Eddie Phillips is a former
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...
player who started as quarterback for the
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
Longhorns in the early 1970s. In 1970, he led the Longhorns to a share of the National Championship while leading the Southwest Conference in total touchdowns. Despite an award-winning, record-breaking performance in the 1971 Cotton Bowl, Texas lost, breaking its 30-game winning streak and handing the AP crown to Nebraska.
Early life
Eddie Phillips played defensive back and quarterback for Mesquite High School. He was recruited by both Arkansas and Texas to play football and chose Texas
College career
Eddie Phillips started his career sharing quarterback duties on the freshman team, nicknamed the Yearlings, with Monty Johnson. He helped lead them to a perfect 5-0 record and the unofficial freshman team Southwest Conference Championship.
Phillips developed into a classic option quarterback, and during his sophomore year he backed up
James Street in Texas' National Championship season of 1969. He appeared in 8 games, but only in mop-up duty.
In 1970, he became the starting quarterback and led Texas to a share of the National Championship, winning the UPI (Coaches) Championship and sharing the NFF Championship with Ohio State. He led Texas to 10 straight wins and helped set the Southwest Conference and school record for most consecutive wins at 30.
The Longhorns, still relying on the wishbone, were an almost unstoppable force. In the only regular season game in which they were challenged, Phillips hit
Cotton Speyrer on a 3rd and 9, 45 yard touchdown pass with 12 seconds left to win the game, preserve the winning streak and keep Texas' Championship season on track.
In the 1971 Cotton Bowl, Texas faced #5 Notre Dame with the AP National Championship on the line. Phillips played the best game of his career and was named the offensive Outstanding Player. He became the first Longhorn quarterback to throw and run for over 100 yards in a bowl game; set the Cotton Bowl records for total offense and most rushing yards by a quarterback (which as of 2014 he still held); and rushed for more yards than any quarterback ever had in any prior bowl game, but it was not enough for the Longhorns to win. Texas fumbled the ball 9 times, with 5 of those being turnovers, and the
Joe Theisman-led Fighting Irish beat Texas 24-11, giving a share of the national title to the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
In 1971, Phillips was again the starter for Texas, but he had an injury plagued season and was replaced several times by back-up
Donnie Wigginton
Donnie Wigginton is a former football player who started as quarterback for the Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), an ...
. Phillips missed six games with injuries to his hamstring, ribs and shoulder. He was replaced by Wigginton in the first game of the season against UCLA after re-injuring his hamstring which he originally injured in August, and again with the same injury during his return against Oregon. He didn't play his first complete game of the season until facing Baylor in early November. But the next week he left the TCU game in the 3rd quarter with an injured shoulder. Despite his many injuries he was the starter in the 1972 Cotton Bowl classic against Penn State, in which he shared quarterback duties with backup Wigginton. Many saw the game as a grudge match between the two teams who went undefeated in 1969, and Penn State dominated in a 30-6 win to avenge their denial of the 1969 National Championship.
Phillips played in the 1972 Hula Bowl.
Phillips finished with a 14-2 record as a starter and, at the time he graduated, he'd had the four top rushing games by a quarterback in Texas history. He was inducted into the Longhorn Hall of Honor in 2005.
Records
* UT - Highest Average Gain Per Pass Completion (min. 30 completions), season (17.8), surpassed by
Randy McEachern
Randy McEachern (born October 5, 1955) is a former American football player. He started as quarterback for the Texas Longhorns. He started the 1977 season as the 4th string quarterback on an unranked team and finished as the starter of the #1 te ...
in 1977
* UT - Longest run by a quarterback (63 yards), surpassed by
Bret Stafford
Bret Alan Stafford (born December 15, 1964) is a former American football player. He started as quarterback for the Texas Longhorns for almost 2½ seasons, 1985-87 during which time he established 14 UT records, among them most passing yards in ...
in 1985
* UT - Most rushing yards in a bowl game (164), surpassed by
Ricky Williams
Errick Miron (born Errick Lynne Williams Jr.; May 21, 1977) is an American former football running back who played 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) and one season in the Canadian Football League (CFL).
After playing baseball ...
in 1999
* UT - Most rushing yards by a Quarterback, game (164), broke his own record twice, surpassed by
Marty Akins
Martin Ray Akins (born January 6, 1954) is a former college All-American football player and politician. He started as quarterback for the Texas Longhorns in the early 1970s and was the only Longhorn quarterback to start three seasons directing ...
in 1974
* UT - Most rushing yards by a Quarterback, career (1,211), surpassed by Akins in 1974
* UT - Lowest Percentage of Passes Had Intercepted, season (3.1%), surpassed by
Donnie Wigginton
Donnie Wigginton is a former football player who started as quarterback for the Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), an ...
in 1971
* UT - Fewest passes had intercepted, career - min 150 attempts (8)
* UT - Total Offense, game (363), surpassed by
Donnie Little
Donnie Little (born October 14, 1959) is a former American football quarterback. He was the quarterback of the Texas Longhorns from 1978 to 1980, and in 1978 was the first black quarterback to play for The University of Texas. He is credited wit ...
in 1980
* UT - Longest run by a quarterback in a bowl game (63 yards)
* Cotton Bowl - Total Offense, game (363), surpassed by
Graham Harrell
Graham Stanton Harrell (born May 22, 1985) is an American football coach and former quarterback, who is the current offensive coordinator for the Purdue Boilermakers. He played college football at Texas Tech from 2004 to 2008. He played in the ...
in 2009
* Cotton Bowl - Net rushing yards by a quarterback (164)
* Bowl - Net rushing yards by a quarterback (164), surpassed by
Mike Mosley
Mike Mosley (December 13, 1946 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – March 3, 1984 in Aguanga, California) was an American race car driver in the USAC and CART Championship Car series. He raced in 17 consecutive seasons from 1967 through 1983, wi ...
of Texas A&M in the 1977 Bluebonnet Bowl
Bowl means active
Later life
Phillips was drafted in the 5th Round of the 1972 NFL draft by the Los Angeles Rams, but with the intention of turning him into a safety. During the pre-season he played in several games and during one, he collided with rookie running back
Ray Jamieson of the Oakland Raiders. The collision broke Jamison's neck and ended his career. Phillips was waived just before the start of the season, one of the last players cut to make room on the roster for the start of the season.
After his career was over, Phillips married
Tom Landry's daughter Kitty and became a banker in Austin.
In the 2014 movie
My All American
''My All American'' is a 2015 American biographical drama sport film based on the life of college football player Freddie Steinmark. The film was written and directed by Angelo Pizzo. It is based on the book ''Courage Beyond the Game: The Fred ...
, Phillips is portrayed by actor
Mike Seitz.
References
External links
Texas stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Eddie
Living people
American football quarterbacks
Texas Longhorns football players
Mesquite High School (Texas) alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)