Abner Haynes HOF push

[untcampbell]

Kevin Sherrington wrote a nice story today about Richard Pennington, currently based in South Korea, who is advocating Abner Haynes election into the college football HOF.

In the story, it says that NT has been ranked in the AP poll twice, both during the 1959 season while Mr. Haynes was working his magic in the backfield.

I thought that NT was ranked in the Fry years, that we were in the top 20 two years in a row and did not make a bowl in either year. I had heard that this, among other things like fan support, was the frustration that sent Coach Fry looking to Iowa. Can anyone enlighten me?

GMG

[GrandGreen]

UNT under Fry was top twenty in the coaches poll largely because of Fry's votes.  

[Eagle-96]

UNT finished the 1977 ranked 16th in the coaches poll and unranked in the AP Poll. They ranked 20 teams at the time.

[untjim1995]

http://www.cfb-history.com/2012/11/09/1977-college-football-polls-apupi/

What is really hilarious in this is that Kentucky (??) finished #6 in football by the AP voters---but was unranked in the Coaches Poll...

Edited January 11, 2016 by untjim1995

[greenjoe]

Please post as to where we can send letters and e-mails to the people responsible for making nominations to the Texas Sports HOF.

Abner Haynes is the Rosa Parks of college football at least in the south.  He needs to be included while he is living and we need to help.

Did you ever notice how well people speak of others after they're dead.  Let's do this now while Abner Haynes is able to attend his own induction.

 

GO MEAN GREEN

[VideoEagle]

11 hours ago, GrandGreen said:

UNT under Fry was top twenty in the coaches poll largely because of Fry's votes.  

This is very true! Fry got a vote and voted us pretty high. At the time, there were very few voters and a single voter could get someone into the Top 20 if they voted them high enough. Since only First place votes showed up, a coach could vote his team #2 or #3 without drawing a lot of attention and if the stars aligned correctly - the votes were split enough - that single vote could put a team in at 20 or maybe 19. Once you were IN the Top 20, then other coaches paid attention to if you won or lost. If you one, they tended to vote you to either stay at your position or maybe move up. In the 80s, more voters were added and coaches could get removed from being voters if they tried blatant manipulation, but there has always been some manipulation of the rankings. 

21 minutes ago, untjim1995 said:

http://www.cfb-history.com/2012/11/09/1977-college-football-polls-apupi/

What is really hilarious in this is that Kentucky (??) finished #6 in football by the AP voters---but was unranked in the Coaches Poll...

IIRC, the Coaches didn't include schools on probation, but the AP did. I'm not sure if that's what happened here. But the last five teams often were quite different between the two polls back then. 

[SilverEagle]

2 hours ago, greenjoe said:

Please post as to where we can send letters and e-mails to the people responsible for making nominations to the Texas Sports HOF.

Abner Haynes is the Rosa Parks of college football at least in the south.  He needs to be included while he is living and we need to help.

Did you ever notice how well people speak of others after they're dead.  Let's do this now while Abner Haynes is able to attend his own induction.

 

GO MEAN GREEN

 He was inducted into the Texas Sports HOF in 2007. Are we really talking about the National HOF?

I 

 

 

Name:  

Haynes, Abner

City:  

Denton

School:  

 

Sport:  

Football

Varsity Years:  

 

Year of Induction:  

 

Abner Haynes is one of the few athletes who was able to play his high school, college and professional football in North Texas. Haynes broke the color barrier at North Texas State (now the University of North Texas) in 1956 for Coach Odus Mitchell. As a starting running back in 1958 & 1959, he led North Texas to a 16-4-1 record while rushing for 1,864 career yards & 25 TDs. In 1960, Haynes earned Rookie of the Year honors with the AFL's Dallas Texans. That season he led league in rushing with 875 yards and averaged 15.4 yards in punt returns. Haynes would go on to set AFL records for TDs in a game (5), TDs in a season (19) and career TDs (46). In his eight professional seasons with the Dallas Texans (1960-1963), Kansas City Chiefs (1963-1964), Denver Broncos (1965-1966), Miami Dolphins (1967) & New York Jets (1967) he had 4,630 career rushing yards & 12,065 combined total yards. He is also a member of the North Texas Athletic Hall of Fame (1986) and the Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame (1991). Haynes has spent the last 15 years promoting Heroes of Football to benefit former pro football players who suffer from disabilities. Haynes is a member of the TSHOF Class of 2007.

Abner Haynes is one of the few athletes who was able to play his high school, college and professional football in North Texas. Haynes broke the color barrier at North Texas State (now the University of North Texas) in 1956 for Coach Odus Mitchell. As a starting running back in 1958 & 1959, he led North Texas to a 16-4-1 record while rushing for 1,864 career yards & 25 TDs. In 1960, Haynes earned Rookie of the Year honors with the AFL's Dallas Texans. That season he led league in rushing with 875 yards and averaged 15.4 yards in punt returns. Haynes would go on to set AFL records for TDs in a game (5), TDs in a season (19) and career TDs (46). In his eight professional seasons with the Dallas Texans (1960-1963), Kansas City Chiefs (1963-1964), Denver Broncos (1965-1966), Miami Dolphins (1967) & New York Jets (1967) he had 4,630 career rushing yards & 12,065 combined total yards. He is also a member of the North Texas Athletic Hall of Fame (1986) and the Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame (1991). Haynes has spent the last 15 years promoting Heroes of Football to benefit former pro football players who suffer from disabilities. Haynes is a member of the TSHOF Class of 2007.ner Haynes is one of the few athletes who was able to play his high school, college and professional football in North Texas. Haynes broke the color barrier at North Texas State (now the University of North Texas) in 1956 for Coach Odus Mitchell. As a starting running back in 1958 & 1959, he led North Texas to a 16-4-1 record while rushing for 1,864 career yards & 25 TDs. In 1960, Haynes earned Rookie of the Year honors with the AFL's Dallas Texans. That season he led league in rushing with 875 yards and averaged 15.4 yards in punt returns. Haynes would go on to set AFL records for TDs in a game (5), TDs in a season (19) and career TDs (46). In his eight professional seasons with the Dallas Texans (1960-1963), Kansas City Chiefs (1963-1964), Denver Broncos (1965-1966), Miami Dolphins (1967) & New York Jets (1967) he had 4,630 career rushing yards & 12,065 combined total yards. He is also a member of the North Texas Athletic Hall of Fame (1986) and the Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame (1991). Haynes has spent the last 15 years promoting Heroes of Football to benefit former pro football players who suffer from disabilities. Haynes is a member of the TSHOF Class of 2007.

 

Edited January 11, 2016 by SilverEagle

[untcampbell]

This article was specific to the College HOF.

I think it would be great if we could support Mr. Pennington's efforts (I believe he is a UT alum, by the way).

GMG

[SilverEagle]

Also, Rosa Parks is a bit of a stretch. Abner availed himself of an opportunity presented by the administration at North Texas. When all the state schools in Texas were ordered to admit black students, North Texas took it a step further and also allowed them to participate in athletics. I don't know when all the other state schools followed the NT lead (well, Texas did in the late 60's), but I do know that Abner Haynes was barred from staying at the team Hotel in Houston, when we were playing the Cougars in the late 50's. He had to stay on the train. So when the rest of the team heard about this, they stayed on the train as well.

Edited January 11, 2016 by SilverEagle

[Eagle-96]

3 minutes ago, SilverEagle said:

Also, Rosa Parks is a bit of a stretch. Abner availed himself of an opportunity presented by the administration at North Texas. When all the state schools in Texas were ordered to admit black students, North Texas took it a step further and also allowed them to participate in athletics. I don't know when all the other state schools followed the NT lead (well, Texas did in the late 60's), but I do know that Abner Haynes was barred from staying at the team Hotel in Houston in the late 50's. He had to stay on the train. So when the rest of the team heard about this, they stayed on the train as well.

OK, maybe better words would be:

Trailblazer

Inspiration

Role model

Courageous

 

 

[SilverEagle]

2 minutes ago, Eagle-96 said:

OK, maybe better words would be:

Trailblazer

Inspiration

Role model

Courageous

 

 

All good words.

[Eagle-96]

3 minutes ago, SilverEagle said:

All good words.

What a tough tough position to be in as a young man. Wouldn't wish those trials and tribulations on anyone. It takes a special person(and team) to stand up to that type of tyranny. I am proud he is associated with UNT.

[SilverEagle]

8 minutes ago, Eagle-96 said:

What a tough tough position to be in as a young man. Wouldn't wish those trials and tribulations on anyone. It takes a special person(and team) to stand up to that type of tyranny. I am proud he is associated with UNT.

True. There is a story that I read about his freshman year and they were playing Navarro....at Navarro. The Navarro fans got real aggressive and I think may have thrown some items at him. The team surrounded him (and King) when they were leaving so that they did not get attacked. 

And as inspirational as these stories are about our school. Abner was not allowed to stay in student housing on campus. He had to find accommodations off campus.  

[GrandGreen]

16 hours ago, GrandGreen said:

UNT under Fry was top twenty in the coaches poll largely because of Fry's votes.  

Absolutely the truth, and those that really followed the program in those days, know it.  

[greenjoe]

Yes....Sorry. National College Football HOF.  As far as how significant, I wonder if I at 18-19 would have been as focused ?  I have a great deal of respect for Abner and Leon King, a Haynes teammate.  Those 2 players didn't need a numeral for people to know who they were.  Friend and foe.  It seems to me that many kids today quit when somebody looks at them sideways.  Abner Haynes and Leon King are role models for all time. 

 

GO MEAN GREEN

[MeanGreenTexan]

I'm just here to learn from the old guys here.  I usually enjoy these kinds of threads, especially when @SilverEagle & @greenjoe get rolling.

Also, to advocate for any accolades possible for Mr. Haynes.

[foutsrouts]

17 minutes ago, greenjoe said:

Yes....Sorry. National College Football HOF.  As far as how significant, I wonder if I at 18-19 would have been as focused ?  I have a great deal of respect for Abner and Leon King, a Haynes teammate.  Those 2 players didn't need a numeral for people to know who they were.  Friend and foe.  It seems to me that many kids today quit when somebody looks at them sideways.  Abner Haynes and Leon King are role models for all time. 

 

GO MEAN GREEN

Agreed. I can only imagine how tough that must have been.

[oldguystudent]

1 hour ago, foutsrouts said:

Agreed. I can only imagine how tough that must have been.

I can only imagine what this message board would have had to say about it had it existed in 1956.  I suspect that many of the home crowd weren't too amicable either.  Denton still had segregated high schools until 1963.

[letsgiveacheer]

5 hours ago, GrandGreen said:

Absolutely the truth, and those that really followed the program in those days, know it.  

And the story continues as it was rumored that Fry voted San Diego State very high the week before we played them, putting them in the top 20. Of course we won, making it the only time we have beaten a ranked team.