The best
On his last day, Jack Mildren came on the radio and performed as a sports talk show host.
The tenor of his voice gave a small clue as to the battle he was waging against a cancer that would take his life on Thursday night. But the words from his voice were every bit as sharp, witty and pertinent as they had been in the huddle on Owen Field 37 years ago, in business circles, or later at the state capitol.
On Thursday, Mildren died like he lived.
In the game.
With toughness and with class. With an “aaaw shucks” humility.
Mildren will always be known as the first wishbone quarterback at Oklahoma, beginning an era that introduced the most powerful and dominating rushing offense to exist in the history of college sports. Fans have nicknamed him the “Godfather” of the wishbone option.
He was the first OU quarterback to appear in living color in my house. The famous Game of the Century in 1971 between Oklahoma and Nebraska was the first Oklahoma telecast I saw after my parents purchased a color television. The image was a bit grainy, since you had to manually turn that TV antenna a certain way to pick up the KTUL broadcast. Nevertheless, right there on that 19-inch RCA was No. 11 Jack Mildren running the option and throwing the football on the tartan turf of Owen Field.
He carried the Sooners on his shoulders.
He had presence. He had command. And despite his legendary status since then, Jack Mildren had a connection with the common guy. You believed he was just a regular fellow. His voice on the radio was the voice of reason. He was what we call in my business, one of the “good guys.”
Jack Mildren may well be the best quarterback to ever play at Oklahoma.
There certainly has been no better person to put on the uniform.
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“Don’t try to kid yourself. If you try to say, ‘It’s just another game.’ Oh, give me a break. Embrace what it is. It’s an opportunity. There’s nothing like it. And smile. You don’t have to have an all-serious look. We know you’re going to be serious. But there’s some fun to it because there’s so much excitement. Shoot, that’s why you go to a place like OU, to have that kind of experience. Big-time games against big-time opponents.” — Jack Mildren, on giving Sooner teams advice on OU-Texas week.