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Waco-Tribune Herald: Super Bowl pioneer Crutcher headed to Texas HS Football Hall of Fame

TopFrog

TopFrog

Lifelong Frog
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Waco-Tribune Herald: Super Bowl pioneer Crutcher headed to Texas HS Football Hall of Fame

By JOHN WERNER jwerner@wacotrib.com

Tommy Joe Crutcher grew up on a farm in McKinney in a large family of 14 children.

The boys were expected to help out with farm chores and not complain about it. But when Crutcher got a chance to play football, he played with unrestrained joy.

“Without the boys helping out on the farm we might not have been able to keep the farm,” said Diane Crutcher, his younger sister. “But he loved football. I always interpreted it as their way out of McKinney.”

Crutcher was a two-way star for McKinney as a running back and linebacker in the late 1950s, and will be inducted with this year’s class in the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame. Like older brothers Tex and Don, he was happy to get a shot to play college football as he chose TCU over many other schools including Baylor and Texas A&M.

Read more at http://www.wacotrib.com/sports/texa...cle_53c914e5-8e2b-599f-9bcc-9442a7779de8.html
 
Frog DJ

Frog DJ

Active Member
It's about darned time (as my daddy used to say).

Tommy Joe was Pop's favorite player, because he was so hard to tackle.

He didn't run over you - he ran through you, and as a teenager I idolized him as a player and a person.

Crutcher was always kind to young fans, and generous with his time, so it's "about darned time" he was inducted in the HOF!

Go Frogs!
 
Leap Frog

Leap Frog

Full Member
When TCU beat #1 Texas in 1961, Tommy ran so well he kept the ball away from the 'Horns. That game has to be one of the all-time college upsets, and it was the second time Frogs beat a #1 Texas team-- (1941) was the other. Frogs also probably knocked them out of another nc-- although not really an upset as TCU was ranked highly in 1959. Long live Tommy Joe Crutcher.
 
VA Froggie

VA Froggie

Active Member
Leap Frog said:
When TCU beat #1 Texas in 1961, Tommy ran so well he kept the ball away from the 'Horns. That game has to be one of the all-time college upsets, and it was the second time Frogs beat a #1 Texas team-- (1941) was the other. Frogs also probably knocked them out of another nc-- although not really an upset as TCU was ranked highly in 1959. Long live Tommy Joe Crutcher.
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VA Froggie was at that game. Sonny Gibbs hit Buddy Ilyes with a 60-70 yard pass for the winning points. This is also when Darrell Royal referred to the Horned Frogs as a bunch of roaches.. : ). Loved every minute of it.
 
PurplFrawg

PurplFrawg

Administrator
Puzzled why they have a portrait of him standing in the new stadium, when he died in 2002. I remember seeing him play in an exhibition game in the Yale Bowl right after I had been accepted to TCU.
 
Leap Frog

Leap Frog

Full Member
Frog DJ said:
A very happy day in my household, Leap!

Dad and I loved our "cockroaches"!!!

Go Frogs!
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I consider "cockroaches" to be a compliment-- especially coming from DKR. The Frogs had a great defensive scheme that day for the "Horns, with Crutcher, Iles and tackle Bobby Plummer playing lights out. The only score in the 6-0 game came on a flea-flicker from Gibbs to Iles-- with Texas biting on a run and allowing the fine receiver to get far beyond the defense. Yes, and go Frogs!
 

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