Sports Gil Brandt, innovator behind the Cowboys’ success in the 1970s, dies at 91 Meador, who had bulked up to 193 pounds, attracted the attention of several NFL teams when he ran wild behind the blocks of left tackle John Madden in the Optimist Bowl, a postseason game in Tucson that pitted Division I All-Americans against Little All-Americans. He dashed 95 yards for a touchdown against the University of the Ozarks, rushed for 239 yards against Hendrix College three weeks later and amassed 3,410 rushing yards in his career.ĭuring Meador’s senior year, a Tech coach happened upon a scout for the Rams in an Arkansas duck blind and told him he ought to keep the overachieving two-way star in his sights. By the time he graduated, he’d become the most wondrous Wonder Boy. The only reason Arkansas Tech - its players were called the Wonder Boys - gave him a scholarship was “because one of my high school coaches had moved over to coach at Tech,” he said. A few years ago Meador spoke to a high school class and said his biggest obstacle was “just having to prove to people that I could play.” It was enough for him to believe he could play football at Texas A&M for the legendary Bryant, even though he was undersized. The Rams drafted him and signed him for a $500 bonus in 1959 and he cracked the starting lineup as a rookie. Meador returned to Russellville, enrolled at tiny Arkansas Tech and proceeded to start at tailback and safety all four years, breaking every school rushing record. Undeterred, Meador climbed back into his car and drove 437 miles to Tulsa, Okla., where a new coach, Bobby Dobbs, was taking over a Golden Hurricanes team that was 0-11 in 1954. Bryant looked back at the 5-foot-10, 165-pound, tow-headed 18-year-old and told him he’d never play big-time football, saying, “You need to go somewhere else.” Meador walked into Coach Bear Bryant’s office at Texas A&M and said he wanted to play football for him. So upon graduating from high school in 1955, Meador drove 485 miles from Russellville, Ark., to College Station, Texas. ![]() ![]() ![]() Straightforward, matter-of-fact and knowing exactly what he wanted, that’s the way Eddie Meador lived his life.
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