Sixty-one years ago, a football team and three coaches from a small Texas school made an unscheduled stop at Barksdale Air Force Base, providing them a victory greater than any experienced on the field.
McMurry College in Abilene, Texas had one win and one loss early in the 1963 football season, and next on its schedule was Northeast Louisiana State College, now University of Louisiana Monroe. The game would be played in Monroe, so McMurry flew-in for the matchup on Saturday, September 28.
Defense from both teams dominated play that evening until McMurry scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter to take a 7 – 0 lead. And it seemed that lead would secure the win, until it didn’t. Monroe’s Morning World newspaper of September 29 described the action: “Northeast scored a touchdown with 25 seconds left to play, then went for a two-point conversion and made it.” The final was 8 -7 in favor of Northeast. Dejected, McMurry’s team members had no idea that this stinging defeat would soon pale in comparison to the danger off-the-field that awaited them.
Later that night, these 28 team members and their three coaches boarded a chartered Douglas DC-3 for the return flight to Abilene. After everyone had settled in their seats, the pilot increased power and the plane swiftly moved along the Monroe airport runway, then lifted off. But something was wrong. The plane had trouble gaining altitude. According to an article in The Shreveport Journal from September 30, 1963, the aircraft “barely cleared trees at the end of the runway.” The pilot attempted to get the plane back on the ground quickly. After two unsuccessful tries, the second of which damaged the landing gear and blew out a tire, a decision was made to try and reach the longer runway at Barksdale Air Force Base. It was during that approximately 30-minute journey that McMurry head coach Grant Teaff was called upon to provide something not usually associated with coaching. He was asked to provide comfort.
On his podcast, Beyond the Game, Teaff spoke about the harrowing experience aboard the flight. “My assistant coaches and I had moved to the tail of the airplane and were seated on the floor at the recommendation of the captain to try to give some stability to the tail-end when we were to crash,” he said. “Thoughts were racing through my mind because in about 30 minutes, there was the opportunity for death.” Sitting in the dark due to the cabin lights having shorted out, Teaff heard from one of his players. “There was a voice from the darkness that said, ‘Coach, we’re scared. Will you lead us in prayer.’” And this he did. Assistant coach Hershel Kimbrell was quoted in a September 30, 1963 article in The Shreveport Times as saying, “He (Teaff) was trying to calm everybody down.”
Just after 1 a.m., with Barksdale’s firefighting crews standing by, the plane crash-landed at the air base, skidding along the runway, producing a shower of sparks and losing a propeller. The Shreveport Times article states that one of the engines caught fire, but was quickly extinguished by firefighters. Apparently, the prayer offered by Coach Teaff had indeed provided comfort. According to The Shreveport Times article, Barksdale Fire Chief Paul Blackburn said of the players, “That football team acted like old pros in coming out of the plane. They came out calmly and quickly.” He added, “They were certainly fortunate. Most planes land like that catch on fire all over.”
Teaff said that after giving a prayer of thanks for their safe arrival, the players and coaches stayed at a motel and boarded another flight home Sunday morning. “Those players looked that plane over, I’ll guarantee you,” he said on his podcast.
Back in Abilene that Sunday evening, Teaff was still dealing with the experience, and according to his podcast, he gave thanks again to God for the safe return home and recommitted himself to prioritizing faith in his life. “God has honored that … in many ways,” he said on his podcast.
Teaff's coaching career took him to several different schools, including Baylor University where he served as head coach from 1972 until his retirement in 1992. During that time, Baylor won the Southwest Conference championship twice, and Teaff was named National Coach of the Year. In 2001, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, and in 2022, McMurry dedicated a statue of him in his honor. According to an article in the Abilene Reporter News that was written at the time of the dedication, a plaque next to the statue describes that 1963 crash landing at Barksdale and highlights its importance in Teaff’s life. He calmed fears in a moment of uncertainty and received for himself and his players, as stated in the Reporter News article, “a different kind of victory.”
If you have any information or items relating to the history of Bossier Parish, the History Center may be interested in adding the materials to its research collection by donation or by scanning them and returning the originals. Call or visit us to learn more. We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org. We can also be found online at https://www.facebook.com/BPLHistoryCenter/ and http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/
Images:
Plane that crash-landed at Barksdale with McMurry football team aboard/courtesy J. Frank McAneny, The Shreveport Journal
Head coach Grant Teaff after a Baylor victory/courtesy Abilene Reporter News, 1980
Article by: Kevin Flowers
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