Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Earl Campbell met with city officials Thursday for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the brand new street named after Campbell.
Earl Campbell Parkway cost nearly $16.6 million to build and is a four-lane road connecting highway 155 to Loop 323 West. It also comes with a pair of bike lanes, medians and sidewalks. On top of that, it also comes with about 86,000 square miles of pavement and nine miles of curbs.
Campbell, also known as the “The Tyler Rose,” said he was honored by the gesture of having a street named after him.
“Nothing I accomplished in life is because of me,” Campbell said. “It’s because of we. I know a lot of people take credit Campbell, but there’s only one man who can take all the credit, that’s the Lord God Almighty.
Mayor Barbara Bass was at the scene and told the crowd she’s proud to be able to have a street named after the local legend.
“Earl Campbell exemplifies the best of who we are,” she said. “He puts God first. We have this parkway name in honor of a special person, born and raised in Tyler, Texas.”
Campbell played for John Tyler High School before attending University of Texas where he played for the Longhorns won the Heisman Trophy in 1977.
In 1978, he was drafted by the Houston Oilers, the team he played for the majority of his career. He spent two seasons playing for the New Orleans Saints and retired from football in 1986. He finished his career with 9,407 rushing yards.
The last day of the trip started early. On the agenda were the final two stops prior to our turning for home. Unfortunately we would only make one of the two since time required us to cancel the latter. But the stop we did make turned out to be a great success.
The Nimitz Museum was a bit of a sacrifice for us being that it left us with a long drive, and necessitated us cancelling our visit to the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame in Waco. That is also a great little museum and much, much more than meets the eye from the outside. Despite the long drive home and the cancellation, Fredericksburg was a great stop. Some of the students named it as a high point of the trip. It is certainly a stop that will be included in future years.
Traditionally speaking, football is king in Texas, but this year is a little different.
Football is Back in 2010
August 9th, 2010One of the surest and most welcome signs that summer is winding down is the reappearance of football. Last night preseason football began with the Hall of Fame game. The Cowboys and the Bengals faced off in what essentially amounted to a scrimmage game on Sunday Night Football. Even though the preseason schedule doesn’t mean much if anything, it was good to see Dallas take the night in a 16- 7 competition. And as a side note I have to hope that all T.O.’s games end in the same fashion. But these early games serve purely as a tide- me- over. The only really important stat in them is the injury report afterward. But it’s good to see helmets being dusted off and fields being chalked in anticipation of the coming season.
The NFL and the NCAA are not the only ones preparing for the coming fall. Local High Schools, both public and private are preparing for the quickly approaching fall. Football has certainly become a more inclusive sport in recent years, in terms of the opportunities available. When I was growing up in private school, the only sport we really wanted to play was football! But due to the many expenses surrounding the sport, small schools found it necessary to substitute more inexpensive less “dangerous” sports into their athletic programs. As private and parochial schools have grown however, so has the demand for the one fall sport that really matters in East Texas. Nearly every school in Tyler with more than one hundred students has at least a six- man football team, and many have full squads.
Football and sports in general, is an important component for schools both large and small. We all remember the lessons we were taught in our perspective sports; perseverance, team work, dealing with success, dealing with failure, the lessons go on and on. As Lord Wellington once said, “The Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton.” But Football and all Sports do more for schools than just help to educate the students, (as if that weren’t enough). Athletic programs are the public faces of the schools they represent. They keep the school’s name in the paper and on the evening news. But perhaps more importantly, the event of a Friday night football game, or a Saturday afternoon tailgating party helps to create a sense of community and culture within a school, for families, students and staff.
Autumn is a wonderful time of year, leaves change, the weather cools, and Football is everywhere! I for one, plan of relishing every moment of the coming season!
Tags: Battle Of Waterloo, Dallas Cowboys Football, Dallas Cowboys Football commentary, Dangerous Sports, Dealing With Success, Early Games, East Texas, Eton, Fall Football, Fall Sport, Football, Hall Of Fame, Hall Of Fame Game, Injury Report, Local High Schools, Lord Wellington, Man Football, Night Football, Preseason Schedule, Private And Parochial Schools, S Games, Scrimmage Game, Welcome Signs
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