34 | SUNRAYS JANUARY 2014
ONLINE:
SCTXCA.ORG
O
verheard recently: “Bob Lilly
is the most famous resident of
Sun City Texas.”
Almost any local sports fan would agree,
but then again not everyone is a sports fan.
For anyone who is a fan, or would like to
be, stories and statistical charts about
Lilly’s football-playing career can be found
in many places. But, for purposes better
served here, some lesser-known aspects,
together with memorable game and sea-
son references, can give a balanced look
at Bob Lilly’s overall life, starting with
his small-town Texas birthplace. Some
sources say he was born in Olney; others
say Throckmorton, where he played three
years of high school football.
“It was Olney,” Lilly clarified. “Throck-
morton didn’t have a hospital.”
A farm boy’s beginning
After Lilly completed his junior year of
high school, Throckmorton didn’t have
him, either. A severe drought caused his
farming family to pull up stakes and
move to Pendleton, Oregon. Left behind
was a coach, Dutch Kline, who had
looked forward to having the tall, strong
farm boy back for his senior year. “Kline
taught me more fundamentals than any
coach I ever had,” Lilly acknowledged.
Among other things, “[Kline was] the one
who got me to use the four-point stance”
(a sort of physical trademark for Lilly).
But, waiting in Pendleton was another
coach, ex-Marine Don Requa, who saw
right away what Lilly could offer. In that
one school year, 1956-57, Lilly became an
all-state player on a team that reached
The
Humble
Cowboy
By Bob Wakefield
