Prayers for Johnny Lam Jones

[Hagbard Celine 10762]

rip.

[SHOOTER12 8789]

31 minutes ago, Steel Shank said:

True legend.

(It was the 4x440 relay/mile relay back then. I know the video above shows a "1600 m relay", but Texas didn't use meters in '76.)

 That is what I was thinking. I graduated in 1976 and I knew it was 4x440 yard dash at that time.

[Tex Pete 20179]

9 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

A great fact about his speed:  how many 4x4 relay anchors could go from last to first in the TEXAS state finals?  Holy smokes.

 

JLJ passed away

That’s the one my buddy ran with Lam on. He’s an aggie to the core, but still loves Lam like a brother. 

[Tex Pete 20179]

9 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

A great fact about his speed:  how many 4x4 relay anchors could go from last to first in the TEXAS state finals?  Holy smokes.

 

JLJ passed away

That’s the one my buddy ran with Lam on. He’s an aggie to the core, but still loves Lam like a brother. 

[AUinHsv 576]

Looked up 76 relay team because of his age. Knew the lead off runner was 19 but the third runner was also around 20. USA won the gold with three of the four runners barely out of high school.

[dimyh 1874]

RIP Lam

 

 

 

[Rabidhorn 121]

The way the back of his uni flapped when he ran was awesome, he ran like the wind.

 

RIP Longhorn

[torre 1284]

Just saw this article on TexasSports (excerpt).     Strong words, strong words, indeed.    Room got dusty when I read.

 

  But when you're a Longhorn, you're part of a special family, a special group. You get the feeling that other people feel it's special, too. They might be an alum of another school, but deep down inside they wish they could say there were a Longhorn. Some might admit it and some might not, but it's like if they went somewhere else, they settled. Some people will tell me, "I went to such and such school, but I wish I could have gone to UT."

This school impacts your life because you're placed in an environment where you always want to do your best. That's the kind of people you're around at Texas.  It helps guide you and mold you and puts you in a conscious awareness about what The University is about, the pride and the traditions.

I wouldn't change anything, not for a minute, not for a second.  A person couldn't ask for a better roller coaster ride than what I've been on--still standing and fortunate to be able to sit here and talk about it.  You know that poem "Footprints in the Sand?"  I'm the reason they wrote that…I'm the one He's been carrying all this time.  

 

https://texassports.com/news/2019/3/15/texas-athletics-remembers-johnny-lam-jones.aspx

[mininghorn88 2263]

6 hours ago, torre said:

Just saw this article on TexasSports (excerpt).     Strong words, strong words, indeed.    Room got dusty when I read.

 

  But when you're a Longhorn, you're part of a special family, a special group. You get the feeling that other people feel it's special, too. They might be an alum of another school, but deep down inside they wish they could say there were a Longhorn. Some might admit it and some might not, but it's like if they went somewhere else, they settled. Some people will tell me, "I went to such and such school, but I wish I could have gone to UT."

This school impacts your life because you're placed in an environment where you always want to do your best. That's the kind of people you're around at Texas.  It helps guide you and mold you and puts you in a conscious awareness about what The University is about, the pride and the traditions.

I wouldn't change anything, not for a minute, not for a second.  A person couldn't ask for a better roller coaster ride than what I've been on--still standing and fortunate to be able to sit here and talk about it.  You know that poem "Footprints in the Sand?"  I'm the reason they wrote that…I'm the one He's been carrying all this time.  

 

https://texassports.com/news/2019/3/15/texas-athletics-remembers-johnny-lam-jones.aspx

As an alum, there are only a few things that tops putting the Horns up and singing The Eyes of Texas.

[Shaggy3.0 1695]

RIP.

Hook Em

[Cairn Horn88 8172]

Here's a great read from AAS in this morning's Sunday edition.

Witness to history: Lam's race is No. 1 memory

To this very day almost half a century later, I still can’t believe my eyes.

Without question, it’s at the top of my best sports memories ever witnessed in person.  There was Ben Crenshaw bent over in delirious exhaustion and exhilaration on the 18th green at Augusta after he sealed his second Masters victory in 1995 just a week after his beloved mentor, Harvey Penick, died in Austin.

There was Darrell Royal’s final Texas - OU game that ended in the most bitter of ties in 1976, with President Ford in the sellout crowd, just days after we had the scoop of Oklahoma spying on Longhorn practices.  I’ll never forget Roger Staubach’s two-touchdown comeback in 1979 against the hated Redskins in the blink of an eye as I watched at Texas Stadium.

The Abe-Eddie Show when Abe Lemons threatened to rip Eddie Sutton’s Sunday clothes off at the Erwin Center in 1979 if the Arkansas coach ever again laid hands on one of his Longhorn players.  And of course Vince Young’s legendary heroics against USC in the 2006 Rose Bowl, one for the ages.

But for pure un-believability, they all pale in comparison to the cool May night in 1976 when time stopped at Memorial Stadium.

Johnny “Lam” Jones topped them all.

It’s hard to believe that he’s gone now. He died in the early hours of Friday at the too-young age of 60 after more than a decade long battle with Stage 4 multiple myeloma — cancer of the plasma in the bone marrow. But then he always ran the good race.

None quite like that historic night in 1976.

He’d turn into not only a big-time Longhorn football player, as a running back and then a wide receiver and kick returner, and later that summer he would become an Olympic gold medalist when he ran the second leg for the U.S. 400-meter relay team at Montreal. At 18.  “He was not only a Texas hero; he was an American hero,” former UT offensive line great Rick Ingraham said. “I mean, he was a gold medal winner.”

But even before, he shocked the world. And all of us who saw it live that night or even on grainy, blurry videotape since have never forgotten it.

The night at the state high school track meet when the athlete we grew to know as Johnny “Lam” Jones from Lampasas — he got the nickname to differentiate himself from Johnny “Ham” Jones of Hamlin, who was at his bedside with Ingraham on Thursday — stunned about 20,000 slack-jawed spectators, myself included.

What was so special? He overcomes a distance of, I swear, 50 yards, maybe more, as the anchor leg of his team’s winning mile relay team to clinch the Class 3A state championship. It still stands as the most compelling sporting event I have ever seen in 50 years.  “Johnny didn’t waste an ounce of energy when he was running,” said Johnnie Johnson, the La Grange star who became Lam’s freshman roommate and an All-America defensive back.

“I always say in track and field, there’s one speed, and then there’s ‘Johnny Lam’ speed. One thing I learned early on, and I was a fast guy. When I was covering him in practice, when I was even with him, I'm not even.”  Not for long anyway.

Both athletes from their small Central Texas towns were special. Ahead of their time, they weren’t listed as five-stars. Instead, there were blue chippers and super blue chippers. Jones and Johnson were the latter from the moment they got recruiting questionnaires in the mail from Notre Dame the summer before their high school sophomore years.

“There will never be another graceful athlete at such a young age,” Johnson said. “I still remember the phone call I got after I committed to Texas. He asked if I was still going to Texas. I said yes, and he said, I’ll see you there.’ ” Jones, a gifted specimen of an athlete at 6 feet and 175 pounds who would later be the overall No. 2 NFL draft pick of the New York Jets, always glided when he ran.

He ran with such effortless motion. On that May night, he took the baton mired in seventh place among the eight competitors. “This’ll be interesting,” I thought as I watched from the press box. “I wonder how much ground he can make up on the race’s final lap.”

Ingraham wondered as well. He’d sat in the press box with about 20 of his football teammates and Longhorn recruiting coordinator Ken Dabbs that night after Royal had suggested they check out their new teammate.

“He was the most beautiful runner I ever saw in my life,” Ingraham recalled. “Effortless. Pure speed.

That race was like nothing I’d ever seen. It wasn’t like he was straining. He was like a racehorse. And he didn’t win by a neck. He won by a couple of steps.”

One by one, Lam passed all his fellow racers with astonishing ease and grace. As he ran down the backstretch, the crowd rose in unison, gasping at what they saw, shocked when they realized they were seeing history. Unofficially, it was a time of 45.3 seconds.  He was flat-out mesmerizing. He took our breath away.

And he could have been one of the best of all time, save one shortcoming. Johnny Lam was almost too good for his own good.  While he had an impact as both a two-time AU Southwest Conference tailback and receiver and kick returner in football at Texas — he once ran back a kickoff against SMU from 8 yards deep in the end zone, and he scored eight touchdowns of 45 yards or longer in his career — it was his potential on a track where he could have been transcendent.

But that was before track paid big money.  So he played football.  He had his demons. He battled drug and alcohol addiction and later spoke out against the evils of both. He witnessed to high school students. And he later donated his Olympic gold medal to the Special Olympics, so impressed was he with the competitors’ want-to.

“He was just a tremendous athlete,” recalled Dabbs, maybe the Longhorns’ best recruiter ever, who helped persuade Lam not to go to Oklahoma and instead come to Austin. “He played tailback and wide receiver, but track was king.”  Dabbs hadn’t been the main recruiter on Lam. Tim Doerr was, but Royal dispatched Dabbs to Lampasas to help seal the deal.  Johnny lived with his maternal grandparents in Lampasas, although his mother worked as a deputy sheriff in Oklahoma and wanted him to become a Sooner. When Dabbs showed up at their home, he asked Mary Anderson if Johnny got his speed from her.

“I could outrun anybody in Bastrop Country,” she said, barely looking up from her quilting.  At some point, Dabbs informed her that his mother ran the Club Cafe in Freer and mentioned that her cook, Lonnie McPhail, fried up the best chicken fried steak around. Went by Slim in those days.  “That’s my brother,” Anderson gasped.

The Sooners had no shot after that.

Texas, on the other hand, landed one of the most versatile athletes in school history. Royal never quite harnessed his talent, and Fred Akers used him at receiver as much as a decoy as a deadly weapon. His football numbers were never all that earth-shattering, but his moments were.  Not that Lam ever boasted.

“He was the most humble superstar,” Ingraham said. “He and Earl (Campbell) were in a class by themselves. Never boastful or loud.”

And he ran the good race.

Kirk Bohls

 

[Wild Bill 324]

Some of my earliest memories of Texas Football were from my dad explaining to me the differences of Lam, Ham and Jam.

 

RIP JLJ

[staboner 4958]

before my time. 

RIP sir. 

[williemackgarza 1826]

Rip johnny lam.
Saw him some years back selling sports field turf after he was diagnosed. Super nice and shared lots of stories and talked to me a while about texas sports and his life.
I also have lots of family from Lampasas, said he was amazing to watch run.

[El Squared 1793]

On 3/14/2019 at 9:39 AM, gecko said:

Hold up....showing my age...to correct the record, it was Fall 1977, I wasn't an RA (yet).  No sure why I was in the 2nd floor office.

I was in Jester East in 1977 and West in 1978, and an RA at Simkins in 1980 and 1981.

Very  good times indeed. The office IIRC was in Jester West.

[yaqdum 182]

60

[Cairn Horn88 8172]

Apparently, there is a private video of that mile relay, taken by a fan at that time.  Perhaps, I can find and post.

[MAUFRAIS 6573]

Yes. Do that.

[Saint Tacky 1610]

Saw him haul in a bomb against TCU in 1979.  Everybody stood when the pass was let go, and sat down when it appeared overthrown.  To this day I've never seen a receiver catch up to a football like JLJ did.  An amazing burst that is my benchmark for the past 40-years.

[HuntinHorn 975]

26 minutes ago, Cairn Horn88 said:

Apparently, there is a private video of that mile relay, taken by a fan at that time.  Perhaps, I can find and post.

Post 45

[Cairn Horn88 8172]

8 minutes ago, HuntinHorn said:

Post 45

Thx.

[the idoit 165]

I’ve been coming back to this thread since Friday and I’m still struggling for words. He had been dealing with Fcancer since around ‘05 and I knew the day would come. He fought like the champion he was and defeated many of his demons in the process, and for this I’m very grateful.

I’ll never forget watching that brilliant leg of the 4x100 in Montreal. His stride was so elegant and graceful. Effortless. It was as if he was born for that moment in time.

So many memories. My brother knew him at UT. He says though he was catered to in HS, practically worshipped, he remained kind and humble. He will remain one of my all-time sports heroes, Texas or otherwise.

God bless you and rest well, Johnny “Lam” Jones. Sincere prayers for the family and all who are affected by his passing.

[CfRhTxStBobcats 600]

It's a shame the cancer was caught early. My dad has the same cancer, it's actually in remission, but he didn't go to the doctor early enough and it totally shut down his kidneys. The oncologist said this is one of the most treatable cancers. Anyway, Johnny was one of my favorite players when I was a kid. Prayers for the family.

Guys, if you're not feeling well don't wait until it's too late. My dad was feeling terrible for 2 weeks and just wouldn't go to the fucking doctor. Chances are if he would have gone to the doctor they could have saved his kidneys. He's not doing well with dialysis and doubtful he makes it through the year. 

[torre 1284]

Services were Friday.   Lengthy article,  excerpts:

 

The legend of Lam Jones will always live forever in the hearts of Texas football fans and Americans who enjoy good old-fashioned speed on a track or football field. But sports were only part of his story.

John Wesley Jones II — the man behind the nickname — was laid to rest in East Austin on Friday, right next to Texas coaching legend Darrell K Royal and near recently departed former UT President Bill Powers. Cancer claimed Jones at age 60, bringing to an end a story of utter athletic brilliance doused with a cautionary tale of life after fame.

The Longhorns faithful filled Ebenezer Baptist Church on East 10th St. on Friday morning along with childhood friends from his hometown of Lampasas. Texas exes like Donnie Little, Alfred Jackson, Lawrence Sampleton, Randy McEachern, Ray Clayborn and Dwight Jefferson all sported No. 26 armbands. Former UT teammate Herkie Walls, now an Orlando, Fla. minister, served as the officiant and kept the audience loose with his memories of being a senior at Garland who met Jones at the Texas Relays the summer before enrolling in college. Walls had won the high school division of the 100 meters the day before in a blistering time of 10.42.

“At the time, I thought I was the fastest guy in Texas,” said Walls, who had won the high school division of the 100-meters in a blistering time of 10.42. “But the next day I watched him race against Curtis Dickey. He ran so fast that I looked at my high school coach and asked, ‘How in the world can I compete against a guy like that?’ My coach looked at me and said, ‘You can’t.’”

https://www.hookem.com/columns/golden-johnny-lam-jones-much-just-texas-legend/

 

 

[NeverMarryAStripper 21781]

Herkie Walls, that’s a name I’ve not heard in a long time.

 

Texas had some fast mofos back in the day

 

[ImissWallyPryor 9045]

The overall team speed is better these days, but it seems like there were always a couple of guys back then who had elite speed similar to Jamaal Charles. 

Edited March 24, 2019 by ImissWallyPryor

[bullet 1596]

On 3/15/2019 at 10:54 PM, SHOOTER12 said:

 That is what I was thinking. I graduated in 1976 and I knew it was 4x440 yard dash at that time.

Missed this at the time.  Just now saw that he had passed.

RIP Lam.

 Really nice guy.  Lived in Jester my freshman year and saw him around a lot.  We didn't really talk but he would usually say hi.

My senior year of HS, I knew the top 3 guys in the 440 in the 4A state meet (then the highest level).  Lampassas was 3A.  He ran a lot faster than they did.