Barrier Busting - Part II

35 Years Ago, SMU’s Wesson Followed LeVias’ Path

DALLAS - SMU All-American receiver Jerry LeVias is well-known as the Southwest Conference’s first black scholarship athlete. Noteworthy, but perhaps less known, is that five years after LeVias’ career ended in 1968, SMU’s Ricky Wesson toppled another prevalent racial roadblock.

Wesson (1973-76) was the first SMU quarterback to lead the team in both rushing and passing yardage in one season. Photo credit: SMU Athletics

Wesson, of Dallas South Oak Cliff High, became the SMU’s first black starting quarterback with he stepped on the field in Lubbock to face Texas Tech in 1973.

But Wesson didn’t know it. A friend told him of the milestone after the game.

“I didn’t know when I went [to SMU] that I was going to be the first black quarterback in the school,” said Wesson, 52, this week near the SMU campus.

“I didn’t go there with the intention of being that. I had no idea.”

Wesson started three games in ‘73, when senior Keith Bobo was injured, and started the next three years.

Wesson ran the Mustangs’ powerful Wishbone offense for head coach Dave Smith until Ron Meyer ushered in the pro set for Wesson’s senior year.

“He was a little package of dynamite,” said Smith, 75, by phone from Granbury, Texas.

“He had such quickness and intelligence, he could learn defenses and learn the reads that are necessary to make [the Wishbone] successful. He just picked it up like a natural.”

“[Wesson] was the bell cow, as far as a leader,” Meyer, 67, said by phone. “He was a tremendous little athlete.”

Double-Threat

Wesson was SMU’s total offense leader three years in a row, a feat matched only by quarterbacks Don Meredith, Chuck Hixson and Mike Romo. He’s the only Mustang quarterback with five career 100-yard rushing games.

In ’74, Wesson led the SWC in total offense (1,573 yards/143 ypg) and passing touchdowns (9). A true double-threat, Wesson was SMU’s first quarterback to lead the team in passing and rushing in one season.

SMU ran the ‘Bone well, averaging 283 yards per game on the ground for three years - one of the best marks in the country. “We had such a rushing attack that the play-action pass … was wide open,” Wesson said.

Wesson’s 80-yard play-action bomb to Freeman Johns against West Virginia in ’75 remains tied for the sixth longest pass play in SMU history. “Some people say that I didn’t throw the ball well, but I beg to differ,” Wesson said.

Wesson had talented receivers sprinkled throughout his career: Emanuel Tolbert, (SMU’s all-time leader in career yards and touchdowns), Oscar Roan, Kenny Harrison, Robert Fisher and Johns.

Ricky Wesson, 52, led the Southwest Conference in total offense and touchdown passes in 1974.

The Mustangs finished 6-4-1, fourth in the league, in ’73 and ’74, tying Arkansas both years, before falling to 4-7 and 3-8, respectively, the next two years.

SMU had hosses then, just not enough of them. Several players went pro, including all of the receivers listed above, Louie Kelcher, Henry Sheppard, Arthur Whittington, Wayne Morris, and Wesson.

“We had a pretty good team of starters,” Wesson said. “We didn’t have much depth for backups. We could play with anybody for a half.”

As a pro, Wesson played one season for the Kansas City Chiefs, then two years with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Canada. After his playing career, Wesson returned to SMU and completed his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. He’s worked for the United States Postal Service for 22 years and lives in Dallas.

Wesson’s twin sons, Tristan and Trenton, starred on the gridiron at Episcopal School of Dallas and will graduate in May. His daughter, Rickyl, graduated from Texas Tech last year. Another son, Damian Hill, went to Florida.

‘Social Issues’

“There were some bittersweet times,” Wesson said of his SMU days. “I enjoyed the college experience. I don’t care where a person goes, college life is a totally different experience.”

“But there were some social issues that weren’t quite as conducive to a black man or a black woman. So we had some things to deal with.”

Of the black quarterback issue, Wesson said, “It wasn’t talked about amongst the players. SMU never made a big deal about it and, really, the community never did either.”

Still, he said, he felt he needed to show he was “just as intelligent as the next guy,” as there were those who thought blacks couldn’t handle the position.

Wesson has met LeVias. “He’s a great, great guy,” Wesson said. “He’s a character. I can understand why he was chosen – and I’m going to say he was chosen by God to be the first black [scholarship athlete] in the Southwest Conference and at SMU.”

Heroes

Growing up, Wesson’s quarterback heroes were polar opposites: Joe Namath and Johnny Unitas. “My early years at SOC, before I was on the varsity, I went out on the field in a fur coat and white high-top Johnny Unitas shoes. I was Joe Willy Namath Unitas.”

At SOC, Wesson played a little of everything - quarterback, running back, receiver - but was perhaps best known as a shutdown corner. To this day, Wesson said, old friends compare him to Deion Sanders.

Wesson said he planned to play for Oklahoma until Sooners head coach Chuck Fairbanks took the New England Patriots job. “I was kind of left dangling,” Wesson said. “Wayne Morris and I were teammates at SOC and his brother talked me into going to SMU.”

Wesson was exposed to the Wishbone at SOC. “My junior year … OU came down to the school and had big influence on our coaches and we changed to the Wishbone,” he said.

“It ended up being a fortunate situation for me.”

Highlights

Wesson called upset wins over Texas A&M in ’74 and Arkansas in ’76 the highlights of his SMU career.

The Mustangs dumped the No. 5 Aggies, 18-14, on a damp, chilly afternoon at the Cotton Bowl. “We felt we could always play with anybody,” Wesson said. “It was one of those days that we played well defensively and put enough points on the board offensively.”

Noseguard Kelcher had 24 tackles, earning national player of the week honors.

Wesson’s 20-yard touchdown run put SMU up, 16-0, before A&M responded. Then, with a late 16-14 lead, Steve Morton’s quarterback sack in the end zone gave the Mustangs the final margin of victory.

“That was a nice game,” said Coach Smith, who played at A&M. “I was always anxious to have a good game [against them.] We were just tickled to death to win that day.”

Arkansas, with bowl dreams aplenty in ‘76, met 2-8 SMU in Shreveport for Wesson’s final game for SMU. It was maybe his best. The 15-point underdog Mustangs surprised the Hogs, 35-31, and Arkansas never recovered, losing its final two games.

Wesson threw for four touchdowns, (tying the SMU record at the time), rushed for 80 yards and picked off a pass. Said Meyer, “[Arkansas] had the ball at the end and I put him in as safety. That’s what I thought of his … athletic ability.”

Whittington had a 92-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in that one.

‘Horns Prevail

File this under heartbreaker: the ’76 loss to No. 13 Texas in Austin. The Mustangs, 24-point underdogs, missed three field goals and an extra point and lost, 13-12.

Wesson rushed for one touchdown and passed to Fisher for another, the latter coming with seconds remaining. The two-point conversion pass to Elton Garrett for the win was slapped away by UT’s Raymond Clayborn.

“It should’ve never come down to the last play of the game,” Wesson said.

Today, Wesson says he’s optimistic about SMU’s chances with new head coach June Jones. “I thought [former SMU head coach] Phil Bennett had a done a pretty good job of compiling some talent,” Wesson said. “Sometimes I didn’t think he put all his talent on the field.”

Of SMU’s legacy with LeVias and himself, Wesson said, “They have a pretty good record of crossing barriers.”

Does Wesson feel “chosen” as well? “That’s what I came to understand later on,” he said. “I think that I was put there to open it up for other people.”

“I tried to set an example,” Wesson said. “I hope that it showed how much I enjoyed the game when I played.”

Notes:

• Rice’s Stahle Vincent, who started for the Owl’s in ’69, (according to the school’s 1970 media guide and Texas Football Magazine), was the SWC’s first black starting quarterback. Wesson was second.
• Other black quarterbacks at SMU since Wesson: Don King (1982-85), Ramon Flanigan (1993-97), Justin Willis (2006-present).

Jay Black of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in Waco, Tex. and Gerry York of SMU’s Heritage Hall contributed to this report.