Earl Campbell

by Asher Price

  People said I was too easy: Robertson, “It’s Bum and Tom.”

  I approached my first tackle: Frank Luska, “To Tackle Earl Was to Tackle a Superman,” Dallas Times Herald, Aug. 19, 1986.

  three-piece-suit football: Robertson, “It’s Bum and Tom.”

  One o’clock: Dale Robertson, “Dollars Make Sense to Oilers,” Houston Post, DRCF.

  There was a caravan: Author interview with Gregg Bingham, Jan. 2018.

  Perhaps they had in mind: Michael May, “The Freedom Files,” Texas Observer, Mar. 20, 2014, texasobserver.org/freedom-files; author correspondence with Michael May, May 2018.

  not welcome after sunset: James W. Loewen, Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism (New York: New Press, 2005); see also the associated website, sundown.tougaloo.edu/sundowntowns.php.

  “drive-through” county: Patricia J. Ruland, “Parks, Wildlife, and Racism,” Austin Chronicle, Aug. 10, 2012, austinchronicle.com/news/2012-08-10/parks-wildlife-and-racism/all.

  He bleeping ran over him and I’m glad that cat’s: Dale Robertson “LA Dumps Oilers,” Houston Post, Sept. 25, 1978, 1D.

  At times I’ve said: Frank Luska, “The Bruising Truth about Earl Campbell,” Dallas Times Herald, Sept. 4, 1982, C3.

  I got Earled: Dale Robertson, “We Just Want to Hold Him under a Mile,” Houston Post, Dec. 20, 1980, DRCF.

  can take his’n: Turan, “Bum Phillips.”

  could run for mayor: Dale Robertson, “Oilers Sack Miami 35–30,” Houston Post, Clipping Notebook 1977–78, DRCF.

  Less than a fifth: Andrew Wiese, Places of Their Own: African American Suburbanization in the Twentieth Century (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004), 210.

  when he asked Reuna’s father and My mother said: Demaret, “Campbell Eats Up Yards.”

  the world’s most air-conditioned city: “History of Air Conditioning in Houston,” cooldudeac.com/2014/05/19/history-of-air-conditioning-in-houston.

  One little thing, all by: Nell Zink, Mislaid (New York: HarperCollins, 2015), 133.

  The Campbells’ life fell: Demaret, “Campbell Eats Up Yards.”

  I always wanted the Rolls-Royce: Gram Gemoets, “Barbecue Man,” Forbes, June 6, 1994, 120.

  Earl isn’t going to waste: Newman, “Roots of Greatness,” 104.

  Que pasa?: Miller, Tyler Rose, 153–154.

  I’ve got a whole batch: Demaret, “Campbell Eats Up Yards.”

  In place of NIMBY: Robert Bullard, “The Mountains of Houston,” Cite 93 (Winter 2014), 28–33; quotation on 28.

  He began criticizing the Negroes: Plimpton, Paper Lion, 168–169.

  When you read about white athletes: Chris Ballard, “Mr. Everything,” Sports Illustrated, May 17, 2016, 35.

  new wealth and fame: John Maher, e-mail to author, June 2018.

  As the broader civil rights movement: Douglas Hartmann, Race, Culture, and the Revolt of the Black Athlete: The 1968 Olympic Protests and their Aftermath (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003), 241.

  As he had done in Tyler: Author interview with Earl Campbell, Feb. 2016.

  Earl could hit the wrong: Cox News Service, “Earl Looks Different to Foes,” Dec. 8, 1982.

  In Campbell’s rookie season: Dale Robertson, “Earl’s ‘Watching’ Out for Linemen,” Houston Post, Clipping Notebook Late April 1980 to mid-April 1981, DRCF.

  requests for about three hundred: Dale Robertson, “Bum Not about to Tinker with Earl’s Style,” Houston Post, Clipping Notebook 1978–79, DRCF.

  Be careful, all sportswriters: Dale Robertson, “Oilers’ Mauck Not in Mold of Low-Key Linemen,” Houston Post, Apr. 12, 1979, 6D.

  “Oiler Cannonball”: Mauck’s recording of the song can be heard on YouTube, youtube.com/watch?v=weizpfwqEEY.

  a chance for people of all races: Official website of Earl Campbell, web.archive.org/web/20110521084650/http://www.earlcampbell.com/EC/Bio_-_The_Oilers.html.

  Joe Greene, the Steelers’ famous and The ball didn’t feel like: Pirkle, Oiler Blues, 140.

  For all his talent and The behinder we got: Dale Robertson, “Steelers Derail Oiler Express 34–5,” Houston Post, Jan. 8, 1979, 1D, DRCF.

  During the summer of 1979 and some guy who ran a doughnut shop and Look, used to be I: Dale Robertson, “Camp Williams: Former Oilers Executive Helps Pro Football Players Shape Up,” Houston Post, Clipping Notebook 1978–79, DRCF.

  Across town at Gilley’s: Spong, “Urban Cowboy Turns 35”; author interview with Gator Conley, Feb. 2018.

  I don’t want you to fumble: Fowler, Loser Takes All, 54.

  Before Earl came along: Newman, “Roots of Greatness,” 97.

  I have never played and On film, it looks like guys: Dale Robertson, “Oilers Ride Colts 28–16,” Houston Chronicle, Oct. 15, 1979, D1.

  It may be the most noticed and We hate them: Dale Robertson, “Surging Oilers wa . . . [headline cut off],” Houston Post, Clipping Notebook 1978–79, DRCF.

  You think we’re obnoxious now: Pirkle, Oiler Blues, 139.

  the team up north: Ibid., 147.

  He’s the greatest running back: Luska, “Bruising Truth about Earl Campbell.”

  Remember how I told you: Dale Robertson, “Oilers Perform like Champs When Everyone Is Watching,” Houston Post, 1D, Clipping Notebook 1978–79, DRCF.

  Crocodiles like water: Dale Robertson, “Boots for Bum,” Houston Post, Clipping Notebook 1978–79, DRCF.

  We knew Earl would carry: Frank Luska, “To Many, Campbell Was Overused and Abused,” Dallas Times Herald, Aug. 20, 1986.

  Last year was a nightmare and I saw it: Pirkle, Oiler Blues, 156.

  One year ago we knocked: Turan, “Bum Phillips.”

  Well, I was hanging out: Cantrell’s rendition of “Bum’s Promise” can be heard on SoundCloud, soundcloud.com/tomcantrell/bums-promise.

  I’d live a lot longer: Pirkle, Oiler Blues, 167.

  Earl’s walking better: Phillips, Best of Bum. Helen Phillips once said of her husband: “You’ve heard of men dying with their boots on. Well, I think Bum was born with ’em on.”

  He runs with a lot: Robertson, “Bum Not about to Tinker.”

  If I ran that way: Dale Robertson, “Dorsett Utilizes His Talents,” Houston Post, Clipping Notebook 1978–79, DRCF.

  This perception of abuse: Miller, Tyler Rose, 157.

  It’s the hitter versus: “Campbell Attacks with Vigor,” New York Times, Nov. 23, 1980, sec. 5, 13.

  Many of y’all have questioned: Phillips, Best of Bum.

  He’s the kind of guy: Dale Robertson, “Workhorse: Oilers’ Game Plan Includes 25 Carries for Campbell,” Houston Post, Clipping Notebook 1978–79, DRCF.

  Earl Campbell is the best: Miller, Tyler Rose, 164.

  I never felt like he carried: Bum Phillips, in “A Football Life—Earl Campbell,” published by Online Documentaries on YouTube, Apr. 28, 2018, youtube.com/watch?v=vS4jMv-VuoM.

  the day cowboy chic ended: Ennis, “Conqueror Worm,” 124; also see Spong, “Urban Cowboy Turns 35,” and Craig Hilavaty, “Looking Back on the Houston Premiere of ‘Urban Cowboy’ 35 years later,” Houston Chronicle, May 20, 2015, chron.com/entertainment/slideshow/Looking-back-on-the-Houston-premiere-Urban-110153.php.

  It was as if Gilley’s: Ennis, “Conqueror Worm,” 126.

  You can make a career: Ibid., 125.

  And, well, once Travolta: Andy Warhol, The Andy Warhol Diaries, ed. Pat Hackett (New York: Warner, 1991), 292.

  I was madly stalking Houston: Henderson, Out of Control, 257.

  The peer pressure for me: Maraniss, “Dear Earl.”

  now controls and corrupts: Don Reese, “I’m Not Worth a Damn,” Sports Illustrated, June 14, 1982, 66.

  I wouldn’t think anybody: Dale Robertson, “Players May Shun Oiler Drug Consultant,” Houston Post, July 1982.

  The Washington Post reported in 1986: All quoted material in this paragraph comes from Gary Pomerantz, “Drug Problem in NFL Raises Racial Issues,” Washington Post, May 7, 1986, B1.
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  There’s two kinds of coaches: Phillips, Best of Bum.

  known to study his playbook: Author interview with Leon Beck, Feb. 2018.

  kindergarten level: Mark Newman, “DuPree, Casper Are Blue,” Miami Herald, Aug. 3, 1982, D3.

  something out of the 1940’s: William N. Wallace, “Raiders Found Flaw in Oilers’ Offense,” New York Times, Dec. 30, 1980, B11.

  It’s got to be a joke: William N. Wallace, “Phillips Is Discharged by Oilers after Controversy over Offense,” New York Times, Jan. 1, 1981, sec. 1, 25.

  football at the OK Corral: Dale Robertson, “NFL Record to Define Oiler’s Image,” Houston Post, Clipping Notebook July 14, 1982–June 20, 1983, DRCF.

  Campbell asked for a raise: Associated Press, “Campbell Is Seeking $1 Million a Season,” New York Times, Jan. 8, 1981, B15; Hal Lundgren, “Lines Drawn,” Houston Chronicle, Jan. 7, 1981, sec. 2, 1.

  Everything for Earl: Author interview with Witt Stewart, Oct. 2018.

  We won’t be blackmailed: Lundgren, “Lines Drawn.”

  We’re bigger than the Ayatollah: Author interview with Witt Stewart, Oct. 2018.

  still doesn’t have the security: Lundgren, “Lines Drawn.”

  who made $95,000 in 1980: UPI, “Average N.F.L. Salary is $90,102, Survey Says,” New York Times, Jan. 29, 1982, A22.

  Heroes don’t act that way: Robertson, “Same Old Earl.”

  The agency had infiltrated: Author interview with Witt Stewart, Oct. 2018.

  You want to make slaves: UPI, “Man Kills Son in Football Argument,” Jan. 8, 1981, upi.com/Archives/1981/01/08/Man-kills-son-in-football-argu-ment/6302347778000; UPI, “Doc Says Son’s Slaying during Football Spat Was Self-Defense,” July 15, 1981.

  Ultimately the Oilers held fast: AP, “Campbell, in Reverse, Says He Won’t Press Demands,” New York Times, June 4, 1981, D21.

  You taught him well: According to Stewart, Adams told him that Campbell demanded $50,000 as an appearance fee.

  the first woman to win: William K. Stevens, “The Houston That Was Loses Its Hold,” New York Times, Nov. 22, 1981, sec. 4, 5.

  Less than 150 years earlier: Howard Beeth and Cary D. Wintz, eds., Black Dixie: Afro-Texan History and Culture in Houston (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1992), 15.

  One member called them “oddwads”: William K. Stevens, “Houston Accepts New Political Force,” New York Times, Nov. 2, 1981, A16.

  The year of Whitmire’s run: Roxanna Asgarian, “Timeline: The History of HIV/AIDS in Houston,” Houstonia, Feb. 28, 2018, houstoniamag.com/articles/2018/2/28/hiv-aids-timeline-houston.

  city is the most diverse: Leah Binkovitz, “Within Houston’s Diversity, a Complicated Story Still Being Told,” Kinder Institute Research, Apr. 23, 2018, kinder.rice.edu/2018/04/19/within-houstons-diversity-complicat-ed-story-still-being-told.

  There’s room for diversity: William K. Stevens, “Woman in the News: Feminist Mayor for Houston,” New York Times, Nov. 19, 1981, A24.

  come out and fight: Sharon Herbaugh, “Mayoral Candidates Feud over Debate,” Associated Press, Nov. 14, 1981.

  Until recently she wore: Stevens, “Woman in the News.”

  I’m a mayor who: Ibid.

  What can we do to keep: Fowler, Loser Takes All, 153.

  The video was booed: “Oilers Summary,” Houston Chronicle, Sept. 17, 1991, Sports sec., 5.

  He never got the best: Luska, “Campbell Was Overused and Abused.”

  Yeah, I’m frustrated: Dale Robertson, “Frustration for Campbell,” Houston Post, n.d., DRCF.

  Up in New York, the NFL: Richard Sandomir, “Ed Garvey, who Took on the N.F.L. and then Conservatives, Dies at 76,” New York Times, Feb. 23, 2017, B15.

  I don’t understand how Garvey: Bill Brubaker, “Campbell Blames Garvey, Donlan for Long Strike,” Miami Herald, Oct. 12, 1982, C1.

  is a company whore: Allen Abel, “Strike Watchers Settle In for Siege,” Toronto Globe and Mail, Nov. 16, 1982.

  What really hurt was seeing: Dale Robertson, “Bethea: Push to Settle Hurt Players’ Position,” Houston Post, Clipping Notebook July 14, 1982–June 20, 1983, DRCF.

  the CBS affiliate in Houston: Pirkle, Oiler Blues, 179.

  In the I-formation: William N. Wallace, “For Campbell, It Is Not a Good Season,” New York Times, Oct. 28, 1981, B8.

  Coming out of the I and Earl set an NFL record and He isn’t the same Earl and I don’t think it’s and I really don’t know why and It gets harder all the time: Cox News Service, “Earl Looks Different to Foes,” Dec. 8, 1982.

  is only a shoddy imitation: Dale Robertson, “Campbell, Brazile Feel Heat,” Houston Post, 1C, Clipping Notebook July 14, 1982–June 20, 1983, DRCF.

  When the county judge who: Brad Buchholz, “Astrodome Recalls Texas of Yesteryear,” Cox News Service, Chicago Tribune, Oct. 3, 1999, C6.

  The nation’s drilling rig count: Colin Eaton, “1980s Oil Bust Left a Lasting Mark,” Houston Chronicle, Aug. 31, 2016, chron.com/local/history/econ-omy-business/article/The-1980s-oil-bust-left-lasting-mark-on-Hous-ton-9195222.php.

  A Houston dentist reported: Michael White, “Oil Our Yesterdays,” Guardian Weekly, April 13, 1986, 7.

  And by 1983, the mills: Barbara Canetti, “One of the Nation’s Largest Steel Mills Closing,” UPI, Jan. 26, 1984, upi.com/Archives/1984/01/26/One-of-nations-largest-steel-mills-closing/5550443941200.

  This came just as Gilley’s: Graves, “Urban Cowboy, 25 Years Later.”

  Federal agents raided Cutter Bill: Lawrence Wright, “Rex Cauble and the Cowboy Mafia,” Texas Monthly, Nov. 1980, 173.

  Earl, you didn’t get where: Robertson, “Campbell, Brazile Feel Heat.”

  The franchise’s management and coaches: Michael Janofsky, “Disenchantment behind Campbell Trade,” New York Times, Oct. 11, 1984, B17.

  the things I want to: Brad Buchholz, “Hundreds Greet Campbell at Auto Dealer’s Promotion,” Austin American-Statesman, July 22, 1981.

  you’re never gonna have: Author interview with Dale Robertson, Aug. 2017.

  Everything seemed right: Earl Campbell, The Earl Campbell Story: A Football Great’s Battle with Panic Disorder, with John Ruane (Toronto: ECW, 1999), 69.

  you gave them a good fight: Kirk Bohls, “God Only Made One Earl,” Austin American-Statesman, Aug. 9, 1987, D8.

  Everything changes except what: Associated Press, Aug. 18, 1986, no byline or headline.

  10,000 yards weren’t going to and If I had it to do all over: Bohls, “God Only Made One Earl.”

  Epilogue

  Interviewees for this section included Sam Biscoe (summer 2017), Gregg Bingham (Jan. 2018), Gary Bledsoe (July 2017), Verlin Callahan (Nov. 2018), Earl Campbell (Dec. 2015, Feb. 2016), Herbert Campbell (Dec. 2015), Ben Carrington (Jan. 2017), Cedric Golden (May 2017), Rick Ingraham (July 2017), Caesar Martinez (Oct. 2016), Jenna Hays McEachern (Nov. 2017), Alberta Phillips (May 2018), and Witt Stewart (Oct. 2018). Quoted material from these interviews is generally not documented further in the notes.

  I never felt so bad and Earl has done far more and I think at this point and There had been several racist: Maraniss, “Dear Earl: Campbell Runs On, Only Now He’s Carrying Advice,” Washington Post, June 12, 1990.

  not academically competitive with whites and I think that the University: Brian Davis, “Third and Long: Earl Campbell Continues to Recruit Minority Athletes despite Anger at Graglia’s Comments,” Daily Texan, Oct. 9, 1997.

  Ahead of a home game: Michael Hall, “We Love the Westlake Chaps. No, Really,” Texas Monthly, Oct. 1989, 116.

  It was at about this time: Details of Campbell’s worsening medical problems come from the following sources: William Nack, “The Wrecking Yard,” Sports Illustrated, May 7, 2001, 78; Jan Reid, “Earl Campbell,” Texas Monthly, Sept. 2001, 107; and Brad Buchholz, “Rock of Ages,” Austin American-Statesman, Dec. 9, 2007.

  I stay focused and prayerful and biggest, baddest player: Chip Brown, “Toll of Glory: Earl Campbell Paying Price for Punishing Running St
yle,” Dallas Morning News, June 30, 2007, 1C.

  It reached the point: “Earl Campbell: Addiction to Painkillers and His Campaign to Help Others,” ThePostGame (blog), Oct. 29, 2013, thepostgame.com/blog/men-action/201310/earl-campbell-fighting-painkiller-addic-tion-football-vicodin-oxycontin-spinal; see also Jim Vertuno, “Heisman Winner, Hall of Fame Player Campbell Says NFL Should Do More,” Associated Press, June 30, 2017, and Dave Anderson, “Football Legend Speaks Out about Toughest Opponent,” Westlake (TX) Picayune, Apr. 18, 2013, statesman.com/news/local/football-legend-speaks-out-about-toughest-opponent/cUGvJc41tcDxBz84PPhTOI.

  He wasn’t communicating clearly: Stan Jones, in “A Football Life—Earl Campbell,” published by Online Documentaries on YouTube, Apr. 28, 2018, youtube.com/watch?v=vS4jMv-VuoM.

  Do whatever you want to: Campbell’s rehab journey is told in David Barron, “Wistful Thinking: Campbell One of NFL’s Greats Who Never Got to the Big Game,” Houston Chronicle, Jan. 30, 2017, C1, and Barron, “Earl Campbell: UT Icon Proud of Sobriety, Royal’s Guidance,” Houston Chronicle, Nov. 10, 2012, Sports, 4; see also, Bucky Gleason, “Pushing Drugs in the Locker Room,” Buffalo News, Sept. 7, 2014, A1; Melissa Rohlin, “Football: Taking on the Pain, Campbell Tells Tale of Alcohol, Pill Addictions,” San Antonio Express-News, May 20, 2016, C1; and Michael Barnes, “Longhorn Legends Praised off the Field,” Austin American-Statesman, Apr. 4, 2013, D1.

  The most serious injury: Brown, “Toll of Glory.”

  Jack Tatum, nicknamed the Assassin: Lee Jenkins, “Life’s Roses (and Sausages),” Sports Illustrated, July 9, 2012, 70.

  I guarantee I have CTE: Rob Trucks, “Former NFL Player: I Guarantee I Have CTE,” Deadspin, Jan. 28, 2014, deadspin.com/former-nfl-player-i-guarantee-i-have-cte-1509813582.

  I will 100 percent tell you: Author interview with Gregg Bingham, Jan. 2018.

  I can’t play because I’ve: Josh Peter, “Campbell’s Hard Knocks,” USA Today, Jan. 31, 2017, 1C.

  Sometimes I tell my wife: Nack, “The Wrecking Yard,” 78.

  Ann Campbell died, age eighty-five: Tyler Morning Telegraph, Aug. 7, 2009, obituaries.tylerpaper.com/obituaries/tylerpaper/obituary.aspx-?n=ann-l-campbell&pid=131030365&fhid=6714.