Tom
Brady and the New England Patriots are back in the Super Bowl once
again in 2019. The Pats earned a Super Bowl appearance in 2018 as well,
but fell to the Philadelphia Eagles in a game officiated by Austin
College Kangaroo Byron Boston.
The AFC champion is awarded the
Lamar Hunt trophy, and a Brady-led New England team won its ninth trophy
by defeating Lamar Hunt’s old Kansas City Chiefs last week. No
franchise has won more Hunt trophies than New England. Before their
relocation to Kansas City, Hunt’s Chiefs were better known as the Dallas
Texans; they played in the Cotton Bowl.
Hopefully, we’ll all enjoy a great Patriots-Rams game in 2019. Much like, say, the Patriots-Rams game in 1986!
The Rams hosted New England in the fall of 1986, and held a five-point
lead with three seconds remaining. The Patriots had one final play, and
miraculously connected on a Hail Mary to win the game. New England
Coach Raymond Berry was all smiles as he walked across the field a
winner.
You may remember Raymond Berry as the co-captain of the
1954 SMU Mustangs. Who was his fellow co-captain? Why, that would be
Austin College Kangaroo Head Coach Duane Nutt (h/t Kelly NuttDavis Nutt).
Nutt, Berry, and the Mustangs had a fine season in 1954. Bear Bryant’s
Junction Boys headed up to Dallas for a SWC matchup against SMU at the
Cotton Bowl. With just seconds left in the half, SMU attempted a Hail
Mary similar to Berry’s Patriots in 1986. Nutt launch a missile towards
a streaking Berry headed for the end zone. Gene Stallings and Jack
Pardee were downfield in coverage, however, and the pass was picked off
by Aggie teammate Elwood Kettler. A photo of the play ran nationwide.
Mentioned in the caption are Nutt, Berry, Kettler, Stallings, and
Pardee.
Now that’s some royalty right there.
The halftime
Hail Mary failed, but the Mustangs did not. A Duane Nutt touchdown was
the difference in a 6-3 win over Bryant’s Junction Boys.
A 3rd
string SMU receiver who rarely saw action because of the hands of
Raymond Berry watched the entire game from the Cotton Bowl sidelines.
His name was Lamar Hunt. Yes, that Lamar Hunt.
Duane Nutt
eventually made his way into coaching. He was an assistant coach for
Austin College in the 1960s, before taking over the head coaching
position in 1969. That same year, Lamar Hunt’s Kansas City Chiefs won
their first and only Super Bowl.
In the early 1970s, one of his
Roo teams had a talented wide receiver who was just not quite NFL
material. Nutt counseled his young receiver to perhaps take up
officiating instead. That receiver agreed, and began a career path as a
football official.
