100 Greatest: No. 4 Player - Bobby Lackey

Jerry Hill laughed when asked about how often he beats Bobby Lackey when the former Weslaco Panthers teammates meet for a round of golf.

"He always wins," Hill said. "That's all he does is play golf. Oh, I say I go every Friday or so. Bobby, he's pretty good."
Hill said it is not too much of a surprise that Lackey would finish first in any sport.

"He's a darn good athlete," Hill said. "Bobby, of course, was a big cog for us. He was on varsity all four years he played."
Lackey arguably is the best football player to come out of Weslaco High and was voted by The Monitor as the fourth-best player in Rio Grande Valley history.

The 6-foot-4 quarterback and kicker not only found success at Weslaco, but he went on to a fruitful time at Texas, helping turn around a slumping program.

In 2006, legendary Texas coach Darrell K. Royal told The Monitor he was pleased with the 1956 freshman class he inherited when he took over the program, in particular Lackey. Even Royal boasted about Lackey's skills on the greens.

"I still have an impression of Bobby as a great player and a competitor," Royal said. "He's a good athlete to start with - he even plays fine golf and that takes great coordination. But he was a great passer and just a tough competitor."

Under Royal, Lackey quarterbacked the team to the 1959 Southwest Conference championship and a berth in the 1960 Cotton Bowl in what was the beginning of a successful tenure for Royal at Texas.

"When I was a freshman at Texas, the varsity couldn't play back then," Lackey said. "They had varsity back in those days. The varsity was not very good. We as freshmen knew we were going to be better than the varsity was at that time.

"After my first coach (Ed Price) resigned, that is when Coach Darrell Royal came in my sophomore year, and he was all about winning. The players we had as freshmen, I think that winning was instilled in them from high school."

Lackey did a lot of winning during his time at Weslaco High, especially during his senior season in 1955, which is considered one of the best teams in Valley history.

He led the Panthers to a 13-1 record and a berth in the Class 2A state semifinals in 1955, earning all-state quarterback honors that season. He was thought to have accounted for more than 5,000 yards of total offense during his Weslaco playing days.

"I wasn't necessarily trying to be a star," Lackey said. "I was just trying to do what was best for our team. It just kind of worked out that way, I guess. I was just in a winning mode all the time. I wanted to win.

"Becoming the star, I guess it worked out that way. I wasn't trying to make it that way."

It is tough not being the spotlight of the team, especially when he was under center for consecutive Weslaco High district championships and had Texas knocking on the door to come play in Austin.

"I've seen some good players come and go," Lackey said. "I think I was certainly a pretty good athlete. I don't think it matters what era you played. If you are a good athlete, you are going to be pretty good."

 WHY THEY VOTED

Bobby Lackey was a first-team all-state quarterback after leading Weslaco High to a 10-0 record in 1955. The Panthers scored 297 points and advanced to the Class 2A state semifinals before losing to Hillsboro 20-7.

Though stats from those days are a little sparse, he is thought to have accounted for more than 5,000 total yards of offense.

Lackey played QB at Texas and led the Longhorns to the 1960 Cotton Bowl. Texas finished 9-2 that season. That year, he was also the first Longhorns player to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated.

THE PLAYERS
1: TBA
AUG. 24

2: TBA
AUG. 23

3: TBA
AUG. 22

4: BOBBY LACKEY
Weslaco High

5: Johnnie Jackson
Harlingen High

6: Norm Evans
Donna

7: Lupe Rodriguez
Mission High

8: Nati Valdez
Mission High

9: jim Helms
San Benito

10: Jim Hudson
La Feria

11: Maurice Hunter
Harlingen High

12: George Strohmeyer
McAllen High

13: Roberto Garza
Rio Hondo

14: Mishak Rivas
Weslaco High

15: Tony Ellis
Brownsville Hanna

16: Bobby Ply
Mission High

17: Fred Edwards
Donna

18: Willie Crafts
Brownsville High

19: Jamaar Taylor
Mission High

20: Frank Hernandez
Mission High

21: Carlos Esquivel
Edinburg High

22: Jim Norris
Mercedes

23: Abel Gonzalez
Rio Grande City

24: John Mims
Mission High

25: Leo Araguz
Harlingen High

26: Juan Castillo
Port Isabel

27: Tommy Cox
La Feria

28: Jimmy Lawrence
Harlingen High

29: Luz Pedraza
Donna

30: Billy Garza
Brownsville Porter

31: Poppy Rodriguez
PSJA High

32: Jeremy Springer
Los Fresnos

33: Shon Flores
Port Isabel

34: Phil Hetrick
PSJA High

35: Joe Marichalar
Edcouch-Elsa

36: Alfredo Garza
Port Isabel

37: Charles LeGrange
Rio Grande City

38: Alfredo Lugo
Donna

(tie): Steve Alaniz
Edinburg High

40: Matt Gorges
Harlingen High

41: Justin Springer
Los Fresnos

(tie): Eliseo Pompa
Mission High

43: Donald Guillot
Port Isabel

44: Travis Sanders
Port Isabel

45: Gerald Lambert
McAllen High

(tie): Gonzalo Garcia
Brownsville High

(tie): John Lerma
Rio Grande City

48: Manny Gomez
Harlingen High

49: Donny Martin
Port Isabel

50: Robert Cortez
San Benito