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Texas A&M Football

'No coincidences': Hugh McElroy's story and the doors it has opened

October 8, 2024
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Aggie football trailblazer and legend Hugh McElroy joined TexAgs Live on Tuesday to detail his journey to becoming Texas A&M football's first African-American starter, as well as the upcoming premiere of "Breaking Tradition: The Hugh McElroy Story" on Oct. 23.

Click HERE for more information on the premiere of “Breaking Tradition”
 



Key notes from Hugh McElroy interview

  • This process took a lot longer than I thought it would. I have to refer back to something Jamie McCoy said earlier today. Life has a way of presenting things to you that you don't expect and, often, that you don't deserve. If it's yours to have, life will find a way to get it to you. That is how this happened.
     
  • In the trailer's opening scene, I say, "I never intended to be a star athlete. It was all an accident." Except, there are no coincidences, of course. 
     
  • I will never forget. Gabe Bock and I were sitting together in his truck. He asked what I thought about doing this. I had no idea what he was talking about. He said it would be about my life and story. I thought after I read it, I would ball it up and throw it away. He said, "No, I am not talking about an article." We got to talking about it, and I thought, “Sure, why not?” I had no reason not to want to do that, so we proceeded.
     
  • A lot has changed since I played. Although football is the backdrop of the documentary, when I saw it for the first time, I realized it wasn't all about football. When it was all put together, football had a place, but it was not the premier place.
     
  • There was a long-held belief in the family that my grandpa was a Buffalo Soldier. Except when we went to the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum, they did not have a record of it. We pulled out our archives. They did their research. We presented it to the museum. Within a week, he was on the website. He had all the history. He fought in the Spanish-American War and World War I. He was in the Rough Riders and helped capture Pancho Villa. He won the French medal for bravery. We took it at face value and then were taken aback when he wasn't in the records. When they saw the overwhelming evidence, that changed.
     
  • I did not set out to be the first African-American to start a game at Texas A&M. I knew after I started that I was the first. I always have to give Sammy Williams and J.T. Reynolds credit. They were on the team before I was. I was texting Sammy the other day and told him that I felt like I stood on the shoulders of giants. Even though they did not start, they got limited playing time on special teams mostly. Whatever they dealt with in the locker room, I can't say I could have done that by myself. I always have to give them credit.
     
  • The best compliment I have gotten is one time when I said I was just in the right place at the right time. The person said that it was only because it was the right person. Wow. I had never heard that. It made me feel good. I have used that with other people.
     
  • The bonds that I have built are what this university is all about. That is where all the camaraderie in the Corps of Cadets starts. We all had hard times, but we had them together. We pulled each other through. I was talking to Curtis Mills, my roommate, the other day. He had a lot to do with me even being in the athletic department. That is a story in itself.
     
  • Olin Buchanan and I were talking about this. Yes, I ran track, but also no. There was a time when we ran yards instead of meters. I graduated high school in 1967 and ran a 9.6 100-yard dash, which was admirable. At my high school, the coach told me he could find that in any PE class. I couldn't even make a relay team. They had me trying to pole vault. That was back when the poles didn't bend.
     
  • I had been accepted to Texas A&M as a student. I had two high school classmates who had accepted track scholarships. The summer before we enrolled in 1967, we rode up to the school together to look around and meet other track recruits. Curtis Mills was a part of that. For those who don't know, he was the crown jewel of that recruiting class. Everyone in the country wanted him. He broke the world record in the quarter-mile his sophomore year.
     
  • Just before school started, coach Charlie Thomas called Mills and asked who he wanted to be his roommate. He said Sidney Chachere or Edgar Harvey. Coach Thomas said they had been friends all their lives and would probably room together. Mills said I was his second choice. Thomas said, "Who is that?" They told Mills that they weren't recruiting anyone by that name and that I could not stay in the track dorm if I were not on the track team. Mills really wanted to go to A&M, but he really wanted me to be his roommate. Coach Thomas said he did not have a scholarship for me, but he offered to let me throw the javelin to stay with Curtis Mills. I gave it a try. Then, I started running wind sprints, and it became obvious I needed to do something else, so I became a sprinter.
     
  • The first meet of the season, I pulled my hamstring. That took care of me having to run track. In the spring, I was out in front of the dorm, and we were playing football. Someone told me I should go out for the football team. I went out and hurt my leg again. It was suggested that I not come back out for two-a-days because I was wasting my time. The next year, I was playing football in front of the dorm again. Someone told me to go out for the team again. I went out again, and this time, it stuck. My first season would have been 1969. After that year, I got a scholarship.
     
  • I picked A&M because of my grandpa. He was a military guy. All of his sons, including my dad, were in the military. For me, it would have been like going into the family business. My grandpa called A&M “West Point on the Brazos,” and when he found out I was accepted, it was like the skies opened up, and God said it was going to happen. That's why I came here.
     
  • In my mind, there are no coincidences. I can't imagine how life would have been had this not happened because it has opened so many doors.
Discussion from...

'No coincidences': Hugh McElroy's story and the doors it has opened

5,000 Views | 6 Replies | Last: 9 days ago by Jugstore Cowboy
TAMU74
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AG
Great to see Hugh.
I wish he would have talked more about his playing time at A&M.
Since a majority on this board have no idea who he is let me tell a quick story of my memory of Hugh and a play that I will never forget..
It was my freshman year the fall of 1970. Being over 50 years ago I might not have all the facts correct but...
We had just beat Wichita State convincingly in the first game of the year.
LSU was our next game at Baton Rouge a night game.
Remeber it's 1970 and there is no ESPN or SEC network so the game was only on the radio.
It was a very close game all night as A&M had played tough but was behind by less then a TD late.
With very little time left the QB, Lex James as I recall, drop back and threw a pass over the middle to McElroy.
Two tigers per the announcer went for the ball and ran into each other.
Hugh makes the catch and runs in for the TD to put A&M ahead.
The entire campus seemed to erupt all at once.
I lived in Walton Hall and it seemed like everyone ran out into the quad to celebrate.
You'd have thought we'd just won the NC.
The defense held on for the win.
A huge crowd went to Easterwood the welcome the team home.
Most exciting win of my 4 years which never included a winning season.
It would be great to have Hugh and Dave Elmendorf talk about this game.
Great memories from a very long time ago.
Thank you Mr. McElroy for the memories.
SA-AG72
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AG
TAMU74 said:

Great to see Hugh.
I wish he would have talked more about his playing time at A&M.
Since a majority on this board have no idea who he is let me tell a quick story of my memory of Hugh and a play that I will never forget..
It was my freshman year the fall of 1970. Being over 50 years ago I might not have all the facts correct but...
We had just beat Wichita State convincingly in the first game of the year.
LSU was our next game at Baton Rouge a night game.
Remeber it's 1970 and there is no ESPN or SEC network so the game was only on the radio.
It was a very close game all night as A&M had played tough but was behind by less then a TD late.
With very little time left the QB, Lex James as I recall, drop back and threw a pass over the middle to McElroy.
Two tigers per the announcer went for the ball and ran into each other.
Hugh makes the catch and runs in for the TD to put A&M ahead.
The entire campus seemed to erupt all at once.
I lived in Walton Hall and it seemed like everyone ran out into the quad to celebrate.
You'd have thought we'd just won the NC.
The defense held on for the win.
A huge crowd went to Easterwood the welcome the team home.
Most exciting win of my 4 years which never included a winning season.
It would be great to have Hugh and Dave Elmendorf talk about this game.
Great memories from a very long time ago.
Thank you Mr. McElroy for the memories.

I was at that game in my junior year. Fantastic memories!
Iraq2xVeteran
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AG
David Nuno conducted an excellent interview of Hugh McElroy, who articulated why there are no coincidences.
aggiejim70
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AG
I was there the night he caught the pass that beat LSU. Their all-American DB, Tommy Casanova, tripped over his feet trying to intercept. The late great Dan Cook of the San Antonio Express-News said in his article on the game, "There was nothing between McElroy and the goal line, but sixty yards of white stripe and green grass and he didn't stumble".

I'll concede the point that one can only get so drunk. That had to be the worse I ever got. The Old Ags at the bar at the team hotel couldn't buy enough drinks. I woke up the next morning down by the Mississippi in a classmate's van. From that day to this it's never been fully explained how I got there.
The person that is not willing to fight and die, if need be, for his country has no right to life.

James Earl Rudder '32
January 31, 1945
iisanaggie
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AG
When will the film be available to the public? We went to the premiere and really enjoyed it. I know several people who were not able to attend and would like to watch it. Congrats to everyone who made this project happen!
Jugstore Cowboy
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