CAMPBELL, Earl Christian

(b. 29 March 1955 near Tyler, Texas), powerful football running back who won the Heisman Trophy in 1977 and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Campbell grew up in poverty, the sixth of eleven children of Burk Campbell, a day laborer, and Ann Collins Campbell in rural east Texas. Earl's father died of a heart attack when Earl was eleven, and the children labored in the area's rose fields to help their mother, a house cleaner. Campbell did not participate in organized sports until junior high school, when he began his football career as a linebacker.

In his senior year at John Tyler High School, a large school classified by size as 4A, Campbell's coach moved him to halfback. He scampered for 2,036 yards and racked up twenty-eight touchdowns as he led his team to the state high school 4A title. After watching Campbell's performance in the championship game, Coach Darrell Royal of the University of Texas at Austin said, "It was a man against boys." Campbell was named to the Parade High School All-America team. He decided to attend the University of Texas at Austin despite its reputation as a school where black athletes were not welcome. During his first three years Campbell played fullback under Royal and established a reputation as one of the most devastating runners in the nation. When Fred Akers became head coach in 1977 he converted Campbell to halfback in the "I" formation. As the featured ground-gainer in the high-powered Texas offense, Campbell came into his own as a runner. He piled up 1,744 yards rushing, then a school record, and sped or plowed his way into the end zone for nineteen touchdowns. He led his team to the number-one ranking during the regular season and was awarded the Heisman Trophy as the nation's outstanding football player in 1977. Despite Campbell's heroics, Texas lost to Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl in January 1978, thus losing the national championship.

Campbell's outstanding running ability made him a coveted choice for professional teams in the 1978 draft. Selected by the Houston Oilers, he was the first college player picked in the entire draft. Campbell made an instant impact on the National Football League (NFL). His powerful running style, which toppled linebackers and safeties with equal ease, helped the Oilers become a winning team under Coach O. A. "Bum" Phillips. During his rookie year Campbell led the league in rushing with 1,450 yards, a performance that earned him Rookie of the Year honors. In the two years that followed Campbell again won rushing titles and was named the NFL Player of the Year. The Oilers did well in the playoffs behind Campbell, but they did not reach their coveted goal of a berth in the Super Bowl.

After this dazzling start, Campbell's performance during the remaining five years of his career was less spectacular. Injuries, coaching changes, and the wear and tear on his body ate away at his skills. In 1985 he was traded to the New Orleans Saints, who were now led by his former coach Bum Phillips, and finished his professional football career there. In eight seasons Campbell racked up 9,407 yards on 2,187 carries and scored seventy-four touchdowns. When he retired, he ranked eighth among the all-time leading rushers in NFL history. Among power backs in the annals of professional football, Campbell was one of the best. He had speed and determination, and broke several long runs after seemingly being stopped at the line of scrimmage. Few who saw him play will forget his ability to turn a short play into a long gain with a twist of his hips or a punishing stiff-arm. Campbell was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, in 1991, the first year in which he was eligible.

Since his retirement from football, Campbell has been affiliated with the University of Texas both in athletics and student relations. He is currently the special assistant to the athletic director, and informally known as the "Football Ambassador," at that university. In 1980 he married his childhood sweetheart, Reuna Smith; they have two sons, both of whom play football. Campbell has also been involved in several business enterprises in central Texas, including a cattle ranch, a sausage factory, and a restaurant in Austin. These enterprises failed in 2001 and he had to file for bankruptcy. He then became a partner in Earl Campbell Meat Products.

In 1990 Campbell experienced a panic attack while on a drive from Austin to Houston. He was eventually diagnosed with panic disorder. Although he enjoyed being by himself, Campbell faced an imposed solitude and even sleeping with fear. A regimen of therapy and drugs brought the condition under control. In 1999 doctors discovered that Campbell suffers from spinal stenosis, a congenital condition that could have left him paralyzed if he had been hit in the wrong place during his football years. "If I'd ever had a real physical with MRIs and all the stuff you go through now, I probably never would have played football," Campbell observed.

Campbell ranks among the greatest running backs to play football in high school, college, and the pros. He excelled at all levels and defied critics who said that his undergraduate success could not be repeated in the more demanding environment of the NFL. Modest and unassuming, he represented the best that college football could offer in the 1970s, and he performed with equal class as a professional. When Campbell was in his prime, no one could offer a better combination of quickness and power while carrying the football.

A biographical file of clippings on Campbell is at the Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin. The Tyler Rose: The Earl Campbell Story (1997), written with Paddy Joe Miller, is an autobiographical volume, as is The Earl Campbell Story: A Football Great's Battle with Panic Disorder (1999), written with John Ruane. Betty Lou Phillips, Earl Campbell: Houston Oiler Superstar (1979), is a book for children, while Sam Blair, Earl Campbell: The Driving Force (1979), interprets Campbell at the height of his career. Larry Gerlach, "Earl Campbell," in David L. Porter, ed., African-American Sports Greats: A Biographical Dictionary (1995), provides an overview of his life and career. Melissa Ludtke Lincoln, "The Real Earl Campbell Stands Up," Sport 69 (1979), and Bruce Newman, "The Roots of Greatness," Sports Illustrated (3 Sept. 1979), consider Campbell in his prime. Retrospective accounts of Campbell's life after football include Brian Davis, "Third and Long," Daily Texan (9 Oct. 1997); Don McLeese, "Hooking a Heisman," Austin American-Statesman (12 Dec. 1999); Andy Clendennen, "Where Have You Gone … The Tyler Rose Still Pounds the Ground to Succeed," Sporting News (28 June 2001); and Jan Reid, "What Did Football Teach Earl Campbell About Running a Business? Take Your Hits and Keep Moving Forward," Texas Monthly (Sept. 2001). "Former Grid Star Learns to Cope," Parade (26 Sept. 1999), discusses Campbell's experience with panic disorder.

Lewis L. Gould