Jesse Whittenton is the greatest El Paso athlete this sportswriter ever covered.
As I once wrote, he could have been a pro golfer.
Or a pro tennis player
Or a pro in just about anything in sports.
He became a pro football player and spent nine years in the National Football League, mostly as a defensive back and mostly with the Green Bay Packers in their glory days.
I have never seen a more naturally gifted athlete. He had tremendous strength, uncanny agility and a devil-may-care attitude that made him even more dangerous.
I STARTED covering Jesse when he played at Ysleta High School in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Those were the days of the single wing and Jesse, needless to say, was the tailback. He could pass and, lordy, could he run.
He led the Ysleta Indians to the district championship in 1951 and went on to help UTEP, then Texas Western College, to some of its greatest years in football. He played fullback his first year, halfback his second year and quarterback his last two years. He was All-Border Conference his last two years and was named the Most Valuable Player in the Sun Bowl in 1955 after leading the Miners to a 47-20 victory over Florida State.
AS A PRO, he helped Green Bay win two NFL championships and three Western Division titles and was voted to the Pro Bowl as a defensive back four times.
He retired in 1964 and came back to El Paso in time to co-sponsor Lee Trevino on the PGA Tour along with his cousin, Don Whittington.
And then the three of them helped start Santa Teresa Country Club.
HIS FOOTBALL career took its toll. The last time I saw him he was moving to Las Cruces and was joining Sonoma Ranch Golf Course. But he was broken of body if not of spirit. He’d had hip surgery, knee surgery, shoulder surgery and his spine was a total mess. The constant pain he lived with was excruciating.
On top of all that, he came down with throat cancer. It was all too much. He was found dead at the age of 78. He had taken his own life.
My heart is broken, but I cherish the memory of having known him and having covered his outstanding career.
TRIVIA QUESTION: Cal Ripken Jr., who played for the Baltimore Orioles, holds the Major League record for most consecutive games played at 2632. Who is second? Answer at end.
UTEP BASKETBALL coach Tim Floyd has an interesting project ahead of him. He recently recruited Matt Willms, a 7-foot-1 player from Findlay Prep of Henderson, Nevada, which won its third ESPN National High School Invitational championship in four years.
But don’t start jumping up and down with joy yet. I remember what late UTEP basketball coach Don Haskins once told me: “Heck, I can sign a 7-footer anytime I want, but can he play basketball?”
Willms played in only half of Findlay Prep’s games, averaged a mere 8.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game.
His teammates were so good that some of them have already signed with Arizona, Ohio State and UNLV so Willms must not have been that much of a contributor.
But hey, if anyone can develop a 7-footer into a good basketball player, I’ll bet coach Floyd can. And boy, would that be a big help to the Miners.
Good luck, Tim.
ANSWER to trivia question: You guessed it. The immortal Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees who played in 2130 straight games.