Tulsa World: OU's Brahaney to be inducted

TULSA WORLD HOMEPAGE | Wednesday, February 10, 2010 | WIRELESS

OU | OSU | TU | ORU | HIGH SCHOOLS | COLLEGE FOOTBALL | COLLEGE BASKETBALL | NFL | FANTASY | OUTDOORS | GOLF | PROS | ALL

HOMEPAGES

SPORTS EXTRA BLOGS

		Sports Editor Mike Strain
		Sports Columnist Dave Sittler
		The Picker Entertaining & Infuriating

LOCAL PROS

ALL SPORTS

PHOTOS & VIDEOS

OUTDOORS

FIND A STORY

Search the World's archives

EMAIL ALERTS

SOCIAL MEDIA

RSS FEEDS

CONTACT US

BUY PHOTOS & PAGES

Buy a published photo by clicking the "Order this Picture" link on the photo. For a full-color page reprint, call 732-8198 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday or order online.

TULSA WORLD

ADVERTISE ON SPORTS EXTRA

Learn more about the site.

Newspaper View Print this story

Bookmark

OU's Brahaney to be inducted
He anchored the line as OU switched to wishbone.

By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer
Published: 7/19/2008 2:05 AM
Last Modified: 7/19/2008 2:31 AM

He anchored the line as OU switched to wishbone.

Standing on the steps of the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind., Tom Brahaney's decision is vindicated.

Baseball was great and it was where the money was but football was better.

"I probably chose the right sport," Brahaney said.

No doubt. The soft-spoken Texan who became a two-time All-American center at the University of Oklahoma will be enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame on Saturday, a permanent member of the game's elite.

Brahaney played at OU from 1970-72 and was a three-year starter. He made All-American in 1971 and '72. Beyond personal accolades, Brahaney's legacy is in his timing. He anchored the OU line as the Sooners under Chuck Fairbanks and Barry Switzer switched offenses from the Houston veer to the wishbone. He helped set offensive records that will likely stand forever. He played a key role in college football's Game of the Century. And he helped an OU turnaround in which the Sooners left behind a decade of mediocrity for a decade of playing for national championships. He also played nine seasons in the NFL for the St. Louis Cardinals.

"It worked out pretty good, I guess," he said.

Switzer called Brahaney "a good athlete, a leader, intelligent, a sharp, smart kid, and what really proves he was a hell of a football player, he played eight or nine years of pro football even though we never threw the football in college."

He learned of his hall of fame induction 14 months ago, but he's still overwhelmed.

"My wife says I'm the world's worst at describing things, but it's really something," Brahaney said. "It's such a high honor to be doing this, representing my fans and coaches and teammates."

Today, Brahaney, 56, continues his grandfather's oil drilling business in Midland, Texas. But as a youth, he had to make some tough decisions.

First: baseball or football.

Seems Brahaney as a kid was quite the slugger. His grandfather was a New York Yankees fan and often secured drilling contracts from Texas oilmen by flying them to games at Yankee Stadium. So when little Tom started smacking balls out of the yard, his grandfather rewarded him with cash.

"After an all-star game, I hit two one night, I don't remember what I got, but probably $10, which was a lot back then," Brahaney said. "He was a real baseball fan."

Brahaney said he always preferred football.

"We used to play football in the yard when I was a small child until our mothers would have to drag us off the yard, take us in screaming," he said.

Brahaney's other tough choice came a few years later: OU or Texas.

Local boosters put constant pressure on him to don the burnt orange, which he didn't like. He said he knew he could go to OU and play early. Also, he'd be playing with famed Texas schoolboy quarterback Jack Mildren and a dozen or so other Texans, including Houston running back Greg Pruitt also a future hall of famer. And Brahaney was already familiar with the Sooners.

"My mother was from Tulsa," he said. "I actually was in Tulsa quite a bit when I was a small child. My mother's side of the family is from Oklahoma, so I was kind of always a long-range fan. I still have quite a few family there."

The Sooners won three national championships in the '50s, but during the '60s went just 62-40-2 and claimed two conference crowns. Texas, meanwhile, won the national title in 1970, Brahaney's first year in college.

Still, OU finished No. 2 in 1971 and '72, going 11-1 both seasons.

"That's the only shame to me about the whole deal," Brahaney said. "You want to say you went to Oklahoma to win a national championship, but heck, Oklahoma hadn't done very well when I went there. We just really turned things around when we went to the wishbone in '70 and Jack Mildren had the really great year in '71. We just had a group of guys that really turned them around."

John E. Hoover 581-8384
john.hoover@tulsaworld.com By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer

Newspaper View Print this story

Bookmark

COMMENTS

Add your comment

Show: Most Recent Comment First

0 comments have been made for this team so far. Tell us what you think below!

Reporting Comments

If you see a comment that violates our terms and conditions, please help us by clicking the "Report this Comment" link next to a comment. That will alert the web staff to review the comment. Thank you. -- Web Editor Jason Collington

Add Your Comment
In order to post a comment on this article, you must sign in to Tulsaworld.com. If you do not have a site account, you can create an account for free.