By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
A Texas football legend and Del Rio native has passed.
Sidney “Sid” Blanks, the first African American to play at an integrated school on a football scholarship in Texas and a proud graduate of San Felipe High School’s Class of 1960, died Sunday in his home in Webster, Texas.
Though a University of Texas press release regarding Blanks’ passing listed his age as 80, multiple publications listed his birthdate as being in April 1940, including a 2014 Del Rio News-Herald article which described a welcome home celebration for Blanks just days before his 74th birthday.
Funeral arrangements have not yet been made public.
Blanks was born in Del Rio, the youngest of 11 children born to Mr. and Mrs. Roscoe Blanks.
In eighth grade Blanks turned an interest in sports into a passion. When he began to attend high school at the now-defunct San Felipe High School, which is now San Felipe Memorial Middle School, that’s when the legend of Sid Blanks truly began.
He received 16 letters in high school sports and was an all-district selection in baseball, basketball and football. He was a four-time selection in baseball and basketball and a three-time selection on the gridiron.
As a freshman, he was an all-district catcher in baseball, an all-district center in basketball and was a district champion in the high jump, broad jump and ran anchor on the 440-yard relay team. In football, he was an all-district honorable mention.
The next year, as a sophomore, he was once again all-district in football, basketball and baseball, serving as captain for football and basketball. He again won the district title in the high jump and broad jump and went onto finish fourth in the state in the high jump.
State honors continued his junior and senior years. Aside from once again earning all-district recognition in football, baseball and basketball, he was named all-state honorable mention in football as a fullback his final two years with the Mustangs.
After winning the district championship in the broad jump and high jump, Blanks finished his high school career at the state meet. His leap of 6 feet, 2 inches tied him for the state title in the high jump, but instead of a tie a coin flip was used to determine first and second place. Blanks lost the flip and was awarded second.
Blanks was beloved by not just his high school teammates, but his classmates. On the “Remember in Del Rio, Tx when …” page on Facebook, former San Felipe High School classmate Blandina Cardenas Flores wrote, “You had to have been at San Felipe to understand how much we all loved Sidney Blanks. It wasn’t just that he could zig zag and then fly like the wind against overwhelming odds. It was this glowing, sweet soul, that lit up any space he occupied. Sidney spoke Spanish just like we did. He never made anybody feel anything but good. He was humble and gracious and regal all at the same time. He was and will always be our CHAMPION. Run for the goal post dear friend. We are all cheering you on.”
College Football Hall of Fame coach Gil Steinke, who was the head football coach and athletic director at Texas A&I College in Kingsville, offered Blanks an opportunity to play for the Javelinas. Blanks also had an offer to play at Washington State, but he decided to stay in his home state. By doing so, he made history as the first African American to receive a football scholarship at an integrated school in Texas. He also became the first African American to not only play for the Javelinas, but to play in the Lone Star Conference. He played there from 1960 to 1963.
Blanks made the most of his time at A&I. He was an all-conference selection three years, was named to the All-NAIA team and was selected as a Little All-American three straight years.
Of his time at A&I, Steinke said of Blanks, “We’ve had a good number of All-Americans at A&I, but Sidney was probably the greatest. Sidney not only became the most well-liked player on the football team, but his personality made dents on the campus.”
“He has won just about every honor an athlete can be awarded at A&I, and he was deserving of all,” Steinke added, speaking at a banquet in Blanks’ honor in 1964.
Blanks was eventually inducted into the Texas A&I Hall of Fame in 1981 and the Lone Star Conference Hall of Fame in 2002. He would later be inducted into the Texas Black Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.
His work on the football field led him to being drafted by the NFL’s Chicago Bears with their pick in the third round 1964 draft, the last selection of that round. He was also drafted in the fifth round of the AFL Draft by the Houston Oilers that same year. Once again, Texas was too dear to his heart for Blanks to leave and he signed with Houston.
He was taken ahead of future NFL Hall of Famers “Bullet” Bob Hayes, Bill Parcells, Leroy Kelly and Roger Staubach in the NFL Draft, and Dave Wilcox, Mel Renfro, Paul Krause, Hayes and Staubach in the AFL Draft.
Blanks’ first year in the AFL he started all 14 games at halfback for the Oilers, rushing for 756 yards and six touchdowns including a then-record 91-yarder. He also caught 56 passes for 497 yards and another touchdown. He was named to the league’s All-Star Game, representing the East.
During the 1965 training camp, Blanks suffered a serious knee injury and would miss the remainder of camp and the entire season that followed. He returned to play in 1966 and remained with the Oilers through 1968. In 1969 Blanks signed with the Boston Patriots and played two years with them. He had the opportunity to play with Washington, but declined and decided instead to retire.
“Everybody wanted to be Sid Blanks. He really was our hero,” former Val Verde County Commissioner Ramiro Ramon said at the 2015 Sidney Blanks Park dedication ceremony, referring to when he and his friends would play football in their youth.
While Blanks did not maintain a house in Del Rio, the Queen City was always home to he and his family. Aside from his athletic achievements, the Blanks family tree also claims cousin Larvell Blanks, who was a part of the Del Rio team that made it to the Little League World Series in 1962 and who went to onto play professionally for Atlanta, Cleveland and Texas, and Sid’s son Lance, who was a standout in basketball for the University of Texas and later played in the NBA for the Detroit Pistons and Minnesota Timberwolves.
In 1997, Sid Blanks was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. And though the disease would affect Blanks for the rest of his life, he always maintained the smile and kind heart that made him a legend in Del Rio.
In July 2015, the city of Del Rio officially dedicated Sidney Blanks Park, located off Gillis Avenue between West De La Rosa and Bridge streets. Banks attended the ceremony and spoke about what Del Rio meant to him.
“I learned how to play football here . . . and we won a lot of games, and we had a lot of fun,” Blanks recalled. “I was part of this family of kids that enjoyed the sport, and there were these big guys who worked hard and made it easy for me to score.
“It gives me a lot of pleasure to stand before you and say thank you for what you gave to me, because I’ve felt a part of this community from day one, and I will always be a part of this community.”
According to press release from the University of Texas, in lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Blanks can be made to the nonprofit Ron Brown Scholar Program (RBSP). RBSP is a national college scholarship and leadership program for African American students. Donations can be made online at www.ronbrown.org or by check made payable to the Ron Brown Scholar Fund and mailed to 485 Hillsdale Drive, Suite 206, Charlottesville, VA 22901. Please designate your gift “In Memory of Sidney Blanks.”
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Contact the author at drnhsports@gmail.com
