the survivors.
It has often been portrayed that over 100 players made the trip to Junction. In fact, a smaller number actually went to the camp. Although Bryant started out with over 100 players on the roster, many had already quit or been cut by the time of the Junction camp. Accounts of the exact number that left for Junction vary, but all the survivors insist that it was less than 100.
In 1954, Richard Vick had his photograph taken with Bear Bryant. The photo was featured on the cover of the Houston Chronicle
magazine. Today, the photo of Richard Vick and Bear Bryant, as well as Vick's uniform, can be seen at the Texas A&M Sports Museum at Kyle Field
.
In 2008, nineteen of the Junction Boys had a 54th anniversary reunion at a ranch in Brenham, Texas
. The remaining members have agreed to have a reunion every 5 years.
In April 2010, The Junction Boys will be honored by The Texas Children's Cancer Center at "An Evening with Texas Legends" in Houston, Texas at the Hilton Americas Hotel. The Junction Boys will be interviewed by legendary sportswriter Mickey Herskowitz at this special event.
In 1955 Texas A&M went 7-2-1, and in 1956, the team went 9-0-1 and won the Southwest Conference.
Many of the Junction Boys went on to great success in various fields after college. Two of the Junction Boys, Jack Pardee
and Gene Stallings
, would go on to become head coaches in the NFL. Pardee was a two-time All-Pro with the Los Angeles Rams (1963) and the Washington Redskins (1971). Stallings would also become the head coach of Texas A&M and later took over Bryant's Alabama
Crimson Tide and won a national championship in 1992.
Bear Bryant
Paul William "Bear" Bryant was an American college football player and coach. He was best known as the longtime head coach of the University of Alabama football team. During his 25-year tenure as Alabama's head coach, he amassed six national championships and thirteen conference championships...
10 day summer football camp in Junction, Texas
Junction, Texas
Junction is a city in and the county seat of Kimble County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,618 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
beginning September 1, 1954. The ordeal has achieved legendary status and has become the subject of a 2001 book The Junction Boys by Jim Dent
Jim Dent (author)
Harry James "Jim" Dent is an American author and sportswriter. He wrote The Junction Boys, a New York Times best-selling book about Bear Bryant's Junction Boys. He covered the Dallas Cowboys football team as a sportswriter for 11 years...
and a television movie produced by ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
.
The camp
Texas A&M UniversityTexas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
hired Bear Bryant
Bear Bryant
Paul William "Bear" Bryant was an American college football player and coach. He was best known as the longtime head coach of the University of Alabama football team. During his 25-year tenure as Alabama's head coach, he amassed six national championships and thirteen conference championships...
as head football coach in 1954, replacing former coach Ray George
Raymond George
-Texas A&M:George was the 17th head coach of the Texas A&M Aggies in College Station, Texas. He was head coach from 1951 until the completion of the 1953 season, where his teams produced a total record of 12 wins, 14 losses, and 4 ties...
. Bryant arrived in College Station
College Station, Texas
College Station is a city in Brazos County, Texas, situated in East Central Texas in the heart of the Brazos Valley. The city is located within the most populated region of Texas, near three of the 10 largest cities in the United States - Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio...
on February 8, 1954 and began cleaning house. He felt that many of the players on the team were weak and not properly trained or coached. He decided that his players needed a camp away from the distractions on campus; thus, he arranged for the camp to be held at the 411-acre (1.7 km²) adjunct campus of Texas A&M at the small town of Junction (now the Texas Tech University Center at Junction
Texas Tech University Center at Junction
Texas Tech University Center at Junction is an official off campus teaching site of Texas Tech University in Junction, Texas. It hosts undergraduate and graduate courses in an intensive three-week period format from May through July. Additionally, an Intersession is held in May; this allows...
).
At the time of the camp, the Texas hill country
Texas Hill Country
The Texas Hill Country is a vernacular term applied to a region of Central Texas featuring tall rugged hills consisting of thin layers of soil atop limestone or granite. It also includes the Llano Uplift and the second largest granite monadnock in the United States, Enchanted Rock, which is located...
was experiencing an epic drought
Drought
A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...
and heat wave
Heat wave
A heat wave is a prolonged period of excessively hot weather, which may be accompanied by high humidity. There is no universal definition of a heat wave; the term is relative to the usual weather in the area...
. The drought, the worst in the recorded history of the region, had lasted four years and would last another two after the camp was over. According to the National Climatic Data Center
National Climatic Data Center
The United States National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, North Carolina is the world's largest active archive of weather data. The center became established in late 1951, with the move into the new facility occurring in early 1952....
, all 10 days of the camp saw hot temperatures with a couple of days topping 100 °F (38 °C).
The oppressive heat combined with the brutal practice schedule caused many players to drop out of the football program from illness or disgust. The situation was compounded by Bryant's refusal to allow water breaks. This practice, which is now widely recognized as dangerous, was at the time commonly employed by athletic coaches in an attempt to "toughen up" their players. The only relief provided the players were two towels soaked in cold water; one towel was to be shared by the offensive players, and one by the defense. One of the Junction Boys, future NFL coach Jack Pardee
Jack Pardee
-NFL:-External links:...
, would later say in an interview that losing 10% of your body weight in sweat in a day was not unusual.
Practices began before dawn and usually lasted all day with meetings in the evening until 11:00 PM. The conditions were too much for many players and each day, there would be fewer and fewer players at practice as men would quit the team. By the end of the 10-day camp, only a fraction of those that started were left.
List of "survivors"
The list of “survivors” varies from 27 to 35. The Junction Boys listed by writer Jim Dentwere:
- Ray Barrett - G 5-9 195 Sr. San Angelo, Texas
- Darrell Brown - T 6-1 190 Soph. Dayton, Texas
- James Burkhart - G 6-1 185 Soph. Hamlin, Texas
- Donald Bullock - HB 5-11 165 Soph. Orange, Texas
- Henry Clark - T 6-2 205 Jr. Mesquite, Texas
- Bob Easley - FB 5-11 190 Jr. Houston, Texas
- Dennis Goehring - G 5-11 185 Soph. San Marcos, Texas
- Billy Granberry - FB 5-7 155 Soph. Beeville, Texas
- Lloyd Hale - C 5-10 190 Soph. Iraan, Texas
- Charles Hall - HB 5-10 185 Sr. Dallas, Texas
- Gene Henderson - QB 6-1 175 Jr. Sonora, Texas
- Billy Huddleston - HB 5-9 165 Jr. Iraan, Texas
- George Johnson - T 6-3 200 Jr. Ellisville, Mississippi
- Don Kachtik - FB 6-1 185 Sr. Rio Hondo, Texas
- Bobby D. Keith - HB 6-0 175 Soph. Breckenridge, Texas
- Paul Kennon - E 6-1 185 Sr, Shreveport, Louisiana
- Elwood Kettler - QB 6-0 165 Sr. Brenham, Texas
- Bobby Lockett - T 6-3 190 Soph. Breckenridge, Texas
- Billy McGowan - E 6-1 180 Sr. Silsbee, Texas
- Russell Moake - C 6-3 215 Soph. Deer Park, Texas
- Norbert Ohlendorf - T 6-3 200 Sr. Lockhart, Texas
- Jack PardeeJack Pardee-NFL:-External links:...
- FB 6-2 200 Soph. Christoval, Texas - Dee Powell - T 6-1 210 Sr. Lockhart, Texas
- Donald Robbins - E 6-1 188 Jr. Breckenridge, Texas
- Joe Schero - HB 6-0 175 Sr. San Antonio, Texas
- Bill Schroeder - T 6-1 200 Sr. Lockhart, Texas
- Charles Scott - QB 5-8 160 Soph. Alexandria, Louisiana
- Bennie Sinclair - E 6-2 195 Sr. Mineola, Texas
- Gene StallingsGene StallingsEugene Clifton Stallings, Jr. is a former American football player and coach. He played college football at Texas A&M University , where he was one of the "Junction Boys", and later served as the head coach at his alma mater from 1965 to 1971. Stallings was also the head coach of the St...
- E 6-1 165 Soph. Paris, Texas - Troy Summerlin - C 5-8 145 Soph. Shreveport, Louisiana (Died 19 Sept 2010)
- Marvin Tate - G 6-0 175 Sr. Abilene, Texas
- Sid Theriot - G 5-10 195 Sr. Gibson, Louisiana
- Richard Vick - FB 6-1 185 Sr. Beaumont, Texas
- Don Watson - HB 5-11 155 Soph. Franklin, Texas
- Lawrence Winkler - T 6-0 225 Sr. Temple, Texas
- Herb Wolf - C 5-11 185 Jr. Houston, Texas
- Nick Tyson- WR 6-1 181 JR. Norman, Oklahoma
There were three freshman from Alice, Texas who began training with the Junction Boys. Two of them completed the camp but are not listed among the survivors.
It has often been portrayed that over 100 players made the trip to Junction. In fact, a smaller number actually went to the camp. Although Bryant started out with over 100 players on the roster, many had already quit or been cut by the time of the Junction camp. Accounts of the exact number that left for Junction vary, but all the survivors insist that it was less than 100.
In 1954, Richard Vick had his photograph taken with Bear Bryant. The photo was featured on the cover of the Houston Chronicle
Houston Chronicle
The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...
magazine. Today, the photo of Richard Vick and Bear Bryant, as well as Vick's uniform, can be seen at the Texas A&M Sports Museum at Kyle Field
Kyle Field
Kyle Field is the football stadium located on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. It has been the home to the Texas A&M Aggie football team in rudimentary form since 1904, and as a complete stadium since 1927. It is known as The Home of the 12th Man...
.
In 2008, nineteen of the Junction Boys had a 54th anniversary reunion at a ranch in Brenham, Texas
Brenham, Texas
Brenham is a city in east-central Texas in Washington County, Texas, United States, with a population of 16,147 according to the 2009 census. It is the county seat of Washington County...
. The remaining members have agreed to have a reunion every 5 years.
In April 2010, The Junction Boys will be honored by The Texas Children's Cancer Center at "An Evening with Texas Legends" in Houston, Texas at the Hilton Americas Hotel. The Junction Boys will be interviewed by legendary sportswriter Mickey Herskowitz at this special event.
Impact
Although the "survivors", as they came to be called, were mentally tougher after the experience, this new strength did not translate into immediate success on the field. In 1954, Texas A&M won only one game against nine losses, the only losing season in Bryant's 38 years as a head coach.1954 Schedule and Results
- vs. Texas Tech lost 41-9
- vs. Oklahoma State lost 14-6
- at Georgia won 6-0
- at Houston lost 10-7
- vs. TCU lost 21-20
- at Baylor lost 20-7
- vs. Arkansas lost 14-7
- at SMU lost 6-3
- vs. Rice lost 29-19
- at Texas lost 22-13
In 1955 Texas A&M went 7-2-1, and in 1956, the team went 9-0-1 and won the Southwest Conference.
Many of the Junction Boys went on to great success in various fields after college. Two of the Junction Boys, Jack Pardee
Jack Pardee
-NFL:-External links:...
and Gene Stallings
Gene Stallings
Eugene Clifton Stallings, Jr. is a former American football player and coach. He played college football at Texas A&M University , where he was one of the "Junction Boys", and later served as the head coach at his alma mater from 1965 to 1971. Stallings was also the head coach of the St...
, would go on to become head coaches in the NFL. Pardee was a two-time All-Pro with the Los Angeles Rams (1963) and the Washington Redskins (1971). Stallings would also become the head coach of Texas A&M and later took over Bryant's Alabama
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
Crimson Tide and won a national championship in 1992.