Three Former Cowboys Named To 75th Anniversary All-Sun Bowl Team

All-Sun Bowl Team

EL PASO, Texas - Three former Hardin-Simmons football players - Joe Biggs, Ed Sprinkle and Camp Wilson - have been named to the 75^th Anniversary All-Sun Bowl team that was announced July 3 by Sun Bowl President Joe E. Valenzuela.

"The Sun Bowl Association has a long history of providing a quality postseason bowl game experience for players, coaches, administrators and fans," said Valenzuela. "These 75 players reflect that experience and those memories. This is a way for the Sun Bowl to honor those who have left those lasting memories for El Pasoans, as well as fans everywhere."

The Brut Sun Bowl, the nation's second oldest bowl game, has had 75 different programs compete in the game, which is more than any other bowl in the nation.

"Over the years, the Sun Bowl has seen so many great individual achievements on the football field, we felt it was only right to honor those that gave it their all," said Bernie Olivas, executive director of the Sun Bowl Association. "Our panel, which included members of the media and Sun Bowl officials, worked diligently to honor those who excelled in the Sun Bowl. But as always you cannot honor everyone and there were some great players that we not on the list. I am really excited how this project turned out. If nothing more, this makes for a great conversation piece for fans of college football."

In all, 41 of the 75 teams that have participated in the Brut Sun Bowl over the last 74 years are represented on the squad. It starts with El Paso's Ken Heineman from 1935 and ends with Oregon's Jonathan Stewart and Fenuki Tupou in 2007. The players on the squad represent every era of the game and represent the changes that college football has made over the years.

There are eight member of the College Football Hall of Fame on the squad - Cornelius Bennett (Alabama), Tommy Casanova (LSU), Glenn Dobbs (Tulsa), Tony Dorsett (Pittsburgh), Johnnie Johnson (Texas), Merlin Olsen (Utah State), Dave Rimington (Nebraska) and Ron Sellers (Florida State).

The list also includes the 11 players in Sun Bowl Association hall of fame called the Legends of the Sun Bowl - Bennett, Dorsett, Tony Franklin (Texas A&M), Ken Heineman (El Paso), Charley Johnson (New Mexico State), Bill Stevens (UTEP), Derrick Thomas (Alabama), Thurman Thomas (Oklahoma State), Pat Tillman (Arizona State), Alex Van Pelt (Pittsburgh) and Jesse Whittenton (UTEP).

UTEP, which has made eight Sun Bowl appearances, has nine players on the squad, followed by Texas with six players and LSU with four.

"This is a great way to kickoff our 75th anniversary," said Valenzuela. "We are looking forward to another exciting game in 2008."

The 75th Annual Brut Sun Bowl is slated for Dec. 31, 2008 at noon (MT) at Sun Bowl Stadium. The Pac-10 Conference will face either the Big 12 Conference, the Big East Conference or the University of Notre Dame. Ticket prices range from $15 to $60 and are available by calling our office at (915) 533-4416 or emailing the SBA at tickets@sunbowl.org.

Joe Biggs, Guard, Hardin-Simmons (1958) - helped lead Hardin-Simmons to its last bowl appearance as the Cowboys went undefeated in the Border Conference in 1958 ... a three-year starter at guard and linebacker while playing for head coach Sammy Baugh ... earned first team All-Border Conference honors as a junior and senior in 1957 and 1958 ... earned honorable mention All-America honors in 1958 ... drafted in the 28th round of the NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears ... played professionally with the Chicago Bears, Washington Redskins and the New York Jets ... reunited with Sammy Baugh in New York ... inducted into the HSU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995 ... a native of Eldorado, Texas.

Ed "The Claw" Sprinkle, Tackle, Hardin-Simmons (1943) - a two-time All-Border Conference selection ... blocked for the nation's leading rushing team ... led Hardin-Simmons to a 9-1-1 record with its only loss coming against Second Air Force ... a three-year letterwinner in football and also lettered twice in basketball at HSU ... played for Navy in 1943, where he led the Midshipmen to an 8-1-0 record and earned All-Eastern honors ... played 12 seasons for the Chicago Bears ... named the meanest man in professional football by Time Magazine ... considered the first true pass rusher in the NFL ... one of the original "Monsters of the Midway" ... a six-time All-Pro selection ... named to four Pro Bowls ... selected to the NFL All-Decade Team For the 1940s ... led Chicago to the 1946 NFL title ... a member of the Chicago Sports Hall of Fame ... inducted into the Hardin-Simmons Athletic Hall of Fame in 1990 ... a native of Tuscola, Texas.

Warren "Camp" Wilson, HB, Hardin-Simmons (1943) - earned first team All-America honors as a freshman after rushing for 981 yards on 161 carries to finish third in the nation in rushing ... carried the ball 24 times for 104 yards in the Sun Bowl ... transferred to Tulsa ... rushed for 573 yards on 98 carries in 1943 ... also returned three kickoffs for touchdowns in 1943, two in 1944 and one in 1945 ... led Tulsa to three bowl appearances - 1944 Sugar Bowl, 1945 Orange Bowl and 1946 Oil Bowl ... named first team All-Missouri Valley Conference in 1945 ... inducted into the Tulsa Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998 ... rushed 2,570 yards in four years as a collegian... named to the All-Oklahoma All-Bowl team in 2006 ... selected to the 50th Anniversary All-Orange Bowl Team ... played professionally with the Detroit Lions... a native of El Paso, Texas.