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Hook’em Sooners
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| Former University of Oklahoma offensive lineman Paul Moriarty, who also played at the University of Texas for two seasons, displays his Sooner pride at his home in the Magnolia area. Moriarty, who will be at the Cotton Bowl again Saturday, has attended the big game between the two schools for the past 23 years as either a spectator or player. |
By Howard Roden
Come 11 a.m. Saturday, Paul Moriarty will be decked out in his Oklahoma University attire and surrounded by a sea of burnt orange at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.
He doesn’t object to that arrangement. After all, Moriarty played for the Texas Longhorns against OU in 1988 and 1989.
But make no mistake, Moriarty’s allegiance rests with the Sooners. Two years after his sophomore season at Texas, Moriarty was back in Big D as a member of the Oklahoma team. In the 102 meetings between Texas and OU, Moriarty remains the only player to suit up and play on both sides of the Red River Rivalry.
While Longhorn and Sooner supporters may find Moriarty’s duality difficult to fathom, the former McCullough High School standout considers himself “very lucky” and proud to have experienced one of college football’s most intense series from opposite sides of the football.
“It makes for good conversation,” said Moriarty, now a salesman for Mustang Tractor in Houston. “I enjoy talking about it. Life is about experiences, and I have nothing but positive feelings about what happened.
“I have to admit it is rather unique.”
Moriarty has attended the Texas-OU game the past 23 years as a spectator or player. He roots for Oklahoma because it is where he received his degree in political science. In recent years, Moriarty has attended the game with a good friend who’s a Longhorn fan.
“I wear my crimson, and he wears his burnt orange,” Moriarty said. “We shake hands when it’s over.”
Not only does Moriarty have the unique distinction of playing for both schools, he has the unfortunate claim of finishing on the short end of all four games in which he played. Texas’ 10-7 victory in 1991 is his most vivid memory of the rivalry, if for no other reason than Bubba Jacques’ 30-yard fumble return early in the fourth quarter for the Longhorns’ winning touchdown and the Sooners’ first loss of the season.
“It would have to be someone from Conroe High,” said Moriarty, referring to Jacques, the former Tiger quarterback turned defensive back. “I guess you call it bad luck, but it’s that uncertainty in this series that makes it so exciting. It has the most exciting buildup of any football game I’ve played.”
It was during Moriarty’s freshman season at Texas that he understood what the rivalry meant to his teammates.
“I would listen to offensive linemen like Ed Cunningham who would normally be kind of quiet during the season,” he said. “But during OU-Texas week, he would get up and talk passionately about the game. I thought, ‘Wow, this is a serious game.’”
At first, Moriarty appeared destined to spend his entire collegiate career on the Forty Acres in Austin. His father Morton played for UT during the middle 1950s, while an uncle, David Jacobs, played for the Longhorns during the ’60s.
The target of a nationwide search during his senior football season (1987) with the Highlanders, the 6-foot-5, 270-pound defensive tackle was swayed by the personal visits from then-Texas head coach David McWilliams.
“When you get a visit at home from the head coach, it’s pretty flattering,” Moriarty said. “I was blinded by the (recruiting) process. My viewpoint was that I had to see something bad in order to not go (to Texas). Like a lot of kids coming out of high school, I thought I was going to be an NFL player one day.”
Moriarty’s dreams began to unravel during that first year at Texas. He injured his neck against North Texas and continued to aggravate the injury until he received a medical redshirt.
Switched to the offensive line before the 1989 season, Moriarty tore ligaments in an ankle. It wasn’t long before he was back on the shelf and began to lose his sense of identity as a football player.
“There’s a discovery that as miserable as practice may be, it’s psychologically important to be part of the team,” he said. “When you’re not on the field, you begin to feel like an outcast. You want to toe your own weight. I enjoyed achievement, but I wasn’t getting anywhere.”
Having neglected his studies and beginning to enjoy the nightlife on Austin’s famed Sixth Street, Moriarty was placed on academic probation in the spring of 1990. That’s when his father stepped in and demanded a change.
“My dad wasn’t going to let that happen. He told me I was going to a junior college and to forget about football, if necessary,” Moriarty said. “I had fallen into a bad place.”
Moriarty transferred to Blinn Junior College in Brenham. It was there he learned the reality of big-time college football.
“When I was at Texas, we would stay in high-dollar hotels and have pregame meals of steak and chicken,” he said. “At Blinn, we’d ride a ‘yellow dog’ (bus) six hours to play at Ranger or Cisco. Our pregame meal was a roast beef sandwich, potato chips and a Snickers bar.
“What I learned was that in the real world, you’re only as valuable as what you can do for me. It was a shock,” he said. “Everybody encounters their epiphany; and, for me, it was understanding the need to produce in order to be valuable.”
Earning all-conference at Blinn, Moriarty attracted interest from Tennessee, USC, Oklahoma, Purdue and Texas A&M. He said he never received a phone call from Texas.
“Texas assumed they had me in the bag. I was kind of saddened when they didn’t call,” he said.
Instead, it was a phone conversation Moriarty had with an Oklahoma assistant coach three days after arriving at Blinn that convinced him to head north.
“Their defensive line coach called me and said, ‘We know everything about you, we know what happened, and we’ll be watching,’” Moriarty said. “I thought, ‘At least somebody wants you.’ I got healthy and I decided I wanted to play college football again.”
By the 1991 season, Moriarty was in Norman, Okla., wearing the crimson and cream of the Sooners. In 1992, he was one of only two Sooners who made the Big Eight first-team academic all-conference.
Now a successful businessman who lives in the Magnolia area with his wife Kristen and daughters Katelyn and Kiley, Moriarty doesn’t hold any grudges about his years at Texas.
“Everybody goes through a period of adjustment and the discovery of who they are,” he said. “I messed up, got knocked down, and I’m pretty proud of my recovery.
“I think everything is a matter of perspective. If I’d only seen one side of the ball, I would have had a biased view. Instead, I’ve kept in touch with good people on both sides.
“I have no ill feelings. I look at it as an evolution in my development.”
No. 1 Oklahoma vs. No. 5 Texas
When: Saturday, 11 a.m.
Where: Cotton Bowl in Dallas
TV/Radio: ABC, 610-AM (UT), 1430-AM (OU)
He doesn’t object to that arrangement. After all, Moriarty played for the Texas Longhorns against OU in 1988 and 1989.
But make no mistake, Moriarty’s allegiance rests with the Sooners. Two years after his sophomore season at Texas, Moriarty was back in Big D as a member of the Oklahoma team. In the 102 meetings between Texas and OU, Moriarty remains the only player to suit up and play on both sides of the Red River Rivalry.
While Longhorn and Sooner supporters may find Moriarty’s duality difficult to fathom, the former McCullough High School standout considers himself “very lucky” and proud to have experienced one of college football’s most intense series from opposite sides of the football.
“It makes for good conversation,” said Moriarty, now a salesman for Mustang Tractor in Houston. “I enjoy talking about it. Life is about experiences, and I have nothing but positive feelings about what happened.
“I have to admit it is rather unique.”
Moriarty has attended the Texas-OU game the past 23 years as a spectator or player. He roots for Oklahoma because it is where he received his degree in political science. In recent years, Moriarty has attended the game with a good friend who’s a Longhorn fan.
“I wear my crimson, and he wears his burnt orange,” Moriarty said. “We shake hands when it’s over.”
Not only does Moriarty have the unique distinction of playing for both schools, he has the unfortunate claim of finishing on the short end of all four games in which he played. Texas’ 10-7 victory in 1991 is his most vivid memory of the rivalry, if for no other reason than Bubba Jacques’ 30-yard fumble return early in the fourth quarter for the Longhorns’ winning touchdown and the Sooners’ first loss of the season.
“It would have to be someone from Conroe High,” said Moriarty, referring to Jacques, the former Tiger quarterback turned defensive back. “I guess you call it bad luck, but it’s that uncertainty in this series that makes it so exciting. It has the most exciting buildup of any football game I’ve played.”
It was during Moriarty’s freshman season at Texas that he understood what the rivalry meant to his teammates.
“I would listen to offensive linemen like Ed Cunningham who would normally be kind of quiet during the season,” he said. “But during OU-Texas week, he would get up and talk passionately about the game. I thought, ‘Wow, this is a serious game.’”
At first, Moriarty appeared destined to spend his entire collegiate career on the Forty Acres in Austin. His father Morton played for UT during the middle 1950s, while an uncle, David Jacobs, played for the Longhorns during the ’60s.
The target of a nationwide search during his senior football season (1987) with the Highlanders, the 6-foot-5, 270-pound defensive tackle was swayed by the personal visits from then-Texas head coach David McWilliams.
“When you get a visit at home from the head coach, it’s pretty flattering,” Moriarty said. “I was blinded by the (recruiting) process. My viewpoint was that I had to see something bad in order to not go (to Texas). Like a lot of kids coming out of high school, I thought I was going to be an NFL player one day.”
Moriarty’s dreams began to unravel during that first year at Texas. He injured his neck against North Texas and continued to aggravate the injury until he received a medical redshirt.
Switched to the offensive line before the 1989 season, Moriarty tore ligaments in an ankle. It wasn’t long before he was back on the shelf and began to lose his sense of identity as a football player.
“There’s a discovery that as miserable as practice may be, it’s psychologically important to be part of the team,” he said. “When you’re not on the field, you begin to feel like an outcast. You want to toe your own weight. I enjoyed achievement, but I wasn’t getting anywhere.”
Having neglected his studies and beginning to enjoy the nightlife on Austin’s famed Sixth Street, Moriarty was placed on academic probation in the spring of 1990. That’s when his father stepped in and demanded a change.
“My dad wasn’t going to let that happen. He told me I was going to a junior college and to forget about football, if necessary,” Moriarty said. “I had fallen into a bad place.”
Moriarty transferred to Blinn Junior College in Brenham. It was there he learned the reality of big-time college football.
“When I was at Texas, we would stay in high-dollar hotels and have pregame meals of steak and chicken,” he said. “At Blinn, we’d ride a ‘yellow dog’ (bus) six hours to play at Ranger or Cisco. Our pregame meal was a roast beef sandwich, potato chips and a Snickers bar.
“What I learned was that in the real world, you’re only as valuable as what you can do for me. It was a shock,” he said. “Everybody encounters their epiphany; and, for me, it was understanding the need to produce in order to be valuable.”
Earning all-conference at Blinn, Moriarty attracted interest from Tennessee, USC, Oklahoma, Purdue and Texas A&M. He said he never received a phone call from Texas.
“Texas assumed they had me in the bag. I was kind of saddened when they didn’t call,” he said.
Instead, it was a phone conversation Moriarty had with an Oklahoma assistant coach three days after arriving at Blinn that convinced him to head north.
“Their defensive line coach called me and said, ‘We know everything about you, we know what happened, and we’ll be watching,’” Moriarty said. “I thought, ‘At least somebody wants you.’ I got healthy and I decided I wanted to play college football again.”
By the 1991 season, Moriarty was in Norman, Okla., wearing the crimson and cream of the Sooners. In 1992, he was one of only two Sooners who made the Big Eight first-team academic all-conference.
Now a successful businessman who lives in the Magnolia area with his wife Kristen and daughters Katelyn and Kiley, Moriarty doesn’t hold any grudges about his years at Texas.
“Everybody goes through a period of adjustment and the discovery of who they are,” he said. “I messed up, got knocked down, and I’m pretty proud of my recovery.
“I think everything is a matter of perspective. If I’d only seen one side of the ball, I would have had a biased view. Instead, I’ve kept in touch with good people on both sides.
“I have no ill feelings. I look at it as an evolution in my development.”
No. 1 Oklahoma vs. No. 5 Texas
When: Saturday, 11 a.m.
Where: Cotton Bowl in Dallas
TV/Radio: ABC, 610-AM (UT), 1430-AM (OU)
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