NHS Grad Flirted With Heisman

by Bill Spencer

Article Date: December 2005

Over the weekend, we saw the Heisman Trophy given to Reggie Bush of USC.  Supposedly, he is the best college football player in the world as a result of the voting. The three nominees Bush, Young, and Leinart, are big guys with tremendous talents.  All this hoopla reminded me of my old Sunday School Teacher, Jack Crain.  Jack was the antithesis of hoopla.

Jack Crain made a run for the Heisman Trophy in 1941.  He was certainly one of the top college football players in the nation. He came out of Nocona in 1938, after a phenomenal, record setting high school performance, and headed south to the University of Texas.  Coach Bible credits Jack with bringing the UT Football program out of the doldrums into national prominence.

However, in 1963, "Jack," as the boys in my Sunday School Class called him was unknown to us as a national celebrity.  We knew that he was a powerful man, both in personality and in physical demeanor.  He taught the lesson with a raspy, low pitched monotone voice, but as we stood to end the session with a prayer, we could clearly see that he was not a tall man.  One sports writer once described him as stocky.

Much later, I learned about all the scoring records that Jack put in the books at UT.  Many of them still stand today.  Jack caught the nations attention in 1938, when he single-handedly brought the underdog Longhorns from behind to beat the Arkansas Razorbacks.  Jack ran a punt back for a touchdown, caught the game winning touchdown, and kicked the extra point.

Sports writers say the Jack was fast, and hard to lay a hand on.  His playing weight never exceeded 155 pounds.  Writers called him "Jackrabbit" because of his quickness.  Jack excelled on both offense as well as defense.  He still holds a record at UT for the most yards on an interception.

In 1942, the national press was watching his every move.  UT was not a powerhouse, so naturally Jack did not accumulate the offensive rushing statistics that a Reggie Bush would collect with a top team like USC.  Consequently, Jack finished the final Heisman voting at 10th place.

If Jack were here today, his successful college career could have catapulted him in to professional football.  He may have lived the life of a celebrity.  In reality, Jack entered the Navy after college because this was the beginning of World War II.  Afterwards he came home to Nocona, worked a farm and taught Sunday School.

No, there was no hoopla surrounding Jack Crain.  However, if you ever shook his hand, you might feel your knuckles crack.  And if you ever looked in his eyes, you would recognize a true man on the other end of that glance.