This week’s edition of ‘Out of the Box’ features Dallas Huston’s speech from his induction this past Saturday night into the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame. The speech is below, in its entirety:
What a privilege and honor it is for me to be here tonight. It’s one I never expected, but it so very special to me. I would like to thank Mike Anderson and Tiffany Wilkins for all they do to make this night so memorable.
If I was real honest, I probably have to thank asthma and a car wreck for me being here tonight. I was in born Corpus Christi, Texas and I was a very asthmatic young child, so at the age of 2 the doctors told my parents they had to get me out of the humidity and into a drier climate or I was going to be in deep trouble. My dad worked for the railroad so he transferred to Brownwood, Texas and that has been my home ever since. I never had a desire to go anywhere else.
My dad was a great athlete and I know he had a dream that his son would become a great athlete, but it became apparent early on that I wasn’t going to be one. I don’t have an athletic bone in my body, but he instilled in me a love for sports.
In 1961 I was just getting into radio – and by the way I was so talented in 1961 that I actually got a job in radio and they wouldn’t let me on the air! When I was finally given the opportunity and introduced to read the election returns, the great 2003 Texas Radio Hall of Fame inductee, Jim Pruett, gave me the air name of “Dallas” – and it stuck.
There was a night of very heavy rain and I hit a car from behind that had no tail lights. Impact with that car caused me to go through the windshield causing injury to my head and my vocal cords. For six weeks I had no voice and when it returned, it was a new voice that fans got used to over 58 years for Brownwood High School and 57 years for Howard Payne University in football, basketball and baseball.
I owe a lot to Kathryn Wood! Gordon told me many times he didn’t give a flip about me broadcasting the ballgames, but his wife loved me.
Then there’s Morris Southall and his precious wife Lorena. I have great memories of working with Morris in the radio booth after his retirement from football.
I’m thankful of the city of Brownwood – a great place to live. Special thanks to the administrators of Brownwood High School and Howard Payne University, the coaches, the players through the years, and especially the fans. I wouldn’t take for the relationship that I have had with them. I thank them all for allowing me to be a part of their lives. People put a lot faith in me and I hope I didn’t let them down.
I am so blessed to have the family that I have. I have kids here, grandkids here, great grandkids, very dear to me nieces and nephews here, and friends – such special friends – that have made the trip.
My wife Linda, I can’t say enough about her. I’m getting this award tonight because of her. She, today, spends every waking moment taking care of me, and she gets nothing for it – no honors. She is more special to me than I can put into words.
Let me close by saying nothing in my life is more important to me than my relationship with Jesus Christ. Ballgames played are forgotten in a short time, speeches can only motivate for a while, but the gospel is for all eternity. I am one of the richest men in the world, even though radio was not the highest paying job, my riches lie in my relationship with Jesus Christ. He has made all the difference in my life.
Until next time, so long everybody.
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‘Out of the Box’ with Dallas Huston is published each Monday morning at BrownwoodNews.com. Dallas was the radio voice of the Brownwood Lions and Howard Payne Yellow Jackets for more than 55 years. He currently hosts a Men’s Bible Study in Brownwood on Monday evenings. Your comments are welcome at lindalh2@verizon.net.