Orange native and Stark High graduate R.C. Slocum, the winningest football coach in Texas A&M history and a member of the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame, will be honored by the Texas Black Sports Hall of Fame with the Rube Foster Award. Wallace High graduate Ernie Ladd will be inducted in the 2016 Class of honorees at the Parrish Restaurants Texas Black Sports Hall of Fame luncheon on Saturday, Feb. 20 at the Crowne Plaza Dallas Market Center.
The Rube Foster Award is presented to a non-African American coach, player or supporter who has contributed greatly to the Texas black sports history. Slocum and legendary Dallas Cowboy quarterback and NFL Hall of Famer Roger Staubach are co-recipients of the 2016 Rube Foster Award.
Slocum served as the Aggies’ head coach from 1989-2002 tying for the longest tenure of an Aggie head football coach with 14 years and compiling a record of 123-47-2 (.721). He owns the record for the best winning percentage in Southwest Conference games .865 (44-6-2).
Ladd was born in Rayville, La but attended school in Orange. He went to Grambling on a basketball scholarship but was drafted in 1961 by the San Diego Chargers who were in the American Football League. He was a four time all-star, a member of the 1963 AFL Championship team, and also played with the Oilers and Chiefs before becoming a wrestler. “The Big Cat” was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1995.
The Texas Black Sports Hall of Fame was established in 1996 and is housed at the African American Museum in Dallas.
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