On Sunday morning after church a couple of men including FH Lyons and Tom Fowler were talking about football and Henry Moore’s name came up.
For another generation, Henry and his brother Billy were sporting icons.
The term “badass” was probably created for the way they played football. Henry was a two-time All Southwest Conference player for the Arkansas Razorbacks from 1953-1955, and Billy was an All-American quarterback from 1960-1962.
Growing up, they attended the Baptist Tabernacle and played what is now Little Rock Central High.
After growing up, they occasionally visited their parents, and worshiping with razorbacks always caused a surge of excitement.
Her sister Judy was in my class and was pestered with questions about her brothers by this sports-loving kid.
One of Henry’s sons-in-law, Dr. Doug Stokes, is part of my Wednesday men’s group.
Henry was part of the 25 Little Pigs and captained the team with Preston Carpenter during his senior season.
He was part of an NFL championship team with the New York Giants and scored a touchdown when recovering a blocked punt in the end zone.
He is possibly the only player to have played for three coaching legends: Wilson Mathews, Frank Broyles and Vince Lombardi. He was the leading rusher for the Razorbacks in the 1950s and twice set school records.
Back then, playing football was at best a part-time job. Henry learned in the offseason that he was good at selling, and after two years in the NFL, he came home and started selling. He was successful, whether it was stocks, building materials or real estate.
Henry never met a stranger, and he could entertain his many friends for hours with his storytelling.
Henry hasn’t been well for the past few days and last Sunday he got his wings. There is no doubt that God needed a hardened football player who was always a great American.
The visit will take place this Friday from 5pm to 7pm at the Chapel of the Roller-Chenal Funeral Home on Chenal Parkway in Little Rock.
. . .
The Big 12 has released its football schedule for this fall and includes the four new teams plus Oklahoma and Texas, but a source says all have been told to postpone the schedule for next year.
Oklahoma and Texas are officially scheduled to join the SEC in 2025, but all signs point to ESPN wanting to take the step a year early.
The SEC, its coaches and athletic directors have not yet decided whether they will play in divisions or pods when it becomes a 16-team league.
If they go with four pods they would probably be: (A) Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri; (B) LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi and Texas A&M; (C) Florida, South Carolina, Auburn and Georgia; (D) Alabama, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Kentucky.
Or maybe that’s too logical.
Make sure Auburn and Alabama are separated no matter which way they go.
. . .
Many eyes turn to Pro Football Hall of Fame defenseman Deion Sanders, who coached Jackson State to a 27-6 record in three seasons, and what he has already done in Colorado.
He signed Freshman Recruitment Class #29 and Transfer Class #4.
Colorado has not had a top-30 recruiting class since 2008 and has only qualified for the Bowl twice during that time.
In addition to getting better players, Sanders hired several top-notch assistants.
He did all of that in less than two months on the job, so there’s little doubt he’ll change the landscape of the Pac-12 and maybe all of college football.
Name, image and likeness and the transfer portal are two things that he has fully embraced.
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