Jackie Field†
Inducted 2006
Hometown: Mission
High School: Mission High School
College: The University of Texas
Best Known for: Track
Preceding fellow Mission great Tom Landry in the late 1930s, Field went from being a standout in Valley high school football to a successful career at The University of Texas and was eventually drafted by the Pittsburgh franchise of the NFL in 1943.
Field, a muscular 190 pounds, played for Dana X. Bible at Texas, joining a program that was among the nation's best in the early 1940s. In 1942, he gained 646 yards on the ground and led the SWC with 58 points scored.
Field, a muscular 190 pounds, Field was fast enough to be a member of the UT track team, teaming with fullback Roy Dale McKay as Texas continued its success from the previous season. The Longhorns would win nine times that season, climaxing the run with a victory in the Cotton Bowl, and Field's performance was good enough to earn him All-SWC honors.
Field rushed for 117 yards as Texas won easily over Arkansas, 47-6, and then against the Longhorns won 21-7 as Field scored two touchdowns to break a 7-7 tie. Versus vaunted TCU, he was feast and famine both, as he broke through for a score but later fumbled a kickoff leading to the winning tally by TCU in a 13-7 final.
Field was the star when Texas beat Texas A&M, with a scintillating 33-yard pass from McKay and a run that will be remembered by Texas fans for all time. Lou Maysel wrote that he roared through a hole in the right side, shook several tacklers off, ran toward the goal, and dragged a man into the end zone.
In the Cotton Bowl that season, Field helped Texas beat Georgia Tech, thrilling the partisan Dallas crowd by gathering in a punt at his own 39, sidestepping the first tackler and racing along the hash in front of a cheering Texas bench.
Field was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the the 18th round of the NFL Draft in 1943.