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ROONE ARLEDGE The president of ABC Sports from 1968 to 1986, Arledge was credited with creating some of the most iconic television programming in broadcast history including Monday Night Football and 20/20. Arledge, along with the colorful college football analyst Beano Cook, came up with the idea to move the annual Arkan- sas vs. Texas game from its usual October date to the end of the season. They guessed that both teams could be unde- feated and highly ranked. Arledge later took over as president of ABC News and was with the broadcast company until 1998. Arledge died in 2002 at the age of 71. BEANO COOK Cook was the media director at ABC Sports in 1968 when he was approached by ABC Sports president Roone Arledge about creating a made-for-television college football game fea- turing the top two teams in the country. Cook studied the schedules of the teams expected to contend for the national championship and targeted Arkansas and Texas as potentially be- ing undefeated at the end of the regular season. The two old Southwest Conference rivals had always played in mid-October, but Cook con- vinced the schools to move the game of the end of the season. The late Texas coach Darrell Royal said Cook and Arledge were "smarter than a tree full of owls" for setting this win- ner-take-all game almost a year before it was actually played. Cook later worked for ESPN from 1986 to 2012. Cook died in 2012 at the age of 81. PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON The 37th president of the United States, Nixon took office in January 1969 to lead a country in turmoil with racial strife and the Vietnam War. Although Nixon had defeated Hubert Humphrey in a close race in November 1968, he was look- ing for ways to increase his popularity with young voters. When it was suggested that at- tending the biggest college football game of the season and presenting the winning team with the national championship plaque would put him in the spotlight, he jumped at the chance. Although not documented, it is thought to be the first time a sitting president had attended a college football game pitting the No. 1 vs. No. 2 teams in the country. Nixon was re-elect- ed in 1972 by a landslide over George McGov- ern, Nixon resigned the presidency two years later after the Watergate scandal. Nixon died in 1994 at the age of 81. JAMES STREET The senior quarterback for Texas led the Longhorns on the game-winning drive in the fourth quarter in the 15-14 win. Street was the wishbone quarterback known more for his running ability than his passing prowess, but his gutty fourth-down pass to Randy Peschel set up the winning touchdown. Street also scored on a 42-yard run earlier in the fourth quarter. Street led Texas to the 1970 Cotton Bowl championship a few weeks later. He was 20-0 as the starting quarterback at Texas. He was also a standout baseball player at Texas and was drafted by the Cleveland Indians, but never played professional baseball. He is the father of relief pitcher Huston Street who led Texas to a national championship in baseball and played professionally for several teams. James Street died in 2013 at the age of 65. BILL MONTGOMERY The junior quarterback for Arkansas set al- most every school passing record in his three seasons as a Razorback and led the program to a 28-5 record as one of the winningest quarterbacks in program history. Montgom- ery led Arkansas to a win over Georgia in the 1969 Sugar Bowl as a sophomore and was an All-Southwest Conference selection as a senior in 1970. He was inducted into the Ar- kansas Sports Hall of Fame. After his college career ended, Montgomery, who graduated from Carrolton (Texas) R.L. Turner High School, returned to the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex where he worked in real estate. FREDDIE STEINMARK The Texas defensive back was one of just a handful of players on the 1969 roster not from Texas, but he will always be a Longhorn legend. Steinmark played in the Big Shootout despite a painful, nagging left leg injury. Two days after Texas defeated Arkansas, Steinmark had the leg X-rayed where a tumor was found just above his knee. Six days after the big game, doctors amputated his leg at the hip. Nixon, who had met Steinmark after the game, called the hos- pital in Houston after the surgery to wish him well. On crutches less than three weeks later. Steinmark was on the sideline for the 1970 Cotton Bowl. He battled cancer for another year before the disease took his life on June 6, 1971, at the age of 22. That same year, Nixon created the National Cancer Act, getting the inspiration from Steinmark's illness. FRANK BROYLES The architect of the Razorbacks football pro- gram led Arkansas to its greatest run from 1958-1976 as the head football coach. Over the course of his career at Arkansas. Broyles compiled a 144-58-5 record at Arkansas that included the 1964 national championship, seven Southwest Conference championships and two Cotton Bowl championships. Broyles stepped down from coaching to focus on being Arkansas' athletic director after the 1976 season. Broyles also spent eight years as a color commentator for ABC Sports college football games. Broyles died in 2017 at the age of 92. DARRELL ROYAL The Texas coach led the program to three national championships (1963, 1969, 1970) and a record of 165-47-5. Over 23 seasons as a college coach at Mississippi State, Washington and Texas, Royal never had a losing season. Like Broyles, Royal was also the athletic direc- tor at Texas from 1962-1980. Royal and Broyles were close friends off the field, and ironically they coached their final game against each oth- er in 1976. Royal died in 2012 at the age of 88. OTHER DIGNITARIES IN THE CROWD In addition to a sitting president, there was also a future president in the crowd as con- gressman (and future president) George H.W. Bush was part of the Nixon contingent along with National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger, Arkansas Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller and Texas Gov. John Connally, who just six years earlier was shot as a passenger in the car with Presi- dent John F. Kennedy in Dallas when Kennedy was assassinated. Also on hand for the big game were evangelist Billy Graham and Harlan Sanders, also known as Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame. In the broadcast booth that foggy, cold De- cember day was legendary college football coach Bud Wilkinson, who coached the Uni- versity of Oklahoma to three national champi- onships and a 47-game winning streak from 1953-57. Wilkinson and broadcaster Chris Schenkel called the game for ABC Sports. The duo also called the Game of the Century in 1966 Notre Dame vs. Michigan, and the 1971 Big 8 clash between Oklahoma and Nebraska. — NWA Democrat-Gazette The Major Players Arledge Broyles A brief look at some important figures, on and off the field, during the game File photo/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette President Richard Nixon watches Dec. 6, 1969, during the Arkansas-Texas game in Fayetteville. File photo/Shiloh Museum of Ozark History/Springdale News Collection/Jerry BiAzO Texas quarterback James Street throws to randy Peschel for 39 yards on fourth-and-3 in the fourth quarter of a game against Arkansas on Dec. 6, 1969. The play, called 53 Veer Pass, was arguably the most famous college football play of the 1960s and set up the No. 1 Longhorns' game-winning score in their game against the No. 2 razorbacks. File photo/Shiloh Museum of Ozark History /Northwest Arkansas Times Collection Texas coach Darrell Royal (right) talks with Bud Wilkinson prior to a game against Arkansas on Dec. 6, 1969. Wilkinson, who called the game for ABC, was royal's head coach while royal was a player at Oklahoma in the 1940s. 8S v FriDAy, DeCeMBer 6, 2019 ∂ ∂ The Big Shootout