Post by OlympFan on Jul 16, 2008 22:07:10 GMT -6
Courtesy photo
Members of the 1941 Mission Eagles gathered for a reunion at Tom Landry Stadium
By the Numbers: Mission 1941 team set Valley standard
Landry led Eagles to greatness
July 16, 2008 - 10:35PM
By PAUL CONATZER / Valley Morning Star
MISSION - It was another era.
Long ago, but not too far away.
In 1941, quarterback Tom Landry led the Mission Eagles to the only unbeaten season in the history of Rio Grande Valley football.
That perfect season is Number 41 in the Valley Morning Star's By The Numbers series.
In the months before Pearl Harbor drew the United States into the conflagration of World War II, Landry, who passed away in 2000, and the rest of the Eagles were the talk of Mission and the Valley.
The Eagles went 10-0 in the regular season and then beat Aransas Pass (19-0) and Hondo (33-0) in the regional round of the playoffs.
Other standouts on the team were guard Don Albrecht and center Jerry Mehis, who were both All-Valley selections.
At that time, the playoffs ended in the regional round. Still, 12 wins are the second-best mark among Valley teams.
Landry was a triple threat for the Eagles. In the playoff win against Hondo, Landry ran for touchdowns of 3, 35 and 65 yards and also threw a 30-yard scoring pass.
But, it was the Mission defense that stood out. If ever a defense deserved a catchy nickname, it was the 1941 Mission squad.
The Eagles allowed just seven points and shutout 11 of their 12 opponents.
Dominating indeed.
The only points the Eagles allowed in 1941 came against Donna and according to Landry's childhood friend and teammate A.B. Ward, it was a blown call that resulted in the score.
In "I remember Tom Landry" by Denne Freeman and Jaime Aron, Ward remembers it like this.
"They were on the two-or-three yardline and we set them back and set them back," Ward said. "Then it was fourth down and they were on the 14-yardline.
They passed into the end zone and Tom went up and hit the ball with both hands and knocked the ball into the stands. After he had hit the ball, he knocked the receiver down, but that was perfectly legal as long as you hit the ball first.
The officials didn't see it that way.
"But the official called pass interference, which was a 15-yard penalty. So he just walked across the goalline and held up his hands for a touchdown. They kicked the extra point and that was the only points scored against us."
Bob Martin, who came to Mission as a 22-year-old in 1938 to coach the junior varsity and took over as head coach a few years later. Just a few years younger than his players in 1941, Martin cracked down on his players. He banned soft drinks, discouraged dating and instituted a curfew.
It worked as the Eagles outscored their opponents 322-7.
Martin was a hands-on coach; he wore a uniform with no pads and dared the team to try tackling him. That's how the Eagles practiced on defense. On offense, Martin borrowed formations and strategies from the successful college teams of the day.
Martin also instilled a sense of unity in the team as he told them 11 brothers are tough to whip.
Landry always remembered the role Martin played in his life.
When he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1990, Landry spoke about his family and then Martin.
"He taught me a lot about football. He taught me fundamentals, he taught me values, he taught me to pay a price for victory," Landry said.
And in those days, before Pearl Harbor turned the U.S. upside down, Martin and Landry made the 1941 Mission Eagles the subject of conversation throughout the Valley.
www.rgvsports.com/articles/landry_2392___article.html/eagles_martin.html
