Grant Teaff statue a permanent reminder at McMurry to seek goals, stay faithful

Everyone was there for Grant Teaff.

His wife, Donell, of course.

Former teammates.

Former players, and a large group still playing and in football jerseys.

The college band, and two bagpipers.

And that ol' Snyder wind.

Answering 'The Call'

With steady wind out of the south at nearly 30 mph, gusting even higher, the McMurry community gathered Friday afternoon to honor Grant Teaff. Born in Hermleigh and schooled in Snyder, he's no stranger to a wicked West Texas wind.

And those witnessing a statue unveiling — a 7-foot bronze of Teaff by Cisco-based sculptor Dan Brook — certainly embrace Teaff as no stranger.

Current McMurry football players Reagan Sullivan, a senior from Fort Worth, and Dwaelon Shepherd, a senior from Natchitoches, La., joined Abraham Salazar, the university's web manager, in unveiling the statute.

The statue is located on the southwest side of Radford Auditorium, facing west. It's titled "The Call."

Teaff said his hope is that students see the statute and realize "that they have a life to live for more than just themselves."

Speaking from atop steps leading in Radford, Teaff did not venture down to the statue after its black covering was untied and pulled aside, and the McMurry band played the school fight song.

Using a cane, Teaff, 88, was assisted by another McMurry player, Rajan Cunningham, a redshirt senior from Dallas.

University President Sandra Harper recalled first meeting Teaff when she taught in Pottsboro, and the Baylor coach visited. He bounced her 6-month-old son on his knee.

"Thank you, Grant Teaff, for your leadership and example," Harper said.

Sam Ferguson, McMurry director of athletics and vice president for student affairs, read a proclamation from state Rep. Stan Lambert, honoring the Teaff statue unveiling.

Seated in the shade of the Radford entrance, Teaff waved to those hollering to him before the event began.

He joked at the podium about seeing former players who looked a bit different.

"They're a little gray-headed now but I still love them," he said. "They're really good guys."

If his steps were tentative, Teaff was not in his address, his voice booming across what now is "Grant Teaff Plaza."

"I love this place," said Teaff, smiling and wear sunshades as he faced the sun and the hundreds there for him. It's not the place that matters to much, he said, but "the individuals who occupy the space in that place."

Someone who occupied space at Baylor was Brook.

He played for Teaff, a member of Baylor's 1980 Southwest Conference championship team. He recalled Teaff telling him as a young player that he'd get his time on the field his junior year. But the real reason Brook was getting a scholarship is because of his potential in life, the coach told him.

On Friday, Brook said he and many others who capitalized on their talents and Teaff's encouragement are able to give back to their coach.

"You're a special man. I love you and I will always be grateful," Brooks said.

Still a McMurry boy

Teaff said he came to McMurry to be a college coach and when he became his alma mater's head coach not long after graduating, he was one of the youngest head coaches in college football.

He said he didn't know initially if he'd succeed at his goal, but at McMurry he was "determined to make it work. What I found at McMurry was extremely inspirational and motivational to me."

"I wanted to be at an institution where I could make a real contribution," Teaff said. "I chose McMurry and never regretted it."

He said he was inspired by faculty that had been at the Methodist school in south Abilene for 30 or 40 years, sticking with their professions through the Depression.

"That impressed me," he said. His education, he said, "has served me so well."

Teaff said his ability to meet people was "fostered on these grounds." He served as executive director of the American Football Coaches Association for 25 years.

He said he was taught at McMurry how to teach.

"That's the key," he said, "teaching someone how to use the tools they have. That's what we do in football. That's what coaches do. They take somebody who has a certain skill and talent, you teach them how to develop it, use it and put in play on the field.

"That's what God does," the man of faith added.

Another day to live

Flanking the statue are two large stones.

Inscribed on metal plates on the one to the left of the statue is a synopsis of Teaff's career. The one of the right describes the harrowing Sept. 28, 1963, plane crash at Barksdale Air Force Based, Louisiana.

McMurry had lost a game to Northeast Louisiana and was returning to Abilene. The DC-3 barely gained altitude and its electrical system failed. After two aborted landings, fuel was burned and a crash-landing was attempted at the base. Teaff was asked by players to pray, for a different kind of victory.

He did and all 28 players and coaches, two pilots and a flight attendant survived. When they took another plane home, Teaff was asked to pray again.

That near-tragedy bonded those aboard and the B.I.B.L.E club was formed — Brotherhood of Indian Belly-Landing Experts. That group, Teaff said, used that faith-testing experience to guide their lives in the years ahead.

"It has been my pleasure to know, to be impressed, to love all those men and their families," Teaff said. Some of those on that flight were at McMurry on Friday.

He several times Friday referred to Romans 8:31 and the verse he used that day almost 60 years ago: "If God is for us, who can be against us."

How he got here

Teaff was a standout linebacker and center at McMurry in 1955, coming north from San Angelo Junior College.

He graduated in 1956 with a degree in physical education, the attained a master's degree in 1957. He also was awarded a Doctor of Humanities degree from McMurry in 1975.

After one year as an assistant coach at Lubbock High school, he returned to Abilene as an assistant coach for the Indians from 1957-59. Five years removed from playing at McMurry, he took over as head coach in 1960, staying for six seasons and going 23-35-1.

He was an assistant coach at Texas Tech from 1966-68, then returned to San Angelo as head coach of now Angelo State University.

In 1972, he took the Baylor job and held its for 21 years.

He won two Southwest Conference titles (1974 and 1980) and was honored as coach of the year in 1974 by the American Football Coaches Association and Eddie Robinson organization.

Teaff is a member (2001) of the College Football Hall of Fame. In 2006, Teaff was awarded the Amos Alonzo Stagg Award at the AFCA Convention in Dallas.

On Friday, those honors were sidelined by Teaff's return to his alma mater.

Students can get the same start in life that he did close 70 years ago "right here," he said.

"McMurry University. God bless you-all," Teaff said, "and God bless McMurry."

Greg Jaklewicz is editor of the Abilene Reporter-News and general columnist. If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com.

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Teaff statue a permanent reminder at McM to seek goals, stay faithful