Jack Mildren.
To the vast majority of you, the response is…”Who?”
He was an NFL safety for the Baltimore Colts and the New England Patriots, which explains why his Wonder Bread card lists him as a Patriot but his photo screams “Colts”. He even served as lieutenant governor of Oklahoma for four years, which is more than Rod Woodson could ever claim.
But to college football fans, he was “The Magician”.
In 1970, Oklahoma assistant coach Barry Switzer, in mid-season, switched the Sooner offense from a pro set to the Wishbone, relying on Mildren to command it—and Mildren mastered the triple option attack. By 1971, Mildren and the Sooners were the most devastating rushing attack in college football history, and were ranked #2 going into the “Game of the Century” against #1 Nebraska. On defense, Nebraska gambled and took away the Sooners’ star running back Greg Pruitt, and defied Mildren to beat them all by himself.
And, he damn near did. The Sooners lost to Nebraska, 35-31, but Mildren ran for two touchdowns and threw for two more against the #1 defense in the nation. For decades, Mildren’s name was said in hushed, respectful tones across the Plains. He deserved the Heisman, but in a gross injustice it was given to Pat Sullivan.
He was given no opportunity to be a quarterback with the Colts (with Unitas?) so he shifted to safety, and scratched his way to a three-year NFL career (which is more than you or I have done) as well as got onto his own Wonder Bread card (ditto). Then, he came back to Oklahoma, invested in oil, got into politics, was elected lieutenant governor, and then lost the 1994 Oklahoma gubernatorial election to some guy who wouldn’t have lasted a day in the NFL, much less cut through the Cornhusker defense like a scalpel.
Sadly, Mildren died young, of stomach cancer. Not even The Magician could beat that.
Check out these Jack Mildren highlights!
