Banks was a high school All-American in 1965 and represented Alabama in the Junior Olympics. At Auburn University he was a First Team All-SEC center as sophomore, First Team All-SEC 1968, First Team All-SEC center 1969 and Auburn co-captain, and Third Team All-American 1969. He played in the 1970 Senior Bowl in and was drafted… Read more »
News
Sport: Football
Gary Barnett
The plan after four years of playing football at the University of Missouri seemed straightforward enough: Go to law school and then into the real world. However, Gary Barnett stopped himself. After earning a letter on the 1968 team and graduating, he still felt the pull of the sport: The times growing up in the… Read more »
Dr. Cris Barnthouse
The signed National Football League game-day footballs sit on display at his home, some inscribed with personal messages from Kansas City Chiefs coaches and players themselves. From afar, one might assume those are for throwing a go-ahead touchdown pass or key blocks that led to the win column. In reality, they are for work that,… Read more »
Sallie Beard
In the fall of 1974, two years after the passage of federal Title IX legislation, the door to Sallie Beard’s office swung open, as several women on the Missouri Southern State University campus sought to start a basketball team. Suddenly, the teacher who had a bias against athletics – those were her own words –… Read more »
Bob Beatty
It didn’t take long for Bob Beatty to figure out his path in life. Growing up in Butler, Mo., Beatty knew at a young age that he wanted to be a coach. Specifically, a football coach. Watching his uncle, Bob Miller, coach football, basketball and track & field at Butler High School made an impression… Read more »
David Beckett
In 1983, Joe Gripka needed a broadcasting partner to help him call Monett High School football games. He asked David Beckett if he’d like to come aboard as a color analyst. Forty-two years later, Beckett is still at it, calling Monett football, basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball and soccer for radio and internet broadcasts. Beckett has… Read more »
Bobby Bell
Bobby Bell was an All-State high school quarterback, an All-America tackle at the University of Minnesota and an excellent defensive end for the Kansas City Chiefs before he settled on the left outside linebacker position. It was a position that earned him a permanent niche in the history as the first Chiefs player to be… Read more »
Erle Bennett
Talk about being a testament to sticking it out, to putting in the hard work and believing. Back in 1989, newly hired assistant football coach Erle Bennett rolled into the rural community of Centralia at a time of low participation numbers and little success. And his previous stop had been a similar challenge. But …… Read more »
Randy Biggerstaff
Randy Biggerstaff began his athletic training career in 1973, when he became the District Athletic Trainer for the Granite City Community Unit School District after graduating from the University of Missouri. He has also served as trainer for the St. Louis Hummers women’s professional softball team, the University of Missouri football team at the Fiesta… Read more »
Ed Blaine
After graduating from Farmington, Blaine attended the University of Missouri on a football scholarship. Athletic honors included All Big Eight and All America football teams and participation in 2 Orange Bowl games. He was the second draft choice of the World Champion Green Bay Packers. He played one year with the Packers and was then… Read more »
Vic Bonuchi
In 1960, a recent college grad was hired as a football coach at Excelsior Springs High School. Little did the community know that Vic Bonuchi would make quite an impact for the next several decades. And not simply because his teams won. Instead, he molded teens into young adults who could find success beyond high… Read more »
1974 Boonville High School State Championship Football Team
In May of 1974, long before two-a-day football practices would get under way, folks in the mid-Missouri town of Boonville couldn’t believe their eyes. There they were – business cards, and not just ordinary ones. Instead, the inscription touted the Pirates football team as the Class 3 1974 State Champs. Yes, for a season that… Read more »
Richard Bowles
Richard Bowles attended William Jewell College from 1945-49, graduating in just three years as salutatorian after missing the 1946-47 year serving in the military. He was the son of legendary coach and athletic director R.E. Bowles and the youngest of four brothers who were all student-athletes for the William Jewell Cardinals. He was a 1945… Read more »
W. A. Boyd, Jr.
William Alvin Boyd Jr. was a native of Louisiana, Missouri. After graduating from Westminster College, he was a halfback for two seasons (1930 – 1931) with the Chicago Cardinals for 16 pro football games, scoring 12 points throughout his career.
Phil Bradley
One of the most decorated athletes in University of Missouri annals, Bradley lettered in football at MU from 1977-80 and in baseball from 1979-81. Bradley was the quarterback for the Tigers and took them to three bowl games. He was a three-time Big Eight Conference “Offensive Player of the Year” and set the conference total… Read more »
Jesse Branch
When Jesse Branch arrived as head football coach of then-Southwest Missouri State University, there weren’t a lot of frills – just the way he liked it. No, there was no fancy weight room like the major college football casinos, nor a plush practice field. Heck, he didn’t even have a field goal kicker until the… Read more »