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against rivals Texas, Baylor, Texas A&M, and TCU saw the
Mustangs earn the conference title in often dramatic fashion. Once LeVias demonstrated his ability on and off the field, Darrell Royal, head coach at conference power Texas, quipped that LeVias no longer looked too small. Speaking with LeVias' high school coach, Royal said, "Well, he didn't sound very big then when you described him, but he looks plenty big to me now." Texas had passed over LeVias, not only due to his size but because the Longhorns would not integrate their athletic teams until after being named consensus National Champions in 1969. LeVias wore the number 23 for
313:. LeVias had over a hundred scholarship offers, but none from Grambling, Alcorn St., Southern, Prairie View, or any of the other traditional historically black college football powers he expected to play for. He was deemed too small by those schools to be offered a football scholarship. Coach Fry saw in LeVias the character, academic potential, and skill that would be needed to successfully integrate the Southwest Conference. LeVias had to first win over his freshman football teammates, and it became one of his biggest challenges for this civil rights pioneer. His success, on and off the field, led to a highly anticipated
417:, who pretended to be Levias in order to briefly get onto a minor league baseball team, and later made several credit card purchase in Levias' name. The physicality of the pro game wore on LeVias, who famously remarked, "As the season progresses I get lighter, faster and more afraid." Well versed in avoiding the measuring tape as well as bigger defensive players, one scout claimed to have measured LeVias at 5'8", 163. The pro game eventually became unappealing to LeVias, who already prepared for life after football, working for the
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debut in 1966; he quickly became one of the most exciting players in the nation, leading the
Mustangs to a conference championship. His first year on the varsity squad LeVias led SMU to their first Cotton Bowl appearance since Heisman winner Doak Walker almost two decades earlier. LeVias's touchdowns
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as a senior. He twice led the league in receiving and held every career record when his three varsity seasons ended, including the single game mark for reception yardage (when he caught 8 passes for 213 yards against North
Carolina State in 1968.) LeVias ended his career with a TD catch in SMU's
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In 2008, HBO produced a documentary, "Breaking the Huddle: The
Integration of College Football", which highlighted Coach Hayden Fry's and Jerry LeVias's struggles while they integrated the Southwest Conference. This struggle was placed amongst the context of other efforts across the nation to
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itself was still not fully integrated. Despite the unconditional support from Fry, LeVias was still a frequent target and recalled that he once overheard an alumnus telling Fry that he would withdraw his support from the university if Fry continued playing LeVias.
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noted in their coverage of the successful pro football rookie class of 1969, and was the 1969 rookie of the year. LeVias was responsible for almost half of the Oilers' yardage in 1970. Prior to the start of the 1971 season, Levias was victimized by con man
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desegregate college football. The first
African American to ever play in a football game in the SWC was John Hill Westbrook from Baylor University on September 10, 1966, vs. Syracuse University; LeVias's first game was a week later vs. Illinois.
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scintillating victory over the
Oklahoma Sooners in the 1968 Bluebonnet Bowl and followed it as the MVP of the Senior Bowl. On top of these achievements on the field, LeVias was an Academic All-American his senior year.
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there. LeVias was listed as 5'9" and 177 pounds (he actually measured closer to 5'7" and 140 pounds out of high school) but made up for his size with great speed.
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After his career ended, LeVias became a businessman. In 1971, he was one of 16 pro footballers given the keys to the city of
Beaumont. He was inducted into the
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told the story of the integration of the
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oil company and having a partnership in a
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every morning. At that time, he was one of the few black students at SMU and
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Breaking the Ice: The Racial
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LeVias married his long-time partner, Janice, in 2009.
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273:and second African American football player in the
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406:LeVias was an immediate hit with the Oilers, as
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621:Career statistics and player information from
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121: / round: 2 / pick: 40
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663:1968 College Football All-America Team
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383:, where he was selected to the 1969
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528:"Dr. King meeting lasts a lifetime"
494:Sherrington, Kevin (7 July 2016) .
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45:Personal information
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534:. 21 February 2014.
508:on 28 December 2018
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393:San Diego Chargers
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253:(NFL). He played
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737:George Kunz
720:Ted Kwalick
696:Leroy Keyes
349:All-America
291:quarterback
142:(1971–1974)
136:(1969–1970)
1040:Categories
1025:Hank Autry
1012:Roy Reeves
965:Roy Gerela
930:selections
862:Jake Scott
804:Chuck Kyle
788:Joe Greene
753:Jim Barnes
729:Dave Foley
512:30 October
463:References
311:Hayden Fry
281:Early life
249:(AFL) and
166:Consensus
115:NFL draft:
100:(Beaumont)
56:1946-09-05
30:No. 23, 25
1002:Terry May
994:Joe Pryor
990:Ed Watson
878:Al Worley
828:John Zook
437:in 2003.
375:with the
35:Position:
820:Ed White
451:See also
320:Psalm 23
285:Born in
257:for the
239:football
105:College:
779:Defense
671:Offense
623:NFL.com
613:at the
315:varsity
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81:Weight:
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337:Dallas
163:(1969)
98:Hebert
68:, U.S.
50:Born:
574:ISBN
532:ESPN
514:2016
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397:1971
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211:PFR
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109:SMU
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