Steve Worster, one of the famed running backs in Texas’ vaunted Wishbone attack of the late ’60s and early ’70s, died Saturday at the age of 73.
Worster (No. 30 in the above picture) played for the Longhorns from 1968-70. Three years was it back then as freshmen were not eligible to play varsity ball.
He took part in Texas’ legendary 15-14 victory over Arkansas in 1969, a December triumph that saw then-President Richard Nixon crown the Longhorns national champions after the game.
To top that, he ran for 155 yards on 20 carries in the Longhorns’ 21-17 victory over Notre Dame in the 1970 Cotton Bowl.
Worster rushed for 2,353 yards and 36 touchdowns on 457 carries. With 898 rushing yards and a then UT record and SWC-leading 14 TD runs on 160 carries (5.6 yards per carry) in 10 games as a senior. One must remember the Wishbone offense divvied carries among three backs and the quarterback
Worster finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting as a senior behind Stanford’s Jim Plunkett, Notre Dame’s Joe Theismann and Archie Manning of Ole Miss.
Hall of Fame and legendary Longhorn Sports Information Director Bill Little says “Long before the buzz phrase ‘GOAT’ became a moniker for the ‘Greatest of All Time,’ there was Steve Worster. He was arguably the best that ever was in his time. For those who saw him play in the late 1960s as an All-American fullback at Texas, if he wasn’t the ‘best’ to play the game at Texas, no one was better.”
Although Worster was chosen by the Los Angeles Rams as the 12th pick in the fourth round of the 1971 draft (the Rams’ fourth pick overall), he did not play in the NFL. Worster spent one year (1971) in the CFL, playing for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats,