Two Javelina sports legends, Darrell Green '83 and Gil Steinke '42, were inducted into the Texas Black Sports Hall of Fame (TBSHOF) on Saturday, April 2nd.
Darrell Green is a former Javelina football and track All American, and is the fourth Javelina to be inducted into the TBSHOF.
The earlier honorees have been Sid Blanks (2011), Karl Douglas (2019) and Gene Upshaw (2012).
Gil Steinke, former Texas A&I athletic director, head football coach and player, was honored posthumously with the Rube Foster Award. It was accepted on his behalf by his daughter, Jan Steinke Starnes.
The award recognizes a non-African American coach, player or supporter who has contributed to Black sports history and displayed unselfish dedication to the success of those in sports.
When Steinke recruited Sid Blanks in 1960, Blanks became the first Black football player in the Lone Star Conference. Blanks later served as team captain–the first Black captain at an integrated college in the South.
The Javelinas were confronted with racism on some of their road trips. That did not stop Steinke, whose rosters were always diverse as he focused on recruiting top athletes; regardless of social, ethnic or financial status.
Watch The Legacy of Gil Steinke video here.
Steinke's Early Days
As a player for the Javelinas, Gil Steinke was a four-year letterman and held the rushing record for several decades. Steinke signed with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1945 and played four seasons.
Before taking the head position at Texas A&I in 1954, he coached at Oklahoma State, Trinity and Texas A&M.
Steinke, from Ganado, served as head football coach at Texas A&I from 1954-1976.
He led the Javelinas to six NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) championships. His record at the time of his retirement was 182-61-4, ending with 29 wins in a row.
Steinke has been inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, College Football Hall of Fame, and NAIA Hall of Fame. He was among the first Javelina Hall of Fame inductees.
Steinke’s teams produced some of the best pro players. Gene Upshaw was the Oakland Raiders' first-round choice in the first combined AFL-NFL draft in 1967.
Other first-round picks from Steinke’s teams were defensive back Jim Hill (1968), wide receiver Eldridge Small (1972), defensive tackle Ernest Price (1973) and fullback Don Hardeman (1975).
Darrell Green is one of the most recognized Javelina athletes in football and track. From Houston, Green was on the Javelina teams in 1978-82. In football, he was an All American and the most valuable defensive back in the Lone Star Conference. He was a captain in 1982. Green was named to the Lone Star Conference Team of the Decade for the 1980s.
Green's NFL Career & Beyond
He was a first round NFL draft pick by Washington in 1983. He earned a reputation as the fastest in the league when he chased down Tony Dorsett of the Cowboys in a nationally televised game. One commentator said, “only one man on the field could catch him, Darrell Green, the world class sprinter from Texas A&I.”
He is an inductee of the Redskins Ring of Fame, after being with the franchise from 1983-2002.
He was on Super Bowl championship teams twice, was four times All-Pro, played in the Pro Bowl seven times.
Green was on the NFL All Decade Team in the 1990s and was on the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time team.
Along with the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he is in the College Football Hall of Fame, the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, the Houston Independent School District Hall of Fame and the Javelina Hall of Fame.
Green’s performance in track was just as impressive. He ran a 10.08 in the 100- meter dash and that still serves as one of the fastest ever in NCAA Division II and the Lone Star Conference. He had a 5.76 in the 50-meter dash and 20.48 in the 200-meter dash.
Despite running at an NCAA Division II school, he was an NCAA Division I All-American as a sophomore and junior.
Green is also well known for his work off the field as a mentor to many. In 1988, he founded the Darrell Green Youth Life Foundation, a faith-based charitable organization, to “meet the needs of children, their families and the communities in which they live.”
About TBSHOF
The Texas Black Sports Hall of Fame is housed at the African American Museum in Dallas’ Fair Park.
It was established in 1996 to honor coaches and athletes of high character and athletic achievement, who are either Texans by birth or by athletic participation (collegiate or professional), and who have made recognizable contributions to African American culture and/or history. The general public submits the nominees, and a panel of judges (including sports/media journalists) makes the final selection.
TBSHOF strives to: collect and preserve records and objects documenting the activities of African American Texan athletes; maintain a permanent exhibition at the Museum; develop an educational program on African American Texan athletes using traditional methods and newer technology.
To learn more about the African American Museum, click here.
Story compiled from news reports by Fred Nuesch and Jeff McLain. Photos by Jeff McLain. Steinke video courtesy of TAMUK Office of Marketing and Communications.