Houston Cougar Greats, from Mark Hoyle

Mark Hoyle must a) own everything and b) have a great filing system. About three days after had I posted a couple of cards of the late Robert Newhouse I got these in the mail from Mark. As I noted previously Newhouse was a University of Houston star before he was drafted by the Cowboys. That post with the two cards of 'House' is here.

Mark's four cards actually complete the entire run of Robert Newhouse's Topps cards. Since the Cowboys have traditionally avoided wearing their blue jerseys the 1980 card at the top is not surprisingly the only one of the six that shows him wearing the 'road' blue. I likely owned a couple of these at one point as I had a nice Houston alum collection but somewhere along the line it was broken up and dispersed to the four winds. So I went from zero Newhouse cards to his whole Topps checklist in about 10 days.

You can usually tell by Newhouse's hair if the shot is a sideline game picture or not. The '80 and the '78 below show him with a bad case of 'helmet hair'.

This next card is from 1976 and it shows him as I most remember him at UH. Topps' football designs of that era all tend to run together in my mind....probably because I wasn't collecting football cards then. The ones I have are mostly in my fantasy football player collection. It also occurs to me that since my number all through school was also 44 that may be why I was a fan of House.

And finally here is Topps' 1979 Newhouse card. As is almost always the case one can't tell much by his expression.

As a neat little 'bonus' mark included a card of former UH hoops star Don Chaney. Cheney accompanied Elvin Hayes onto the UH campus and in fact he has told the story of being driven to Houston with Big E by Guy Lewis and Lewis' daughter. Chaney maintains he was a bit more 'worldly' than Hayes was and Elvin doesn't deny that. 

Chaney played for some great Boston Celtic clubs after his days in Houston and won two NBA titles there. He later coached for four different clubs in the NBA and won Coach of the Year with the Rockets in 1990/91. 

Once again, many thanks, Mark. You've really sent me some great stuff.

RIP Robert Newhouse

The 'Big Man On Campus' when I arrived at the University of Houston back in 1970 was running back Robert Newhouse. And I mean 'big man' in every sense of the word. He was the Coogs' top running back, and despite the fact that his numbers his first year or so were not spectacular, he was a fan favorite for the incredible power with which he ran. He had a waist of maybe 32 inches but his thighs were about 44 inches. He just plowed through blocks.

Known by everyone as 'House' he passed away a week ago at the age of 64. He had had heart problems for quite some time and was awaiting a transplant but was never well enough to undergo the surgery.

In his senior year he set a UH rushing yardage record that still stands. And it wasn't known by many that he was playing with a painful broken pelvis. Those were the days before 'redshirting' and if he had sat out he would not have had another year of eligibility. I was working at the Athletic building then was able to talk to House a few times. Truly a nice guy. He was inducted into the UH Athletic Hall of Honor in 1977.

And to underscore the difference that 40 years has made...when he was picked by the Cowboys in the 1972 draft he wasn't aware of it until my buddy Sam bumped into him at the University Center and told him about it. And House was a second round pick!

I had picked these cards up on eBay for a buck apiece. That's a 1977 up top, a 1981 below. He played for the Cowboys through the 1983 season. The Cowboys' website posted a nice tribute to 'House' after his death.

One of the highlights of Newhouse's career was throwing a TD pass to Golden Richards in Super Bowl XII in 1977. 

There is no card of Newhouse as a Houston Cougar that I'm aware of so I threw one together just because. I have neither the talent nor software to do a proper job so this will have to do for now.

And this is as good a time as any to post my NFL patch. It's my newest addition to my most casual of all collections.