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HONORED JERSEYS DON MEREDITH
ERIC DICKERSON
SMU honored the legendary Don Meredith by honoring his jersey at halftime of the SMU-Houston football game in 2008. Meredith, who wore number 17 during his playing years at SMU (1957-59), was a two-time All-America selection on the Hilltop, setting a Southwest Conference record with a 69.6 completion percentage in 1957. The Chicago Bears then selected Meredith in the third round of the 1960 NFL Draft, but traded him to a young Dallas Cowboys franchise for future draft picks.
As one of the greatest running backs in college football history, Eric Dickerson had his No. 19 SMU jersey retired Nov. 24, 2000.
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Throughout his nine-year career with the Cowboys, “Dandy” Don was one of the Cowboys’ most recognizable stars, leading his team to three straight division championships and trips to consecutive NFL Championship games following the 1966 and 1967 seasons. During the 1966 season, Meredith was named the NFL Player of the Year, throwing a career-high 24 touchdown passes that season. He was also named to the Pro Bowl that year, his first of two career Pro Bowl selections. In 1976, Meredith was inducted into the Cowboys’ “Ring Of Honor.” Meredith is a member of the SMU Athletics Hall of Fame (1980), Southwest Conference Hall of Fame (2013) and College Football Hall of Fame (1982). Following his playing days, Meredith had a successful TV career as an analyst on ABC’s “Monday Night Football.” He was known for singing “Turn out the lights, the party’s over” when the game appeared to be decided. Meredith was selected as the 2007 recipient of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award.
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Dickerson earned All-America honors as a senior in 1982 when he rushed for 1,617 yards and 17 touchdowns on 232 carries (7.0 yards per carry), helping the Mustangs to an 11-0-1 record and a No. 2 finish in the final Associated Press national rankings. He finished third in the Heisman Trophy balloting that year behind Herschel Walker and John Elway as SMU captured the Southwest Conference championship and defeated Pitt, 7-3, in the Cotton Bowl. A two-time Southwest Conference Player of the Year, the Sealy, Texas, native set numerous school rushing records, including career yards (4,450), season yards (1,617 in 1982), career touchdowns (47), season touchdowns (19 in 1981) and 100-yard games (28). In 2009, Dickerson was inducted into the SMU Athletics Hall of Fame and the Southwest Conference Hall of Fame in 2013. The College Football Hall of Fame inducted him as part of their 2020 class. Dickerson was the second overall pick in the 1983 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1999.
Meredith also had an acting career, appearing in multiple movies and television shows, including a starring role on “Police Story,” as well as a series of commercials in the 1980s.
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OOAK WALKER
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Doak Walker epitomized leadership, sportsmanship, and academic and athletic achievement during his storied career at SMU in the late 1940s. Gracing the covers of numerous national magazines, “The Doaker” was a national phenomenon. The versatile Walker, who also punted, returned punts and kickoffs, and kicked extra points, earned All-America honors in 1947, 1948 and 1949. After starting as a freshman in 1945, he missed the 1946 season due to his service in the Army; however, by his junior season, his exploits on the field had become legendary, and in 1948, Walker became the first junior to win the Heisman Trophy. In addition to winning the Heisman, Walker was a consensus All-America three times and also won the Swede Nelson National Sportsmanship Award while at SMU. He was inducted into the Southwest Conference Hall of Fame in 2013 and the SMU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1979. Walker was the third overall pick in the 1949 NFL Draft by the New York Yanks.