Content Source:hookem.com
By Brian Davis
SAN ANGELO — For some unexplainable reason, mythical sports figures seem to emerge from San Angelo, an oil and agricultural hub in the Concho Valley about three hours west of Austin.
For example, Jim Morris was an area school teacher who became the oldest rookie in baseball at age 35. The left-handed reliever’s story was so incredible, Hollywood made a movie about it — “The Rookie.”
Pierce Holt didn’t care much for football in high school. He got married after graduation, worked some odd jobs and then, at age 22, decided in what-the-heck style to enroll at Angelo State. Holt later won two Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers and is now a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.
The Gilbert family has achieved mythical status itself in this pocket of West Texas. Allen Gilbert has been a well-known municipal court judge since the 1970s. His oldest son, Brady, was a high school coach who left teaching but still maintains an active community profile.
And then there’s Sterlin Hampton Gilbert, who spent his entire youth and formative years “playin’ in the dirt in San Angelo.” You want to see the locals swell up with pride? Go around San Angelo asking if this 37-year-old native son is the right coach to lead Texas’ offensive renaissance. “If you’re looking at the football-crazed world of Texas, you’re sitting there looking and saying, here’s this guy, he’s got the chance to save Texas,” said Greg Stephens, a longtime family friend who played quarterback at Angelo State. “That’s what we hope he does.”
Photo by expressnews.com
