Been waiting for those two to chime in: I'm proud of that song My thoughts exactly. Thank you, Ricky...
Very nice. Maybe these younger guys can understand that Earl and Ricky are not just two of the greatest Longhorns ever, they are also older and wiser and able to put these things into their proper historical perspective.
CAMPBELL-WILLIAMS FIELD DEDICATION • At the request of the Jamail family, Joe Jamail Field has been renamed in honor of Longhorn Legends and Heisman Trophy winners Earl Campbell (1974-77) and Ricky Williams (1995-98). • Campbell, the famed "Tyler Rose," holds a special place in The University of Texas and state of Texas' football history. As a senior at UT in 1977, Campbell became the first Longhorn to win the Heisman Trophy after he rushed for 1,744 yards – a Southwest Conference record that stood for 16 years – and 19 touchdowns. He led the nation in rushing and scoring, and posted a pair of 200-yard games on the road against Texas A&M (222 yards) and SMU (213 yards). Campbell also set a Texas record for 100-yard rushing games that season (10). • Williams, a San Diego native, completed his UT career with 21 NCAA and 46 school records under his name en route to becoming Texas' second Heisman Trophy winner in 1998. He was a three-time first-team all-conference pick, a two-time Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year and only the second player to twice win the Doak Walker Award (nation's top running back). Williams' career culminated in his final home game, on the field now named in his honor, when he surpassed Tony Dorsett's 22-year-old NCAA rushing record. • The field at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium was originally named after Joe Jamail in 1997 to honor the lifelong Longhorn's immense contributions to The University of Texas' athletic department.
Am I the only one who thinks it is a sad state of affairs that these 2 Heisman winners need to come out publicly to support the school's alma mater?
I always thought once RW, EC and VY spoke about this, it might change the minds of some of the UT crusaders. Hoping this has the same effect that the change leaders on the team are asking for.. i.e. listening. Look I can’t comment intelligently on statues or flags or renaming buildings- fine if that moves us along, I’m good. But claiming The Eyes is a racist Song makes me question the maturity and truth behind trying to ban it. There is a line for me. And that line is this. Hey, didn’t the South use cannons in the civil war? There goes Old Smokey now replaced with a pop gun with a cork on a string.
Because the song has roots that go back to the 1800’s, which is apparently the most racist century of all time (despite the northern states banning slavery soon after the revolution war and then fighting to end it 75 years later; further many nations outlawed slavery during the 1800’s).
In Defense of the young kids misunderstanding this song. They grew up hearing things about racism we never heard growing up. That word was hijacked in the last 20 years or so. My kids laugh about it and call everything racist around our house. But it’s a joke. To many generation z members it’s not a joke. They don’t know better. Maybe Earl and Ricky can help a little.
Maybe these young folks are smarter than you think. I am pretty sure they are. Ever actually listened to them? Maybe you should all open your minds a bit and give it a try.
I've stood behind the players for the most part. But I think they misunderstood about the song. It's not racist unless you take the "eyes are upon you, you cannot get away" as pertaining to slaves. Which I don't believe it does. Yes, in the early 1900s some students sang it while wearing black face in a minstrel style show. But what I read was they were actually making fun of the racist school president at the time. I think the song part of all this will fade away over the year and for sure by next year.
I happen to agree, but there are admittedly some unfortunate connotations related to the song (no need to repeat those here). Taken together, I can see how someone might have a problem with it, but Ricky’s point is that for those individuals the song can be repurposed with new meaning. And I think that argument carries a lot more weight when it comes from Ricky and Earl, at least for this generation of players.
I started public school shortly after desegregation (early 70’s). I always wondered what the race hustlers would do when people who have actually seen racist actions in society are no longer around (or too old to protest). I think I have my answer: make up **** to indoctrinate the millennials and gen z folks. Pretty amazing the race hustlers are using a song written over 100 years ago to demonstrate racism in society.
Even that line you quote, I have yet to see any historical reference to that being about slaves. At the time the university was 100% White. The Eyes of Texas are upon Whites (at that point) so there can't be any serious slave connotation implied. "The eyes of the south are upon you" may have been a line that Lee used at Washington University, but that was after the war when Lee was committed to the reunification of the nation. Unless there is historical evidence that his use of that line was a reference to slavery, I still don't get the association. The university itself is drenched in historical racism. These players should be much more upset at UT and everything about it, than a song that wasn't written to disparage Blacks at all. Mistrel shows were common place. Its not an Eyes of Texas thing. It just happened to be performed at one.
If The Eyes can't be sung because of racism, then the Universities of Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Texas A&M, North Carolina (all of the them), South Carolina, Clemson, Ole Miss, Mississippi St, LSU, and all the others that were created in former Confederate states should be shut down. No more classes. Moreso, all these States should be shut down and not exist anymore. We could all be annexed by California, Oregon and New York. The US would be way better off right?
I thought it was telling that when EOT was played after the game, no one stopped to sing it. That says more than anything about the new realities.
I did actually, but the problem is boneheads putting political topics on the sports page. I just responded to what was already being discussed.
The band was not present and a recording of the song began playing while the teams were still meeting at the center of the field. They didn't give them a chance to group somewhere.
Yes, the reporter asked him after the game and he said it started playing while they were greeting the other team and there was nothing to it.
Well he is certainly right about that. As we saw with the players “there was nothing to it”. Sarcasm intended.
good that this was moved over. The decision to rename the field was entirely political expedience so it is proper that we can discuss it in the political forum. This decision was BS. It was not done to honor RW/EC, it was done to appease a bunch of brats, and Hartzell needs to go. RW/EC have already been honored in so many ways and so many times by this fanbase and this university. Names everywhere, make-believe-jobs from the Athletics Dept, statues, etc. They have already received way more honor than running a football ever warranted. I'm not dogging EC/RW either. I've only had a couple of interactions with them but I've never experienced or heard any one have negative things to say about them. They both seem to be stand up guys and they were certainly awesome RB's. But enough is enough....and they've had enough honors. Here's a big "what if" for you.... What if our crew of Heisman winners also included a couple of white guys? Would we have named the field after all of them? I doubt it. This was a knee jerk, half-***, save-face maneuver precipitated by Herman's BS and our administrations lack of backbone. I also think it is a bit ironic that the way we chose to "honor" them reinforces the stereotype that black men are basically good for athletics and entertainment.