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RIP Julius Whittier

Machinator

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Machinator

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The University of Texas lost one of its historical figures, trailblazers, and true Longhorn Legends with the passing of Julius Whittier on Tuesday morning.

A San Antonio native and 1969 Highland High School graduate, Whittier was the Longhorns' first African-American athlete to letter in football and among the first African Americans to receive a football scholarship when he came to UT in 1969.

A three-year letterman and member of three straight Southwest Conference Championship teams (1970-72), Whittier played offensive tackle for the National Champion Longhorns in 1970 and 1971 before moving to tight end for his senior season in 1972. In his three years as a letterman, UT posted a 28-5 record, including a 20-1 mark in the SWC. In the 1972 season, Texas finished with a 10-1 record, a No. 3 national ranking, and capped off that year with a 17-13 upset victory over No. 4 Alabama in the Cotton Bowl.

Following an undergraduate degree in philosophy, Whittier went on to earn a graduate degree from the LBJ School of Public Affairs in 1976, and later completed his law degree at Texas. For much of his career, he worked as a senior prosecutor in the Dallas County District Attorney's office before retiring in 2012. He earned a spot in the Longhorn Hall of Honor in 2013 and, this past August, was inducted into the San Antonio Independent School District Hall of Fame.  

An excerpt from 'What It Means to Be A Longhorn,' courtesy of Bill Little (Triumph Books, 2007), gives you a glimpse of Whittier's decision to join the Longhorn team and some of his experience as a student at UT.

I was a small-town boy. San Antonio was my world, and I had no clue what was going on outside it back then. I thought when I got through playing in high school, I'd be pumping gas somewhere. I had ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), so I took life one day at a time. Not in a spiritual manner; I looked at it like, "Today's it. I'm going to have all the fun I can."

When I finished my senior season at Highlands High School, I had no idea colleges were looking at me. They were sending me letters, but I didn't know it. My mom and my coach conspired against me. They deprived me of this knowledge. They both probably knew that I was susceptible to arrogance, so after we'd lost the bi-district game, my coach called me in. He said, "I talked to your mom about this first, but these are yours," and he handed me two grocery bags full of letters from schools all over the country. He said, "Those are yours, but I want you to read this one first," and he handed me a letter from Coach Royal. That's the one I fell in love with. I don't know what happened to the rest of them.

Coach Mike Campbell came to the house and offered me a scholarship. My mom and dad stood back and let me choose. They didn't tell me everything negative they'd heard from friends, colleagues, or teachers who expressed concerns about Texas because they'd never played a black. "Nobody's ever gone to school there on scholarship. If you do go, you'll be buried at the bottom of the roster," My parents said, "You go where you want to go," although my dad was scared for me. He'd known some guys who struck off into "white" territory and paid for it with their lives.

I came to Texas because it was big-time football 80 miles from home. And I loved central Texas. I was in the right played at the right time. I think it was divine - of God - because there were enough white people up there, if they'd wanted to kick my ass, they could have done it. Coach Royal was the right coach; Mike Campbell was the right recruiter; and the group of guys that was there was the right group. A few of my colleagues let their tongues slip, but I was comfortable that they didn't mean me any harm. I didn't care that some had ideas that were antithetical to integration. I didn't care.

The kids on campus were a delight. I enjoyed going to class. The profs let me raise my hand and spout out my ideas. I below my Afro out and majored in philosophy. In those days, no one on the football team took anything past philosophy 101. That was an introductory course, and while everyone else thought it was just a grade, it blew my mind, so I decided to major in philosophy.

I had to do my study halls because all of my philosophy classes required an average of five papers a semester. I was blessed with a great tutor. The athletics department provided tutoring for difficult courses, and since I was the only one majoring in philosophy, I had my own tutor whenever I needed him, Peter Ayo. I learned more from him about constructing a paragraph than I ever learned in English. That's what got me into law school, the fact that I did so well in philosophy. I didn't do well in much else.

As a sophomore, I subbed for Mike Dean and Bobby Mitchell. I had to move from linebacker to guard to do that, but I was trying to move up the charts so I could get on the field. I knew the roughest part of football would be two-a-days, so I committed myself to being in shape. I told myself I was not going to be dragging butt during two-a-days.

When I got up there, I was at the top of the fitness chart out of everybody - running backs, wide receivers, everybody Mike Presley and I were first and second in the testing every year he was there - push-ups, sprints, quarter-mile sprints, running stadium stairs, doing weight circuits, whatever. By the time we got to practice, it was easy.

By the time I was a sophomore, I'd developed a relationship with the quarterbacks. After every play we ran, we had to make the right blocks and then sprint down the field for 25 yards. I played part of the time as a linebacker and part of the time as an offensive guard. After every play, I'd ask Alan Lowry or the running backs to throw me the ball. We were playing catch. By the time I was a senior, the coaches had noticed that I could catch the ball, plus I was in shape, so they moved me to tight end.

When I was a senior, in 1972, I caught all the touchdown passes that year. Every single one. And I caught it in the A&M game. We had one touchdown pass the entire year. I was the leading receiver that season in touchdown receptions.

They were all decent people. It was not really a difficult time for me. When I went there, I told myself, as long as I get to play based on my skills, then I'm fine. Nobody gave me a hard time in the dorm or in the dining hall. In fact, I believe I was the only one on the team who had a personal relationship with the cook. Of course, he was black, and I'd come in through the kitchen when everybody else was out front, waiting at the door.

Kids those days were active in everything: ecology, civil rights, Vietnam, the draft, segregation versus integration, divestment of UT's investments in South Africa - that was the fun thing about UT. It seemed to be a real university. Many different viewpoints were tolerated. If there were racists on that campus, I didn't know it. They didn't find me, anyway. I remember walking on the west mall, with all the different booths students had set up to recruit and promote their various interests. That was one thing that made me understand how small San Antonio was. When I got to Texas, it seemed like the whole horizon got pushed back 5,000 miles. It told me San Antonio wasn't the only town on the earth.

That was a great time to be in college, not only because we were kicking butt in football but because the kids on that campus were genuinely and sincerely involved in more than just partying and sex and drugs.

The most memorable thing for me is not even football-related. My academic experience at UT was more than just getting the grades to graduate. It was waking up and appreciating the opportunity to go to a school like Texas and thinking, "How much is there that I don't know and don't understand?" That was the most amazing feeling.

Had I not gone to UT, I don't believe I'd be able to converse with as many different people as I am able to today. There's so much here - if you just let yourself experience it - that opens you up to many other realms of life that can be hidden from you if you have no clue how to act. UT is like a key; it opens doors.

The University is part of a state that was its own country at one point. There's no other state in the union like it. Texans are a lot like the institutions they created - for instance, the Texas Rangers. Texans are forthright - those who are true to it - they know what to stand up for, how to stand up, and when it's time to stand up. The University, aspiring to be a university of the first class, is a symbol of that spirit. Even though we come from a racist past, we should be proud that we have created this University that attempts to collect all of what is known about us, our lives, and the world we live in and to preserve the thought and reflection of it for future generations. I'm proud of that. I'm proud to have gone to The University.

To be a starting athlete on one of the best teams in the country - there's just no comparison. Football was my vehicle to become a Longhorn. Being a Longhorn is not simply about playing sports, it's about being part of The University life. There's far more to that in my life than just being a football player. I enjoyed pleasing my coach, and I enjoyed playing football. But the bigger thing is that Coach Royal turned me on to a quality University in my own state. When that group of men declared our independence in 1836, it was done with guys - whatever their thoughts on race - who had big ideas about the real world and the future. I'm proud of that.

 

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Macanudo

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Following an undergraduate degree in philosophy, Whittier went on to earn a graduate degree from the LBJ School of Public Affairs in 1976, and later completed his law degree at Texas. For much of his career, he worked as a senior prosecutor in the Dallas County District Attorney's office before retiring in 2012. He earned a spot in the Longhorn Hall of Honor in 2013 and, this past August, was inducted into the San Antonio Independent School District Hall of Fame.  

How the fuck did it take until 2013 for him to be Hall of Honor?    Dude was awesome on the field and in life. 

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ClubWhatever

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31 minutes ago, Machinator said:

I remember walking on the west mall, with all the different booths students had set up to recruit and promote their various interests. That was one thing that made me understand how small San Antonio was. When I got to Texas, it seemed like the whole horizon got pushed back 5,000 miles. It told me San Antonio wasn't the only town on the earth.

That was a great time to be in college, not only because we were kicking butt in football but because the kids on that campus were genuinely and sincerely involved in more than just partying and sex and drugs.

The most memorable thing for me is not even football-related. My academic experience at UT was more than just getting the grades to graduate. It was waking up and appreciating the opportunity to go to a school like Texas and thinking, "How much is there that I don't know and don't understand?" That was the most amazing feeling.

Had I not gone to UT, I don't believe I'd be able to converse with as many different people as I am able to today. There's so much here - if you just let yourself experience it - that opens you up to many other realms of life that can be hidden from you if you have no clue how to act. UT is like a key; it opens doors.

I loved reading this.  It captures pretty well how I felt about UT too, except for the part about kicking butt in football.

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jdhorn92

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I have that book. Blew right past the passage on him. Shame on me. Great story.  RIP sir.  

I too have similar feelings about my time on the 40. When asked, I always tell people going to UT was a “feeling”. I think reading that exerpt pretty much captures that sentiment I’ve long remembered about my time at UT. 

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pch

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Horns up for a true legend.  Rosie, Earl, and so many followed, but to be the first black to play for the University and show the class that embodied his life is an example anyone would be proud to follow.  Saw him several times in action and he was a stud.

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TwiceHorn

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He was super-prominent in maybe the Exes or whatever group recruited students in the Dallas area.  He was promoted as a multi-degree graduate of the University and football letterman.  Very solid citizen.  Didn't realize his "racial accomplishments" until several years later.

Too young and very sad if his footballing contributed to his passing.  RIP.  🤘

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LongestHorn

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RIP

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Texas recruited Whittier out of San Antonio and his parents were scared of what might happen to him in Austin. “My dad was scared for me,” Whittier said in 2007. “He’d known some guys who struck off into ’White’ territory and paid for it with their lives.” Whittier landed on a campus of nearly 35,000 students and only 300 were Black. He was a star on the freshman team, and Texas made Whittier available for interviews before his debut season. “I’m a loner up here,” Whittier told the San Antonio-Express News in early 1970, noting his coaches were treating him well but hinting at having problems with some of his teammates.

“Texas seems to recruit a lot of boys from small towns, and most of them have small minds just like their fathers,” he said. “They never think about the things that are happening in this country. You never hear them talk about Vietnam or racism. If you want to know the truth, the only people I’ve met that I can really talk to are the longhairs or hippies. They are really concerned about things like ecology and the war. I’m concerned about those things, too.”

A few months later, a group of sportswriters covering the Southwest Conference looked into his social life. The lead of a Sept. 8, 1970, article by The Associated Press noted that “Whittier, Texas’s black offensive guard, is rooming with a white player and occasionally dates white girls.” The story noted that Whittier said no one at school had said anything to him about the dating. “I don’t think it’s anything unusual. Well, unusual, but not abnormal,” Whittier said then.

https://www.afro.com/texas-first-black-football-letterman-whittier-has-died/

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Beau Vine

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From theathletic.com:

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Feldman: What Julius Whittier meant and means to Texas football and its university

Julius-Whittier-headshot2-1024x770.jpeg
By Bruce Feldman 4h ago comment-icon@2x.png 4 save-icon@2x.png

Vince Young has become a Texas football legend. The towering QB put the Longhorns program on his broad back and carried UT to its first national title in four decades when Texas took down USC 13 years ago.

Years later, after Young bounced around the NFL and returned to Austin to get his degree, he wanted to write a paper on another Longhorns legend as part of a history class assignment. This former Longhorn wasn’t a person who was in demand for autographs or photo-ops. But truth be told, the guy means as much to the program as just about anyone else who’s ever suited up in burnt orange.

Full disclosure: I didn’t know the name Julius Whittier until last week when his obituary popped up on my timeline. The 68-year-old passed away Sept. 25, Texas announced. No cause of death was given, but Whittier had a long battle with Alzheimer’s.

Whittier was Texas’ first African-American letterman in football, playing his first varsity season at UT in 1970 as an offensive tackle on a team that won the national title. A year earlier, the Longhorns had become the last all-white national championship team in the history of college football. Whittier earned an undergraduate degree in philosophy and a degree in law from Texas before becoming a prosecutor in the Dallas County District Attorney’s office.

Young first heard about Whittier when he was Texas quarterback from Donnie Little, the first black QB who played at Texas in the late 1970s and early ’80s. 

“I was intrigued about his story,” Young said of Whittier over the phone Monday. “I did some research, and then when he was in town for one of our games, I had an opportunity to sit down with him for a little while. He talked about the different racial things that he had to go through in order to be the successful man that he was. He said that all that made him really tough-skinned, and he was always focused on the ultimate goal to change lives and change the things that were going on to get it where it is today. He was very inspired to make change, and he really did it.

“If it wasn’t him, I wouldn’t have been able to play quarterback or went to the University of Texas. I tip my hat off to him. I want to keep his legacy alive and keep doing the things that I’m doing and overcoming the battles that I go through in my life to open up more doors for the next young black male or black female.”

IMG_4391.jpg
 
Whittier, Vince Young and Billy Dale, Whittier’s college roommate and best friend. (Photo courtesy Vince Young)

When Whittier arrived as a college student from San Antonio, UT had 35,000 students and only 300 were black. Whittier went to Texas for the opportunity to change its culture, which he summed up in this quote from his senior year, according to the Associated Press: “I wanted to see if the myth about UT’s racism was true. If it was, I wanted to see what I could do to change it.”

Roosevelt Leaks, a punishing running back, arrived at Texas in 1971 and emerged as a star for UT, making All-American and finishing third in Heisman Trophy balloting in 1973. Leaks told me he viewed Whittier as something of a big brother when he arrived at Texas because Whittier’s decision to come to Texas opened doors for other African-American football players. “He made sure that we’d go to school and get good grades,” Leaks said.

Whittier was inducted into the Longhorn Hall of Honor in 2013 and the San Antonio Independent School District Hall of Fame in August. Last weekend, Texas paid tribute to Whittier in its game at Kansas State by wearing “JW” decals on their helmets.

“Without him, there wouldn’t have been Roosevelt Leaks; no Raymond Clayborns or Vince Youngs,” Little said. “He had to open the doors for us for it to even be a thought to come to Texas. Other schools were definitely using Texas not having any minorities on their team against them in recruiting. We give all the credit to Julius because without him coming, Texas is not even in consideration. 

“And they couldn’t have picked a better one (to be a trailblazer). He wasn’t only about football. He set the example that while he was here, he’s gonna take full advantage of getting his degree to better himself.”

Whittier-Hall-of-Honor-1024x891.jpg
 
Whittier upon his induction into the Longhorn Hall of Honor in 2013.

Mack Brown, the coach of that 2005 Texas national title team, said a lot of folks, especially in some African-American communities around the state, didn’t feel it was a true national championship  in 1969 because it wasn’t an integrated team. “It was uncomfortable, but after we won (in 2005), we were more readily accepted in those areas, and Julius started all of that,” Brown said.

Brown tried to make his players aware of the story of Whittier along with other significant Longhorn football players from other eras for what they represented — “You gotta dream, take chances and take risks.”

Brian Jones, a former star linebacker at Texas in the late ’80s, said he knew of Whittier’s legacy before he arrived and that they developed a friendship over the years. “He was a real trailblazer with how he set the tone for black athletes at UT,” Jones said.

Less than a decade after Whittier finished his playing career at Texas, Little took on the high-profile role of becoming the Longhorns’ first African-American quarterback. Little said he read the hate mail he received. 

“Yeah, I can’t deny that I did,” he said. “It fueled you, made you want to try harder and do better, and it made you mature a lot faster.” But he added that he understood that not everybody thought that way.

Whittier was there for him because he had a unique understanding of what he was going through.

“He said, ‘Don’t think if they boo you for one play, they’re just booing you for the color of your skin,’ ” Little said. ” ‘They’re just booing you because the play wasn’t executed to perfection.’ But after they saw that I was here to stay and not going away, and that I’m not Superman and not inhuman, I was gonna take my licks just as if I was a white quarterback or green or whatever. He just shared that it’s the turning of the guard so to speak, and that it’s not just about him or me. It’ll be about the young men that come after.”

Young said he hopes the university does something special to honor Whittier’s legacy, maybe with a statue or an endowment in recognition of what he has done for African-Americans at Texas.

“He wasn’t just a football player,” Little said. “To me, that speaks volumes about him. He made it easier for them to recruit others that looked like him.”

 

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