Former Texas Longhorns RB Passes Away at 79

On Monday, former Texas Longhorns running back Chris Gilbert passed away in Houston at the age of 79.

Near the end of the Texas football’s 1968 season, the Longhorns played the Texas A&M Aggies in Austin and dominated from start to finish, securing a Southwestern Conference championship and a 9-1-1 season that would lead to the Longhorns’ longest winning streak of all time.

Gilbert paused after the game had ended and turned in 360 degrees, taking it all in. He had just ran for 85 yards and a touchdown and would go on to end the season with 1,132 yards in his last year wearing burnt orange.

“We won the conference championship that day, and as the game ended, I stood on the field and looked around the stadium like I had never done before,” Gilbert wrote in an excerpt of “What It Means to be a Longhorn”, written by former Texas SID Bill Little in 2007. “I remember thinking that we truly had a great team and realized I would never play another game in this great stadium. It was an emotional moment for me.”

Gilbert’s Place As A Longhorn Legend Is Cemented In Texas History

Former Texas running back Chris Gilbert. — Nov 4, 1967; Dallas, TX, USA; FILE PHOTO; Texas Longhorns running back Chris Gilbert in action against Southern Methodist Mustangs. The Longhorns beat the Mustangs 35-28.Mandatory Credit: Malcolm Emmons-Imagn Images | Malcolm Emmons-Imagn Images

A Texas Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, former New York Jet and co-founder of Camp Olympia, Gilbert became the first Longhorn to rush for over 2,000 season yards and over 3,000 career yards in all, breaking his record as the first player to rush for over 1,000 yards in a single season..

When legendary head coach Darrell Royal visited Gilbert in his attempts to recruit him to Texas, Gilbert didn’t think that Royal even wanted him to join the Longhorns. Other coaches came to Gilbert’s house with financial offers and promises of a starting spot, even guaranteeing that Gilbert would be an All-American if he came and played for their school. Royal promised none of those things.

“Coach Royal offered me a full four-year scholarship and nothing else,” Gilbert wrote. “The more I thought about his offer, it finally came to me that he did want me, and that none of the others could deliver on their word that I would be an All-American or anything else. All anyone can do is to provide you with the opportunity to succeed.”

Gilbert committed to Texas — and he did become a consensus All-American after the 1969 season, becoming the first of two Longhorns to earn team MVP honors for three straight years along the way. The other was quarterback Colt McCoy.

The New York Jets picked up Gilbert in the fifth round of that year’s NFL Draft, but Gilbert never fully left Texas. Along with former Texas teammate Corby Robertson, he went on to found Camp Olympia, one of Texas’ most successful summer camps and a vital part of the local community’s youth development.

“You don't have to be a UT football player to understand what it means to be a Longhorn. There are hundreds of thousands of UT alumni who feel as I do. They love Texas for many reasons — some personal and many commonly shared,” Gilbert wrote. “The University of Texas is a great institution that has a profound effect on the state of Texas, our country and the world. Alumni enjoy going back to the campus to reminisce and see how The University has developed over the years. Many alums give back to The University because The University gave so much to them. As Longhorns, we think of The University as family.”