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Mi\■ i •itRECORD SURVIVES — Sid Blanks, Del Rio's gift to the national champion Texas Al Javeltnas and to the Houston Oilers, still holds the touchdown run of 94 yards for the Oilers in 1964. He's shown here,r -fctfis**..at Kingsville after a great high school here at San Felipe High School. Today his son, Sid, Jr., plays for Al and at 200 pounds is also a running back with speed.All are athletic standoutsBlanks youngsters following famous fatherBy CARL GUYS Sports EditorDel Rio football fans of the past can recall the grace and power with which one of their native sons, Sidney Blanks, cruised on the gridiron in the Purple and Gold of the old San Felipe High School.They also joined the fans in South Texas to watch Sid as an exceptional running back for the Texas AI Javelinas at Kingsville.Later the fandom grew as Blanks made it big with the Pros, playing five years with Houston Oilers, two with the Boston Patriots and one with the Washington Redskins.Sid and his sons were the topic of a feature account by Clark Nealon in the Oiler Scrapbook section of the Oiler Report on August 10, this year. Titled “The New Blanks Generation,” Nealon told of the sons, Sid Jr., known as “Boobie” and Lance (named for Lance Alworth). Boobie is a standout runner now at Texas AI, following the cleat steps of his famous dad. Lance is 14 and at 6-3, wears a size 13 shoe and is the cage wizard. He scored 57 points against Kinkaid for his parochial school, Corpus Christi School of Houston.Sid Jr., or Boobie, is a quick 200-pound running back. His dad says, “I started coaching Sid Jr. in Pop Warner football when he was 10 or 11, playing against 14-year-olds. He took to football from the start. He’s fast and he’s picked up some savvy. He’s going to be a good running back.“Lance plays football too — he’s a quarterback — but I believe basketball is going to be his game. He works two or three hours a day on it right now,” Big Dad Blanks said.Papa Blanks, noted- Nealon, holds the Oiler record for touchdown runs from scrimmage. He ran 94 yards against the Jets in the last year of the Jefferson Stadium. This mark has withstood the likes of Ode Burrell, Hoyle Granger and even Earl Campbell in the yearssince 1964.“Sid Sr.,” notes the Oiler writer, “would rather talk about his sons than himself and always has credited a great block by Bob Talaminl on that long record run.” “Both sons have been on light weight-lifting programs since they were 10 and 11,” notes Papa Blanks. “It was not so much for strength but more to help fill out their bodies,” he explained.“At the same time, they've done a lot of stretching exercises. And both of them have taken to the programs, even enjoyed them. I’ve pointed out to them that if they want to be athletes, they need to prepare, and I believe they have,” he added.Senior Sid is now the sales manager for the two-waycommunications division of the Motorola Company and he still is an enthusiastic follqwer of the Oilers. He also’ said fie felt he could handle the agent’s chores if he wound up as the'agent for his two very promising athlete sons some day. “ I believe I could handle that and I might do it at that,” he grinned. As an Oiler Sid earned $38,000 in his top season.His interests lie in his sons and despite the fact that he played on a national champion Texas AI team, he’d rather talk about them than about his athletic past.Here on the Mustang eleven, Sid was one of the best ball carriers in the state of Texas and soon showed it when he played for Gil Steinke’s Javs at Texas AI.LSU coach dreads Rice offenseBATON ROUGE, La.! (AP) — Rice has somepotent offensive weapons at its disposal, despite the fact that ithas scored just 13 points in two opening game losses, said LouisianaState University Coach Jerry Stovall.He singled out speedy quarterback Michael Calhoun and giant tight end Robert Hubble as two of the weapons.Calhoun is his team’sleading rusher, with 97 yards on 29 carries. Fullback Tim Sanders is next with 56 yards on 23 carries.Hubble is 6-foot-8 and 250 pounds.“You can imagine,with this kind of size — and he’s plenty strong — when he blocks on the outside of the veer, he can take one side of the line down, ” Stovall said.“With his height, they will throw him some of those dunks.”
Newspaper Details
Del Rio News Herald
Del Rio, Texas, US
Sat, Sep 26, 1981
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Monte N.
NA, NA 08 Sep 2023
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