Paul Campbell

Paul Edward Campbell (March 11, 1926 – February 10, 2005) was a college athlete who was the starting quarterback for the Texas Longhorns football team in 1948 and 1949. He was the 22nd pick overall in the 1948 NFL Draft, selected by the Philadelphia Eagles. Early life Campbell was born in Olney, Texas, but shortly thereafter moved to Breckenridge, Texas, where he was an all-district fullback and kicker on the high school football team as well as playing tennis and basketball. He was originally playing in the school band, but after showing talent in a physical education class, his coach Eck Curtis asked him to switch to football. He alternated between halfback and fullback, though occasionally threw the ball, including a game-tying touchdown pass in his last game against Waco in the 1943 Texas 2A state playoffs (they lost the game on the penetrations tiebreaker). The previous year, Campbell and Breckenridge made it all the way to the state semi-finals before losing to eventual state champion Austin. College football Campbell first enrolled at Texas A&M in February 1944, where he played tennis and basketball, but left after one semester to serve in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. That summer, stationed at South Plains Army Air Field he was selected to play for the Service All-Stars football team. Campbell was again coached by Curtis, who now utilized the newly popular T formation. The All-Stars played an exhibition game against the NFL's Brooklyn Tigers, at their training camp in Abilene. Though the All-Stars lost, Campbell played quarterback for the first time, and his two touchdown passes drew the attention of NFL scouts. He continued to play quarterback and tailback for the base's football team, the Winged Commandos, which played games against other service teams and college teams such as Texas Tech, North Texas Agricultural College and TCU. When Campbell was discharged from the service in 1946, he decided not to return to A&M and instead attended Rice, but while in Houston he took a weekend trip to Austin, where he ran into his old coach Eck Curtis, who had just been hired as an assistant coach at Texas. Campbell immediately enrolled at Texas, where his experience running the t-formation made him a valuable player. Because he had played tennis and basketball at Texas A&M, and because A&M refused to waive their claims to him, Campbell was ineligible to play those sports at Texas.