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Coach David Lynn was a standout football player at Eunice, where he graduated in 1966. During his high school years, he was named to the All-State Football team and was invited to play in the NMHSCA All-Star Football game in 1966. His Eunice Cardinal team would reach the state final game in 1963 and 1964 and won the State Championship in 1965.
He went from there to play football at New Mexico State University, where he was a 3 year starter, at defensive tackle and center under coaches Jim Wood and Warren Woodson. He made the most of his opportunity and earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from New Mexico State in 1971 and a Masters Degree from Eastern New Mexico University in 1977. During his coaching career, he has served as a teacher and administrator at various times as well as being either an assistant coach or head coach. Coach Lynn began his 40 plus year coaching career in 1970 as a graduate assistant with NMSU. He has since served as an assistant coach at NMSU, Muleshoe TX, Lamesa TX, Seymour TX, Tularosa and NMMI and has been head coach at Hagerman, Texico, Eunice, Tularosa and NMMI, with his teams earning 167 wins against 122 losses. This total leaves him just outside the top 10 list of wins for New Mexico high school football coaches. His teams reached the state finals seven times, taking home the championship once at Hagerman and two times at Eunice. Coach Lynn has been named District Coach of the Year 8 times, New Mexico High School Coaches Association Football Coach of the Year in 1997-1998. He was named to the NMHSCA Hall of Fame in 2014. He has two sons in coaching, Josh Lynn is currently the head coach at Eastern New Mexico University and Jeff is head coach at Roswell High School. Congratulations to Coach Lynn for your fine career.
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Daniel Dario Villanueva was born in Tucumcari, Quay County, New Mexico on November 5, 1937. His parents were migrant farm workers. He credited his humble heritage with helping him to appreciate the value of hard work. He was a good student and athlete as an amateur. He graduated from Calexico High School and attended Reedly College in California before accepting a football scholarship at New Mexico State University. At NMSU, he was part of the 1959 and 1960 teams that were some of the most successful in school history, winning back to back Sun Bowl victories. His senior year, they were also undefeated.
Following his graduation from NMSU, Danny signed as an undrafted free agent with the Los Angeles Rams where he would play five seasons before losing the starting job to Bruce Gossett. He was a double threat player, doing the punting and place kicking for his teams almost his entire career. While at the Rams, Danny set a club record for the highest punting average, 45.5 yards, a record that would stand for 45 seasons until 2007. He was one of the last straight ahead (non soccer-style) kickers. Following his tenure with the Rams, Danny was traded to the Dallas Cowboys, ironically in a deal that involved another New Mexico player, Tommy McDonald, where he would play another three seasons before retiring after the 1967 season. He set club records for the Cowboys, connecting on 100 consecutive PATs, scoring the most points in a season with 107 and making 56 consecutive PATs in a season with 56. Villanueva was one of the first NFL players of Mexican American descent. The Rams management capitalized on this by piping bullfighting music though the PA system when he came onto the field. Though they seem rather ridiculous now, he was also given nicknames like "El Kickador" that referenced his heritage. His career record in the NFL was 85 out of 160 field goals made, 236 out of 241 PATs made, 488 punts for a career average of 42.8 yards (and no blocks). His career was somewhat short compared to other kickers. He ranks 101st in career PATs made, 130th in career field goals made and 94th in career punting yardage. His 42.8 career yards per punt ranks 49th in the NFL. Following his retirement, Danny became a broadcaster with KNBC, the first Latino broadcaster for the network. Newsman Tom Brokaw tells of having the privilege of choosing Villanueva to play on his team in a pickup touch football game between his newsroom and the LA Times. Brokaw was the quarterback and it wasn't going so well for the team. Danny volunteered to "take some snaps" and true to form, he connected with former LA Laker Tommy Hawkins for a touchdown on his first play. Villanueva later became part-owner of the Spanish International Network. In the 1980s, this entity evolved into Univision, the sale of which made him financially secure. Upon his retirement he devoted his energy to assisting needy individuals and families in the Hispanic community. Villaneuva's honors include being inducted into the National Hispanic Hall of Fame, the Management Hall of Fame of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Hispanic Sports Foundation for Education, Inc.'s National Hispanic Hall of Fame. He was 77 years old at the time of his death from complications of a stroke, but he left a legacy of hard work and generosity that will live on.  Trent Dimas is the final 2014 inductee to the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame to be profiled here. He was a Olympic gold medalist in gymnastics.
Dimas was born in 1970 in Albuquerque and is a graduate of Eldorado High School. At the time of his Olympic appearance he was a nationally and internationally ranked athlete having competed in the Goodwill Games and Pan American Games. He had won the American Cup and was the U.S. Men’s Vault Champion, Parallel Bars Champion and Horizontal Bar Champion. His Olympic moment came on the last day of the last event of the Barcelona Olympics in 1992. The American team was languishing in 6th place. Dimas was next to last on the list of performers after being the final person selected for the team at the Olympic Trials in Maryland months before. Trent Dimas’ high bar routine lasted only one minute and is shown here in the YouTube link below. Trent Dimas Olympic Gold Medal Performance, 1992 The video only takes about 2 minutes to watch from start to finish and is well worth the time. It is an electrifying performance that energized his team and the crowd. Dimas scored 9.875 out of a possible 10. This was only the second time that an American gymnast had one a gold medal at an Olympics held outside the United States, the first being Frank Kriz in Paris in 1924. It is also believed that this is the first time that an American of Hispanic heritage had won an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport of gymnastics. This was Dimas’ only appearance in the Olympic Games. Before the Olympics, Trent and his brother Ted had entered University of Nebraska but Trent had left school after his freshman year to pursue his Olympic dream. After the Olympics he went on to graduate from Columbia University with a BA degree in Political Science and University of New Mexico School of Law. At this writing, he is living in Albuquerque and serving as Director of Development for the University of New Mexico Foundation.  George Young, was born in Roswell and graduated from Western High School in Silver City, and then went on to have a record-breaking career at the University of Arizona. Western High School was the former location of Silver High School. The 1939 structure is no longer there, but is now the location of a residence hall of Western New Mexico University.
At the University of Arizona, he began running the 3000 meter steeplechase and finished second in that event in the National AAU championship. He graduated from Arizona in 1959 and was named outstanding athlete of the year. Upon his graduation, Young qualified for the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. That year, he lost in the preliminary rounds of the 3000 meter steeplechase event after tripping over a hurdle, thus disqualifying him for the finals, but the following year he broke the American record by completing the event in 8:31.0. In the 1964 Tokyo games, he improved his record in the event. He also competed in the 1968 and 1972 Summer Olympics, becoming the first U.S. runner to compete in four Olympics. At the 1968 Olympics held at the high altitude venue in Mexico, he competed in the marathon and the steeplechase, placing 16th in the former event and winning the bronze medal in the latter. Young went on to compete in the following two Summer Olympics. Along the way, he set two world records for the indoor two and three mile. During his career, he held age records in various events. At age 34, he became the oldest person at the time to run a mile in under four minutes with a time of 3:59.6. Young went on to coach seven sports during his 25 year tenure at Central Arizona College, winning 14 championships there, including the 1988 national cross country title. In 1988, Young was named the National Junior College Athletic Association Coach of the Year. He became a member of the National Track & Field Hall of Fame in 1981 and the National Distance Running Hall of Fame in 2003. He was honored in 2014 by being named to the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame. His biography was penned in 1975 by author Frank Dolson in his book "Always Young," available from various sources. To learn more about George Young, please see his interview at www.garycohenrunning.com. Rocky Arroyo was born in 1925 to Mexican immigrant parents then living in El Paso, Texas. He was an exceptional student, and skipping grades allowed him to enter El Paso High School at the age of 12. There he continued to excel with his academic and athletic skills. He played on the Texas state championship team that defeated Abilene High for the title. He graduated from El Paso High at age 16 and first attended the Texas School of Mines and Metallurgy, now known as University of Texas at El Paso, for one summer before transferring to University of New Mexico.
At University of New Mexico, Arroyo competed on basketball teams that were to win Border Conference championships in 1943-1944 and 1944-1945, the only two championships ever won by UNM. While attending, Arroyo played varsity football, baseball and basketball and earned an electrical engineering degree at the age of 20. When asked by his granddaughter in an audio interview about how he got his nickname, he replied that he was given it by UNM Athletic Director George "Blanco" White. Blanco had asked Arroyo his name and when he told him "Vicente Arroyo," Blanco asked, "You mean like the arroyos we have around here?" He proceeded to name him Rocky, and the nickname stuck. Arroyo went on to become the head coach at Our Lady of Sorrows High School in Bernalillo in 1946 while finding time to also compete on the Mexican Olympic basketball team that same year. Our Lady of Sorrows was a Catholic High School and the only high school in Bernalillo for many years until Bernalillo built a public school in 1950s. Despite his youth, he was appealing as a teacher because of his degree in science which allowed him to teach mathematics. He also fluently spoke both English and Spanish. His teams competed well against the larger schools in the Rio Grande Valley, including St. Mary's, Albuquerque High and Highland High, once defeating all three in back to back games. He later coached one season (1954) at Valley High School before leaving education for the business world. He never lost his love for athletics and served for many years as a official at the high school and college level. Arroyo officiated at the New Mexico State Basketball Tournament at least 6 times between 1960-1972 and for the Western Athletic Conference, he officiated in football for four Sun Bowl games and one Japan Bowl, Peach Bowl, Fiesta Bowl and Rose Bowl and numerous other college games. He had a business career as an engineer at Sandia Corporation and also founded other varied businesses in the Albuquerque area. Rocky Arroyo was inducted into the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame in its 2014 class. Now retired, Arroyo resides in Albuquerque. [Addendum: Rocky Arroyo passed away in January, 2015, shortly after this was written.] This page has migrated to: http://nmsportsblog.com/2014/07/19/owen-smaulding/
 Dr. Larry White graduated from Hobbs High School in Lea County, New Mexico in 1950. He played center and linebacker at University of New Mexico, having the distinction of being the first All-American football player from that university. In 1952, the Lobos earned a 7-2 record despite not having a strong offense. That year the Lobo defense was ranked number one in the nation, allowing 46 points the entire season with White on defense.
A well rounded student, Dr. White played oboe in the Albuquerque Symphonic Orchestra the UNM Symphonic Band while concentrating on his studies, graduating with a degree in biology. Dr. White speaks of this with typical humor when he says, "People on the football team remember me as a great oboist and people in the orchestra remember me as a great football player." In those days, things were much different in the NFL as salaries were much lower than they are today. The two time UNM All-American was drafted by the Chicago Cardinals of the NFL in 1954, but instead of pursuing a career in the NFL, he chose instead to attend Baylor Dental College in Dallas, Texas, earning his DDS degree in 1959. Dr. White attributes much of his personal make up to lessons learned when he was a youth. He grew up in Hobbs, playing center and linebacker on Coach Duane Fisher's teams where the Eagles won two State Championships in 1948 and 1949 and went to the final again in 1950, losing to the Cavemen of nearby Carlsbad. He also was a starter for Coach Ralph Tasker's basketball teams. Dr. White's interest in the dental profession began with a painful extraction when he was 10, after the local dentist failed to numb the area. A couple of years later however, he had a much more favorable experience with Dr. Jim Reynolds of Lubbock, Texas which led him to contemplate going into the dental field. Following his graduation from dental school, he established dental offices in Hobbs, Roswell and Portales, New Mexico and branches in Denver City, Andrews and Seminole, Texas. After practicing dentistry for a number of years, he returned to Baylor to earn an advanced degree in orthodontics from 1966 to 1968. In addition to practicing orthodontics for many years, he established the orthodontics department at University of Texas San Antonio and has also served on the faculty at Baylor Dental School. Dr. White credits many influential people as his mentors including his high school football coach Duane Fisher and Dr. Jim Reynolds. Life lessons learned include being willing to submit to a team concept, learning to cooperate with others, having discipline and organization, learning to do the right things in the right way. He firmly believes that psychological and physical preparedness can often overcome superior talent and that nowhere is this illustrated better than in team sports. Dr. White's honors include being named All-American two years at University of New Mexico, being inducted into the New Mexico Hall of Honor, being named by Sports Illustrated as one of the Top 50 Athletes of the Decade in New Mexico. He and his wife currently reside in Dallas, Texas. Copies of his book "Eagles Once Soared" may be obtained from the Lea County Museum in Lovington, New Mexico, and from Amazon.com.  While we generally focus on athletes and other individuals who played sports below the college level in New Mexico, from time to time we feature others who are also connected to the state in some unique way. This post features Don Perkins of Albuquerque. Donald Anthony Perkins' connection to New Mexico was that he attended and graduated from the University of New Mexico and still resides in Albuquerque. Perkins was born and raised in Waterloo, Iowa and at Waterloo West Hight School he was a multi-sport athlete, playing basketball, football and running track, lettering in the latter two sports. Playing both offense and defense in football, his athletic honors included being named to the Iowa All-State team on offense. He was president of the student body during his senior year and has been inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame – Waterloo, Iowa. Don was recruited and coached at UNM by NFL Hall of Famer Marv Levy during his short tenure as head coach. Levy has remarked that Perkins was one of the greatest players he ever coached and made note of Perkins in his NFL Hall of Fame acceptance speech.Perkins played his college football at the University of New Mexico, where he played halfback and was also a kickoff returner. At UNM, Perkins was an offensive standout, serving as a running back, receiver and special teams player. He was a three-time All-Skyline Conference selection from 1957–1959, and he was Skyline Sophomore of the Year in 1957. In 1958, he led the nation in kickoff returns. He was only University of New Mexico's second All-American, selected for his play in 1959, a year in which he was 8th in the nation in scoring with 74 points, first in the nation in kickoff returns, averaging 34.7 yards per return. Perkins was a three-year letterman (1957-59) and a two-time All-Skyline Conference selection (1958-59). His versatility allowed him to accumulate 3,466 all-purpose yards in his career. The Lobos retired his jersey number 43 in 1959, the first time a University of New Mexico player was so honored. He ranks 14th in the UNM career rushing list with 2,001 yards. He was inducted into the University of New Mexico Hall of Honor and the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame. Perkins went on to play a leading role with the young Dallas Cowboys club in its early years, from 1961-68. He had a stellar career. His honors included being named to the Pro Bowl 6 times, being selected as a First Team All Pro in 1962, being named NFL Rookie of the year in 1961. He was the first Cowboy to rush for more than 6,000 yards. In his career, Perkins rushed for 6,217 career yards on 1500 attempts and had 1,310 receiving yards on 146 attempts. He was inducted into the Ring of Honor at Texas Stadium alongside his quarterback Don Meredith in 1976. Only Bob Lilly was inducted ahead of Meredith and Perkins, in 1975. He was inducted into the State of Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2006. Although he was considered a superb blocker, he finished in the NFL’s top 10 rushing in each of his eight seasons in the league. On September 24 1961, he became the first running back in Cowboys’ history to run for 100 yards in a game, when he rushed for 108 yards on 17 carries against the expansion Minnesota Vikings. Perkins’ best year was in 1962, when he rushed for 945 yards and seven touchdowns, becoming the first Cowboy to make the All-Pro team. He was coming off his two best all-around seasons when he decided to retire prior to the 1969 season. At the time only four other NFL running backs had rushed for more than his 6,217 yards. Even though he played the fullback position at 5-10 204-pounds, his ten career 100-yard games ranked fourth in club history, he led the Dallas Cowboys in rushing in six of his eight seasons – from 1961 to 1965, then again in on the NFL’s All-Time Rushing list. Perkins has served as an analyst for CBS Sports, a football analyst for CBS Sports, ABC Sports, and independent networks. He has been a sportscaster for local radio and TV stations. Locally, Don was the Director of the Work Incentive Program for the State of New Mexico Department of Human Services from 1972 to 1985. He served on both the Executive Board of US West and the Board of Trustees for University Hospital from 1990 to 1993. Don has been active in local theater, public speaking, broadcasting at the local and national level, and is presently retired from the City of Albuquerque. For more information: Don's college statistics, Sports-Reference.com Don's page from the Dallas Cowboy Ring of Honor Don's pro statistics, Pro-Football-Reference.com John Watson is the individual for whom Watson Memorial Stadium in Hobbs (Lea County), New Mexico is named. The stadium is just about to enjoy its 50th anniversary. John moved to Hobbs with his family, Mr. and Mrs. Finn Watson, in 1937 when he was 6 years old. His father started Watson Truck and Supply in Hobbs and the company still operates under the leadership of the family. The company began as an International Harvester truck dealership in 1943 and expanded in 1944 to include a General Motors truck and automobile dealership.
Watson was an outstanding athlete. At Hobbs High School, he earned 12 varsity letters in football, basketball, track and baseball. He was named to the 1948 Football All-Star Team and received more votes than any other player, 135 points from listings on 23 of 37 ballots. His head football coach, Duane Fisher, tied in the voting for Coach of the Year. Fisher had come to Hobbs in the late 1940s and was credited for turning the then-floundering program around, leading the Eagles to back to back state championships in football in 1948 and 1949. John Watson went on to begin a promising career at University of New Mexico and quickly rose to be the number one tailback on the squad, but his college career ended before the 1952 season due to a severe knee injury. He remained in school and in 1953, he earned a bachelor's degree in business administration. Watson returned to Hobbs to join the family business and quickly became a civic leader. In 1967 he was named Outstanding Young Man of the Year in Hobbs and was named Lion of the Year in 1955 and 1956 by the Hobbs Downtown Lions Club. He was president of Watson Truck and Supply when he died at the age of 42 after a long illness. He was honored in 1965 by the Hobbs Chamber of Commerce for his efforts in promoting New Mexico Junior College, which at that time was the only junior college in New Mexico. He was an original member of the steering committee that worked to enact legislation and encourage support in the community for the institution. Watson has been called the father of the Lea County junior college. It was said by founding trustee Ben Alexander that "it was this man's determination and tenacity that overcame many of the obstacles and setbacks in the long road to the creation of NMJC." The John Watson Student Apartments on the campus was dedicated in his honor in 2011. Watson Memorial Stadium was dedicated and named for John Watson in 1964. With a capacity of 15,000, it remains the stadium with the largest seating capacity in the state.  Ralph Kiner was a 2014 inductee into the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame. Ralph's sole connection to New Mexico is that he was born in 1922 in Santa Rita, now a ghost town but at the time, a copper mining town in Grant County, New Mexico. He attended high school in Alhambra, California and then attended Pasadena City College and University of Southern California, signing a contract with the Pittsburg Pirates in 1941. Like many other players, he entered the armed forces after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Kiner served in the United States Navy as a pilot in World War II, afterwards making his debut with the Pirates on April 16, 1946 and playing his final game September 25, 1955.
During his 10 year career, he played with the Pirates, the Chicago Cubs and the Cleveland Indians. He was an everyday player, most often in the outfield, averaging about 144 games per year. He was also a good hitter with a lifetime batting average of .279 and 369 home runs. Though the records have since been surpassed, he broke three of Babe Ruth's hitting records, being the fastest player to hit 100, 200 and 300 home runs. He also led the National League in home runs for seven consecutive years and all of Major League Baseball for six. His career eventually ended due to injuries and Kiner was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1975. Ralph is probably better known to most baseball fans as an announcer, calling every game of the New York Mets from the team's inception until his death earlier this year on February 6, 2014. During his 53 seasons in broadcasting, he was known for his wit, his humor and also for his tongue-twisting and wrongly-worded expressions, some of which are listed below: "If Casey Stengel were alive today, he'd be spinning in his grave." "The Mets have gotten their leadoff batter on only once this inning." "On Father's Day, we again wish you all happy birthday." "Solo homers usually come with no one on base." "There is a lot of heredity in that family." A sample of Kiner's many links and references: Career statistics on Baseball-Reference.com. Broadcasting quotes from the Baseball Almanac. |
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We post articles of general interest about New Mexico athletes, coaches and sports. Some names will already be familiar to you. Others are perhaps not as well known, but we hope you enjoy them all. Archives
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