Vanessa Cooper

E603A

10-26-05

An Evening with Royalty

Thousands of spectators sit eagerly on hard metal bleachers. All members of the crowd have proudly donned burnt orange. The vast, green football field stretches out before us, and the stadium lights glare from above. A low buzz is audible as members of the crowd talk amongst themselves, each person wiping beads of sweat from his face and sipping a soft drink in the evening heat. Suddenly, all eyes turn towards the field. Our football team rushes through the tunnel, and the crowd goes wild! We’re all on our feet, screaming, cheering, and waving our horns in the air. The esprit de corps is invigorating, and we are all joined as one entity in the stadium; we have one goal, and that is to cheer our team on to victory.

Across the stadium, we go through several rounds of “Texas! Fight!” Many cannon shots are fired before the game is over, and of course, we walk away the victors. I get up to leave the Darrell K. Royal Memorial Stadium with my friends, my heart swelling with pride at the thought of our winning team. We parade down Guadalupe, high-fiving each other and singing “The Eyes of Texas” at the top of our lungs. “I really belong here,” I think to myself. I feel at home and comfortable with all of these people, even the ones I have yet to meet. We’re a family, joined by the love for our university. Whenever I feel lost or intimidated by the vastness of the school, an experience like this reminds me of the fact that we’re all in the same boat; we’re all young, and we’ve all got a lot of learning to do. Making the transition from high school to college is one of the biggest challenges in a young person’s life, and I have certainly experienced my share of difficulties so far. As I walk with my friends, I glance up and see the top of the tower illuminated orange in honor of our win. I smile to myself, then suddenly realize how tired I am, exhausted from late-night studying during the week. I say an early goodnight to my friends and head back to my dorm. Collapsing onto my bed, I drift off into visions of football and burnt orange towers.

I am standing below the tower, and it is late at night. Slowly looking upward, I see that the top is still illuminated orange. I begin to walk around the main building, noticing the six different seals on the west side: Bologna, Paris, Oxford, Salamanca, Cambridge, and Heidelberg, the first great universities of the West. I also notice a sea-shell-shaped carving, something that triggers a thought in my mind: Where am I going? What is my higher purpose? I’ve been wondering these things since I began the college admissions process. I ponder the questions for a moment, unable to come up with an answer that I am pleased with. I finish my walk around the main building and begin to walk toward the east side of campus. Down a flight of stairs, across a street, through a gate…

I find myself standing in the center of our stadium, the bright lights shining down. I turn in a circle, taking in my surroundings. The bleachers, so recently full of cheering fans, are empty and desolate under the night sky. The silence is palpable, pressing in on my ears from all around. My foot bumps something on the ground. Confused, I look down and see a tattered football. I pick it up, and immediately I hear an “ahem” from behind. Spinning around, I behold a very dignified-looking elderly man. He is wearing a UT baseball cap along with a button-up white shirt and khaki slacks.

“I believe that you have something of mine,” he says, indicating the old football. Dumbfounded, I glance down at it.

“Oh, right, sorry!” I reply hastily, handing him the ball. He takes it from me and tucks it under one arm.

“What, may I ask, are you doing up so late, young lady? And all the way out here at the stadium too?”

“Uh, well, I don’t really know, actually,” I answer lamely, wondering the same thing myself. “I guess I was just thinking about the game earlier, and…” I trail off, unable to explain my presence in the stadium. “What about you?” I shoot back accusingly at this strange man who has just appeared out of nowhere. “What are you doing here?”

“It’s nice to come here alone sometimes,” he replies with a small smile. “So many memories.” His eyes glaze over for a moment as he reminisces. “So much has changed since I coached; it’s mind-blowing.” As he speaks, I catch sight of the words behind him, displayed on the stadium wall: Darrell K. Royal Texas Memorial Stadium.

“Wait a minute,” I say, thinking very intently. I know he looks familiar, but I can’t quite place him. Then it dawns on me. “Are you—no, you can’t be! Darrell Royal?” I stare in disbelief at the man before me. He smiles and nods slowly.

“Yours truly,” he says, chuckling. He tosses the football in the air and catches it with surprising agility for a man of his age. I can’t believe my eyes. Darrell Royal is actually standing here, in front of me. I’m dumbfounded.

“But you—you led the Longhorns to three national championships!” I exclaim, unable to stop myself. “And all those conference titles—“

“Eleven, to be exact,” he replies, chuckling again. ^[1]

“It’s such a pleasure to meet you! My name is Vanessa,” I say, offering my hand. Royal shakes it firmly. It is only now that I realize my mouth is hanging open in wonder. I quickly shut it, but open it again to say, “I can’t believe you became the head coach at UT when you were only thirty-two years old!” I am completely awed and stunned to be in the presence of one of the greatest coaches UT has ever seen. I try to control myself. “You must’ve been under a lot of pressure, being so young and all.” ^[2]

“I was,” he answered, “ I was only trying to win enough games to keep from being chased off. ^[3] I was not scared, only slightly intimidated, much like you are excited yet intimidated by the feeling of being at a new school, especially one as big as the University of Texas. Did you know that when I first arrived in Austin, neither our field nor our facilities were up to par? My office was only eight feet by eight feet, and I was my own secretary when I first started out. ^[4] But I knew what I had to do. I persevered, despite the less than ideal conditions; my philosophy has always been to be prepared for what lies ahead. You have to be confident in your own abilities.”

“I am intimidated,” I admit. “I want to succeed in college, but sometimes I feel lost and confused. It’s so difficult to keep up with all of my work, and it’s such a transition from living with my family to living on my own. Sometimes I feel like I’ve already been defeated.”

“There is no such thing as defeat except when it comes from within,” Royal replies, nodding his head knowingly. “As long as a person doesn’t admit he is defeated, he is not defeated—he’s just a little behind and isn’t through fighting.” ^[5] Royal begins to move, his walk an elegant lope, and beckons for me to follow. Realizing that this is an important opportunity for me to receive advice from one of the most legendary football coaches of all time, I hurry to catch up and fall into step with him.

“Some of my professors insist that we be creative and come up with new and interesting ideas,” I begin. “My classmates are some of the most intelligent people I’ve ever met, and I sometimes feel intellectually inferior. Their ideas and insight are so impressive. I don’t know if I can come up with anything of worth to contribute!”

“If everything had already been done, there would be nothing left for you young people to accomplish. There are always going to be people who run faster, jump higher, dive deeper, and come up drier, ^[6] and you’ve got to understand that each person has his own unique way of contributing to society. You’ve got to find out how you’re going to do that, even if it is in a different way than your classmates are going to. At first, new ideas might not seem as useful as they should be. Take my implementation of the Wishbone offense in 1968, for example. It took a long time for my staff to develop this new offense, and when we first used it with the team in a game, we lost. I didn’t want to let it go, though, and I was driven to hone it until my players could use it successfully. The key was not to give up. I switched some players around, and before you knew it, we were off. Defenses couldn’t get through the Wishbone, and we won thirty games in a row running that offense, including the national championship in 1969. ^[7] All we needed was to find the right players and practice. So you see, just because an idea doesn’t work at first doesn’t mean you can’t refine it and make it useful. Refining the Wishbone is like writing a paper for school: you’ve got to keep at it until you get it perfect.”

“That makes sense,” I reply. “My World Literature teacher says the key to writing is rewriting. I suppose perfecting your Wishbone offense was like that.” We walk up the stadium steps in the balmy night air. Royal pauses to look out across the stadium. “Do you miss coaching?” I ask.

“Of course,” he answers, “Football has been a major part of my life. I quarterbacked for my high school team in Hollis, Oklahoma and also for Oklahoma University from 1946 to 1949. ^[8] It was only natural for me to coach after I graduated.” He sighs, nostalgia sweeping over him. “I’m very passionate about football. I wanted my players to be passionate too, but I always made sure that their education came first. I was very dedicated to their academic success as well as their success on the football field. The year that Texas became the first public university to call for entrance exams, I implemented an early version of what you would call an ‘academic advisor.’ I hired a science teacher to tutor my players, and I told them that when you go to college, your top priority is to learn. One goes to a university to improve oneself. I have always felt that there is a direct correlation between players lacking the discipline to attend class on a regular basis and not being consistent in their efforts on the football field. I was tough on them if they skipped class, and it didn’t matter if they had an excuse. I just didn’t tolerate it. Education was, and still is, top priority in my book. ^[9] I wanted to build men of character and worth that would give back to society. That is what education is all about: giving back to society.”

“I think so too,” I reply. “Sometimes we get caught up in trying to find a career that will make us the most money when we really need to focus on a career or goal that benefits society.”

Royal nods. “Not only that,” he continues, “but you need to find something that makes you happy. Find out what you want to do for the rest of your life, and do it! For me, it was coaching football. For you, it’ll be something else.”

“I still don’t know what career I want to have,” I say. “I’m hoping to find out while I’m here at school.”

“That’s what college is for,” Royal says. We walk in silence for a few minutes, and then he begins to toss the football in the air as we walk. I am suddenly reminded of something I heard a few days earlier. “You know,” I say, “the other day, my friend was talking about ‘The Game of the Century,’ and I’ve been dying to find out more about that. Could you tell me about it?”

Royal grins, and I know that he is pleased to share his experience with me. “It was a cold December day in 1969,” he starts. “Of course, we had been using our Wishbone offense throughout the whole season, mauling opponent after opponent. December 6^th rolled around, and it was time for the Longhorns, ranked number one, to play the Arkansas Razorbacks, ranked number two. There was hype around this game like I’d never seen before. The president was there. We were down fourteen to zero going into the fourth quarter, and it was looking grim until we ran 42 yards for a touchdown, then a two point conversion narrowed the score to 14-8. Then, I took a big risk and told my boys to run a ’53 Veer Pass,’ a play involving a chancy long pass downfield. The pass was caught, and then we scored a touchdown and the winning point with a field goal. It was declared by President Nixon to be one of the greatest games of all time! He named our team number one in the nation, and presented to us a plaque recognizing our national championship. Even though I believed that Arkansas was more prepared than we were, both emotionally and technically, the chance my team and I took paid off. It came together in the end. ^[10] Sometimes, you just have to take risks; it’s part of life. Some people are afraid of taking chances, and that’s what gets them in a rut,” he continues. “They’re too afraid to try anything new. You’ve got to have an open mind and just keep at it. Never give up.”

I listen intently to all of this, taking in every word. I think about my nervousness upon arriving at UT and my anxiety about meeting new people and choosing Plan II as my major. I take Royal’s words to heart, vowing to keep an open mind about my future here at school.

We continue westward, heading back to the Tower. I stroll alongside this football legend, turning his words over in my head and contemplating my life here at the university. As we come upon the Tower and its six school seals, the engraved seashell catches my eye. Royal follows my glance to the side of the main building.

“Ah,” he sighs, “Santiago de Compostela: the pilgrimage of Saint James.” ^[11] He turns to me and asks, “Here at the University of Texas, you will embark on a pilgrimage of sorts. It will be a pilgrimage to find your true self and your higher purpose.” It seems as if I’ve heard his words somewhere before. “Remember, keep an open mind, don’t give up, and don’t be afraid to take chances.” Before I can reply, he tosses me his football, turns, and is gone into the night. I stand alone before the tower, Royal’s words reverberating off the walls of my mind. I am here at the university to learn, I tell myself. I am here, like my fellow students, to find my higher purpose. Even if I am unaware of it now, I have faith that the answer will come to me as I continue down my chosen path. Now is the time for me to experience things that I have never experienced before. Here I am, still just as confused about the future, but I now know that I have a goal and a direction. Education is not just about memorizing facts and performing well on exams. Education is about becoming who you are meant to be and using that to better your society. I know now that I shouldn’t worry about and stress over my future now, but keep an open mind about what is to come. Upon arriving at the university, I’d only hoped to discover my future career, but I now realize that the University of Texas is about so much more than career training. Here, I know that I will be exposed to ideas, thoughts, and people that I have never been exposed to before. As I continue down my path, I can only hope to develop my character in the best way possible. This will be of infinite use to me when I leave the university; it will help me step outside of my comfort zone and my narrow view of my surroundings in order to help me contribute to and shape the society which has shaped me. As I dwell on these thoughts, it dawns on me that I am finally at peace with my surroundings. I finally understand my place here at the University of Texas.

I wake up the next morning to the sun rising, rays sneaking through the crack between the curtains and my window. There is a stillness that tells me it must be very early in the morning. I ponder for a moment before sitting up to rub my head. Looking around, I see that my roommate is still sleeping, and all is quiet in the dorm. I begin to lie back down, but something catches my eye. Directly across the room from me, balancing on my topmost bookshelf, sits a worn, old football.

Word Count: 2857

[1] Bill Frisbee, “The House that Royal Built,” Inside Texas, Summer 2005, 9.

[2] Ibid., 9.

[3] John Maher and Kirk Bohls, Long Live the Longhorns. (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1993), 135.

[4] Coach Darrell K. Royal Quotes Page, http://www.darrellroyal.org/quotes.html.

[5] Ibid.

[6] John Maher and Kirk Bohls, Long Live the Longhorns. (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1993), 165-166.

[7] Denne H. Freeman, Hook ‘em Horns: A Story of Texas Football (Huntsville: The Strode Publishers, 1974), 90.

[8] Bill Frisbee, “The House that Royal Built,” Inside Texas, Summer 2005, 11.

[9] Ibid., 11.

[10] Denne H. Freeman, Hook ‘em Horns: A Story of Texas Football (Huntsville: The Strode Publishers, 1974), 122-127.

[11] Santiago de Compostela, Town of the Apostle, http://www.red2000.com/spain/santiago/

Pictures:

[i] http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/holycannoli3/UT/game_stadium.jpg

[ii] http://www.mccombs.utexas.edu/temba/photos/142s/tower_pm_vertical.jpg

[iii] http://goblueraiders.com/backgrounds/ball-640.jpg

[iv] http://www.klru.org/texasmonthlytalks/archives/images/royal/royal.jpg

[v] http://www.darrellroyal.org/images/darrell4.jpg

[vi] http://www.zed-inc.com/seashell-fs.jpg