Doak Walker Plays His Last Season Of Football
Doak Walker ended the speculation about his future in football by announcing on July 29, 1955 that he had agreed to play one more season with the Detroit Lions.
Grantland Rice, dean of American sportswriters, called him “the most authentic all-around player in football history.” Doak Walker could do everything – run, pass, catch, punt and kick – and did it with a modest grace that endeared him to fans who never had heard of Southern Methodist University.
The three-time consensus All-American led the Mustangs to back-to-back Southwest Conference championships in 1947 and 1948, while winning every individual honor college football had to offer. (He was the first underclassman awarded the Heisman Trophy.) The Cotton Bowl had to add an upper-deck to accommodate the record crowds the triple threat attracted and became known as “The House That Doak Built.”
Following an injury-plagued senior season at SMU, an East Coast coach the Texan met at the College All-Star Game urged him to skip the NFL. There was no way his 5-foot-11, 165-pound body could withstand the punishment of the brutal professional sport with its crazy rule that the ball carrier was fair game even when he was down.
But Doak could not resist the challenge nor the long-awaited reunion with high school teammate Bobby Layne. The coach of the Detroit Lions was none other than Bo McMillin, one of the earliest All-Americans from the Lone Star State, and it was his brilliant idea to bring the two old friends back together in the same backfield.
In addition to Walker and Layne, McMillin stocked the Lions with other native Texans, several of whom were stars in their own right. They included with position, hometown and college: Yale Lary (safety and punter, Fort Worth, Texas A&M), Harley Sewell (lineman, Saint Jo, Texas), Cloyce Box (receiver, Hamilton, West Texas State) and Bob Smith (halfback, Ranger, Iowa).
In 1950 Doak proved beyond all doubt that talent trumped size. He led the league in scoring with five rushing touchdowns, six receiving TD’s, eight field goals and 38 PAT’s to come within 10 points of the single-season best. The guy, who was too small for the National Football League, was everybody’s choice for Rookie of the Year.
Under the guidance of Buddy Parker, another Texan who stepped in for terminally ill McMillin, the Lions played in three straight NFL title games. Each time the opponent was the Cleveland Browns, and Walker, Layne & Company took two out of three.
Doak was instrumental in both victories. After missing much of the 1952 season with a bad hamstring, he put the game out of reach with a sensational 67-yard touchdown run. The next year, he accounted for 11 of the Lions’ 17 points, including the PAT that broke a 16-16 tie late in the fourth quarter.
Doak was never an athlete in denial and always knew deep down that someday he would have to give up the game he loved. Looking back decades later on his decision to retire at the age of 28, he said, “I didn’t want to be one of those guys who stayed a year too long. I didn’t want to leave burned out or crippled.”
Then he added on a more positive note, “I’d been on three division champions, two world champions. I’d been to five Pro Bowls. I’d been All-Pro four times. What else was there to do?”
No one on either side of the field, not the Detroit Lions or the Philadelphia Eagles, kidded themselves about the unusually large turnout for an exhibition game on a hot August night in Dallas. The forty thousand fans were not about to miss Doak’s final appearance in the Cotton Bowl.
In a halftime ceremony, Number 37’s many admirers showered him with praise and presents. The State Fair gave him a solid gold, lifetime pass to the stadium he “built,” and not to be outdone Matty Bell, his former coach, handed him a solid gold membership card in the Mustang Club. It was hard to top the showroom-new Cadillac from a group of anonymous donors, but Doak’s ex-teammates gave it the good, old college try with a gag gift – a broken-down jalopy.
The guest of honor almost made it through his appreciation speech but choked up when he tried to thank his parents.
Three months later, 43,000 Detroit faithful braved sub-freezing weather to pay a final tribute to the little Texan that had won their hearts. It certainly was not their team that made them risk pneumonia for the Lions were about to finish a disappointing campaign with nine losses in 12 games.
The lieutenant governor of the state of Michigan set the tone for Doak Walker Day by saying, “I want you to know that personally and officially we all regret seeing you leave.” Then came all the gifts and testimonials.
Finally, it was Doak’s turn at the microphone. “Looks like Christmas came early,” he drawled. “I just want to thank you for giving me a home in Detroit and from a Texan that’s really something.”
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