Valley football’s rich history influenced by ‘Gridiron Greats’
By Roy Hess, Staff Writer
Texans love their football. That’s a fact.
And here in South Texas, that statement stands most assuredly true.
On the border, along the southernmost tip of the Lone Star State, the game’s history dates back more than 100 years.
Thanks to an old article in The Brownsville Herald, we know the first football game in the Rio Grande Valley was played in Brownsville on Dec. 11, 1909, which was a Saturday. It was a day game since no lighted fields existed in those days.
The contest, played at a site later known as Tucker Field, matched Brownsville High and Kingsville High, and the visiting team won 11-5. At the time (at least in that game), touchdowns counted five points, not six.
Kingsville boasted the advantage of already having played one game, while it was the inaugural outing for the Brownsville boys, who did as well as they could, according to Ed Roark, whose account of the Valley’s first game appeared in The Herald on Dec. 13, 1909.
In his post-game story, Roark wrote of the Brownsville team: “When it is considered that some of the local players had never seen a football before this season and that they have had no scrubs to practice against, their showing was remarkably good.”
That was just the beginning of football in Brownsville and eventually in the Valley.
Following that initial contest, things could only get better, and of course, they did.
Scrimmaging against soldiers stationed at Fort Brown back in the decade of 1910-20 or thereabouts helped improve football in Brownsville as it took its first steps toward becoming what it is today. The sport is now a top attraction around the state at the high school level and beyond.
Yes, the game’s advancements since the early days have been many. The athletes now are bigger, faster, stronger and more skillful. The facilities have improved as well, including the addition of lighted fields and artificial turf. The coaches have come up with more intricate plays and newer techniques while continuing to find ways to motivate players to give their best on the field.
Throughout the game’s history there have been countless individuals and teams that stand out as influences making football what it is today in Brownsville and the surrounding area.
This summer, The Herald is focusing on some of those influential individuals along with some stellar teams in a series of Sunday stories under the banner of “Metro Area Gridiron Greats: Faces of Influence.”
The series kicks off today with an in-depth look at Hank Hollingsworth, a highly regarded broadcaster for four decades at KBOR 1600 AM radio. Hollingsworth called his share of memorable football games over the years before stepping away from the mic about 2000 to continue a teaching career at Porter that lasted until his retirement in 2014.
The stories to be published in the coming weeks will come mostly from the area’s football era starting in the 1960s and continuing to the modern day. Besides Hollingsworth, included in the series will be profiles of Joe Rodriguez, Tom Chavez, Leonel Garza, Tony Villarreal Sr. and Tony Villarreal Jr., Tommy Roberts, Billy Garza, the 1980 Pace Vikings with Roman Reed as their kicker and the 1969 Brownsville High Golden Eagles with Desi Najera as their quarterback.
It figures to be an enlightening experience for the ones writing the stories as well as those reading them. At least that’s what we hope. The goal is to shed some additional light on the rich history of football in our area and focus upon what a few select individuals have meant to the game.
Please join us on the journey.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess