In the spring of 1965, Jerry LeVias was recruited to SMU by legendary coach Hayden Fry. He was a lightning-quick, super-athletic football standout at Hebert High School in Beaumont, Texas.
LeVias had multiple offers from schools all over the country, but none were from the HBCUs he wanted to play for. Listed at 5-9 and 177 pounds, but closer to 5-7 and 150, many of the HBCUs thought he was too small to play college ball.
One man took a shot on LeVias. Little did Fry and LeVias know that the opportunity would turn out to be legendary in SMU and Southwest Conference history. When LeVias signed, he became the first Black football player to sign to play in the Southwest Conference.
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LeVias' time at SMU involved everything from record-setting performances on the football to racial tension and civil unjust of the highest proportion. In 1966, he helped the Mustangs win their first conference title in 18 years. He finished his career as a three-time All-SWC player, and he was an All-American -- athletically and academically -- in 1968.
LeVias, now 74, lives in Houston and still keeps up with SMU football. Because of coach June Jones, the No. 23 jersey is worn by a deserving SMU player, not just because of his contributions to the football field but also because of his character and determination. Cornerback Brandon Stephens wore the number during the 2020 season.
LeVias took time out of his schedule to speak with Damon Sayles of The HillTopics. In an exclusive, multi-part interview, LeVias spoke about SMU, playing for Fry, living as a Black college man in the 1960s, meeting Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and much more.
DS: Let's talk present-day SMU: What are your thoughts of the program and where Sonny Dykes has it going?
JL: I think Sonny is heading in the right direction. The times I've met him and talked with him, I think he has a very good understanding of what it's like in Dallas and at SMU. I think he gets his players ready, and I've heard nothing but good things about him. There's commitment there. Guys want to know when they're playing for a coach if he's committed to them education wise and not just football. That was one of the things I was most impressed with about him.
The things I've heard is that he's also going into the minority communities with billboards and talking about SMU. He's letting the people from Dallas, especially the kids in those areas, that SMU is for them, too, and that there's not that reputation of them being snobbish or not diverse.
You were in Dallas last year. Give me your take of what all you had a chance to see.
I saw him with the guys and how he talks with him. I've gone to a meeting before a game and spoke with Pastor Joe. He let me talk to the players, and he's concerned about young men's souls. I don't know what other programs do, but I'd never seen that before -- except for a guy like June Jones -- to where he was that interested in young men. What I saw at the dinner that night, I think it's great for them to get an understanding of not just about football and school but about religion and their souls.
Doing the research, it's hard for me to fathom that you were on campus 55 years. Getting on campus, what was that whole experience like? Particularly, what was it like for you being the first Black man to get a scholarship to the Southwest Conference?
For me, it wasn't that. I wasn't trying to break any records or trying to be the first, and when I found out I was the first, I asked, "Whoa, what did I do here?" What sold me on everything was Hayden Fry and the people I met at SMU. We didn't do all the things I did on other visits, where some guy would take you out to party and show you the girls. I went to SMU, and Coach Fry had me in a seminar talking about education and what it's going to be like.
One of the first things Coach Fry told me was I was 18 or 19 years old, and if I was lucky the first time a coach talked to me about the rest of my life and not just about football. It gave me a new emphasis: What am I going to do with my life?
Basically, I didn't know where, who or what SMU was about. When my dad first asked me where SMU was located, I told him it was in Dallas. My dad said, "Oh, that's where they shot the president." It was a different story, because at the time, I'd never heard about SMU. But the conversation Coach Fry and I had, and the conversation he had with my parents and grandparents, was all about me as a person and me getting an education. From my experience I had at SMU, it was all about how education prepared you for tomorrow. All of the other offers from different schools, no one really talked about education and what I was going to do with the rest of my life.
Go a little more into detail with that.
They didn't talk about being Black, being the first or none of that stuff. To them, it didn't matter. I met professors at the university. I don't know if recruits get a chance to meet professors. I met the president of the university, Willis Tate. I met the dean of men, Dean Howell. The experience of being the first Black [scholarship player], I had my experiences and my pains I had to deal with, but I had good communication with Coach Fry, the professors, the president, the dean of men ... I had people I could talk to. They made sure I was in a nice surrounding of good people I talked to, not necessarily because I was a good football player, but because I was a young man going to SMU.
The thing about SMU, I looked forward to the day when they realized what they did for diversity and integration in sports. Everyone wants to talk about the Southeast Conference and Bear Bryant and everything else. The South didn't even think about Black players until then. Back then, when you started showing up on Main Street, that's when everybody started getting worried. And to be a private school, some of the experience the students had then was with their maids and chauffeurs, but that was the reputation then.
A young man from Beaumont coming to foreign land, big-city Dallas. What was that adjustment process like?
I guess when talking to people, it was like being a duck-billed platypus. What the hell's a duck-billed platypus? It's the only living mammal that could lay eggs but it could not conform to its environment. So I had to learn to make the adjustments. High school was nothing like college because you're on your own, but I had people helping me to make the adjustments and alter my attitude about everything. I had the great privilege of meeting Dr. Martin Luther King, and I still live by what he told me: Always keep your emotions in control.
Getting the chance to meet Dr. King and to simply converse with him: How were you with him, and what kind of emotions went through your head.
I was 19 years old, and at the same time, we didn't have the same access to communication as people have today. I mean, you'd see him on television or when they were riding buses, or you'd see them getting beaten or hit with water hoses on the 6 o'clock news. It wasn't happening to us in Beaumont, because we were kind of sheltered. We knew that if you lived on this part of town, you better be across the tracks before 5 o'clock.
Meeting a guy who was bringing about change, and with the times where you saw all the things happening to him, you never heard him talking negatively or about shootings. He did everything with his soul and with his mind. He was always talking about your mind, your body and your soul getting into different zones. He wanted you to get into the good book and follow the word of God. That was one of the things that set me apart; I had a strong religious background, and I had a coach who believed in religion, and he believed in my grandmother. In high school, my grandmother wanted me to be like David in the Bible.
No. 23 is prestigious at SMU. Why was 23 the number for you?
Religion is why the No. 23 stood for something. It wasn't just a number. Psalms 23, that's what I read. That's what I remembered. The Serenity Prayer: "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change those I can't, and the wisdom to know the difference." That's how I was brought up. Without the good book and the teachings and friends of people, and with Coach Fry, Willis Tate and the dean of men and my professors ... I didn't do this by myself.
You have gone on record to describe your time at SMU, at times, as "pure hell." Do you care to go in detail with that?
People didn't want to sit by me, didn't want to talk to me. They called me the N word. I had one young man when I was in class, and he asked a question: He asked, 'Is it true that negroes' brains are smaller than that of whites?' I'm going, 'Where is this guy from?' You just take a deep breath and ask yourself what you're going to say. But I remember the teacher saying, 'I'm going to take Mr. LeVias' child. Give me the run of the world to where I can educate him better. Then, I'll take your child and just work him, not feed him very much or give him freedom. Which one will you think will be more educated?' And then, she went on with the class.
It was tough, but I had people who were educating me. They were exposing me to different things and different people, and I greatly appreciated that. But ... it wasn't easy, I'll say that. People don't realize what I went through and what I still go through because of what I had to endure.
Check out The HillTopics Thursday for Part 2 of the one-on-one interview with Jerry LeVias.
