I’ve been asked before to do a column on pro football players who came out of Brownwood. I got asked again a couple of weeks ago. So why not. The reason I haven’t done it is because there are some people who say if you suited up in a pro football game, even if it’s an exhibition game, it ought to count. I’ve never counted them that way and it makes some people very upset but anyway, here goes.
From Brownwood, Kenny Vaccaro had a five, six, or seven year career and he was outstanding in the NFL. Shawn Hollingsworth, a big lineman from Brownwood, played for a year or two. Jim Thomason from way back when, had a nice career in the NFL. Derwin Williams played for Brownwood of course and he had a notable career in the NFL. Two others would be at the top of the list. One of them would be Bob Young, Robert Young. Bob played for the Saint Louis Cardinals for about ten or twelve years and a couple of years for the Denver Bronchos, and then coached in the NFL. But Bob Young was a super player. He was All-Pro. Then there’s Lawrence Elkins. What could have been! Back when they had dual leagues, Elkins was a first round pick of the Houston Oilers, and also the first round pick of the Green Bay Packers. He signed with Houston and in a preseason game in year one, he got hurt really bad. Back then, the goal posts were on the goal line. Because of that he tore up his knee on a goal post and they changed the rule. They moved it back ten yards where it is today. They made it the ‘Elkins’ rule. He came back a year later and went to the Steelers and got some pretty good time there. Elkins was a great player and who knows what might have been.
There were several others. Jaxon Shipley got a shot. So did Kirby Freeman and of course, Matt McCrane. Then there’s one other I’m going to throw in and his name is Case Keenum. Case had a great career in college and in the NFL. He’s currently with the Buffalo Bills. He never played at Brownwood but he was born in Brownwood.
I thought, to make the program a little bit longer, I would include Howard Payne because a lot of these guys spent a few years in Brownwood. Ken Gray was a great lineman in the NFL back in the ‘50s or ‘60s, somewhere along in there. A kid named Jim Harlan. Ken Sanders was a high draft choice in the 1970s. Sanders was a fabulous player for the Detroit Lions and then he ended his career, I think, in Minnesota. Ray Jacobs was a good friend of mine and he got two or three years in the NFL. Dobie Craig, I think, played out in San Diego, and was a terrific player Then Keith Crawford who played at Howard Payne not to terribly many years ago had a nice six or seven year career in the NFL. A guy named Howard Carson and Jim Hargrove got a little bit of playing time in the NFL as well.
I’m going to save my favorite for last – Joe James. Joe, of course, a great player at Howard Payne and ended up being a head coach for the Jackets. He was a good friend of many people around here and yeah, he got a good amount of time in the NFL.
Well, that gave my memory a workout. I hope it did yours as well.
Until next time, so long everybody.
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‘Out of the Box’ with Dallas Huston is published each Monday morning at BrownwoodNews.com. Dallas was the radio voice of the Brownwood Lions and Howard Payne Yellow Jackets for more than 55 years. He currently is Pastor of Center City Baptist Church and hosts a Men’s Bible Study in Brownwood on Monday evenings. Your comments are welcome at [email protected].