06.22.2013 | Football

Bill Little commentary: The quiet man

When it came to describing Bill Wyman, Darrell Royal would call him the best center he ever coached.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and there is one photo of former Longhorn Bill Wyman that shows just that.

Shot in the bench area of a Texas football game in the season of 1973, the picture by the acclaimed sports photographer, the late Linda Kaye, shows the rugged face of an embattled center, his long hair dripping in sweat plastered across his forehead.

That will always be the lasting image of the man who was the lynchpin of the offensive line during part of one of the greatest eras of Texas Longhorns football.

Wyman, who died at 61 early this week due to complications of Parkinson's disease, was a three-year letterman who earned all-Southwest Conference honors in 1972 and 1973 and was a consensus all-American in 1973.

A freshman in 1970, Wyman was part of the last group of NCAA Division I players who were eligible to play only three seasons with the varsity, and he made the most of it. By the middle of his junior season, he had become one of the best centers in Texas Longhorn football history.

But while Wyman's presence was felt throughout his career, it was his tough, rugged leadership as a captain during his tumultuous senior season of 1973.

"He never said a lot," recalls teammate Jay Arnold. "He led by example. Coaches and players alike remember [him] as the best there was."……………..

As the center in an offense which helped fullback Roosevelt Leaks earn all-American honors and a place in College Football's National Hall of Fame, Wyman was a part of an offensive line which carried the Wishbone offense into the middle years of its success. From the season of 1968 through Wyman's senior year of 1973, Texas won six Southwest Conference championships and went to a record six straight Cotton Bowl games. The 1972 team beat Alabama in the New Year's Day game of 1973, finishing the season with a 10-1 record and a No. 3 national ranking.

Wyman's senior season seemed headed for great things when the Longhorns were given a pre-season ranking of No. 1 in the country, but destiny had begun to play some really cruel tricks as early as the spring……………

When it came to describing Bill Wyman, Royal would call him the best center he ever coached, and he forever linked Wyman and his running buddy Leaks after Roosevelt's record-setting day against SMU.

"Wyman was more consistent out there Saturday than any player we had. Over a career, I don't think we've had any player who has been more consistent that Wyman. He and Leaks go together like ham and eggs," Royal said.

Following his playing career, the 6-2, 238-pound Wyman was chosen to play in both the Coaches' All-America game and the Senior Bowl. He was picked in the sixth round of the NFL draft by the New York Jets, but chose instead to return to his native Houston area roots and entered the construction business.

He battled cancer and won during the 1990s, but he couldn't defeat the ravages of Parkinson's…………

Bill Wyman's legacy will be left as that of John Wayne in the movie "The Quiet Man." Folks never fooled with him. He was a tough, tough football player, but most of all he was a good man and a good friend.

And if that is how you're remembered, that's a pretty good deal.