By Dylan Fink | Sports Writer
Waco played host to legends Saturday as the Texas Sports Hall of Fame held its annual induction banquet. The newest class of Texas athletes made its way down University Parks Drive to be permanently enthroned in historic hall of fame.
The class was headlined by Super Bowl 50 MVP Von Miller and United States soccer legend Clint Dempsey.
Other members of the class included the 1966 national championship-winning Texas Western men’s basketball team, former TCU football coach Gary Patterson, rodeo star Charmayne James, Olympic gold medal speed skater Chad Hedrick, former Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman Zack Martin, the late NFL defensive tackle Steve McMichael and the late Negro League catcher Louis Santop.
Miller, who grew up in DeSoto, was seated between the famed offensive guard in Martin and former Big 12 Coach of the Year of Patterson. The football trio recognized each other’s accomplishments as they repeatedly cut up throughout the evening.
“My mentality at the line was always to get after the D-line,” Martin said. “I got [Miller] next to me here, that wasn’t always the easiest to get to … but I found my home on the offensive line.”
Patterson shared similar sentiments about Miller, brushing on his attempts to recruit the former four-star prior to his becoming an All-American at Texas A&M.
“Now [Miller] committed to A&M pretty early,” Patterson said. “But he was good enough at such a young age that, yes, I was fully aware of who he was.”
A common theme shared between the athletes at the induction press conference was a dual sense of gratitude and pride. Each athlete voiced their thanks for the people that pushed them to become the hall of famers they are today, while continuously noting pride in representing the state of Texas on national and worldwide scales.
“The biggest dream for me, if I’m being honest, was playing for my country in the World Cup,” Dempsey said. “That’s what I dreamed about as a kid … It was representing my country and especially being from Texas.”
Dempsey was the first American to score in three separate World Cups and was at the forefront of influencing a shift in skill for soccer in the United States.
Another first achieved by the newest hall of fame class came courtesy of the 1966 Texas Western men’s basketball team. The Miners defeated the heavily-favored, all-white Kentucky Wildcats in the national title game, becoming the first college basketball team to win the championship with an all-Black starting lineup.
The national champions are the first team to be inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. The team was represented at the event by the power forward Nevil Shed.
“When you start out talking about being the first, no matter what comes after that, you know that’s always something that will be really close to your heart,” Shed said. “When you’re the first to do something, nobody can ever take that away.”
The most apparent aspect of the event was each athlete’s deep appreciation for their home state of Texas. The value of the induction was not lost on a fan- and family-filled crowd, as many athletes fought through moist eyes and choked back tears to share their stories.
“There’s so many players that have come before me,” Miller said. “I saw DeMarcus [Ware] and Colt McCoy and all the other guys that I looked up to. To be a part of that is amazing. Texas is so big and so many players that come through there. To be included in that is an honor and privilege.”
The newly inducted athletes will now be honored forever in Waco as they are added to the historic ranks of athletes to join the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.
