John Henderson (University of Texas football player)

John Paul Henderson (December 24, 1912 – October 16, 2020) [1] was an American college football player who played four seasons as a guard for the Texas Longhorns. Raised in Fort Worth, Texas, he was a member of the team from 1932 through 1936. He later worked for Humble Oil for over thirty years and eventually became the school's oldest living former football player in 2010.

John Henderson
Born:(1912-12-24)December 24, 1912
Fort Worth, Texas
Died:October 16, 2020(2020-10-16) (aged 107)
Austin, Texas
Career information
Position(s)Guard
CollegeUniversity of Texas at Austin

Early and personal life

Henderson was born December 24, 1912, and grew up in Fort Worth, Texas. He entered the University of Texas at Austin in 1932 and joined the Longhorns as a guard that same year. He remained a member of the team until 1936, when he graduated with a master's degree in education.[2] He met his wife, Charlotte Curtis, two years his junior, in class in 1934. They were married December 22, 1939, and celebrated their 80th anniversary in 2019, as the oldest living couple in the world.[3]

Football

Henderson joined the Longhorns in an era when the University of Texas neither recruited players nor offered them scholarships. To support himself, he worked at the Gregory Gymnasium two hours a day to earn $30 a month (approximately $562 in present-day terms). The University of Texas was part of the Southwest Conference at the time[2] and Henderson played his first season under coach Clyde Littlefield.[4] That year, the team finished 5-1, behind conference champions Texas Christian University, and 8-2 overall.[5] The following year, again under Littlefield, the Longhorns finished 2-3-1 in their conference and 4-5-2 overall.[6] In 1934 Littlefield was replaced by Jack Chevigny[4] and the squad went 4-1-1 in the conference, behind Rice, and 7-2-1 overall.[7] In his final season, under Chevigny, the Longhorns were 4-6 overall and 1-5 in their conference.[8]

Later life

Henderson and Curtis moved to Baytown, Texas after graduation.[4] They later married, and worked in Houston, where Charlotte found employment as a teacher and John at Humble Oil. John retired in the 1970s and in 2009 returned to Austin as the first resident of Longhorn Village, a retirement community for the school's alumni. Henderson became the Longhorns' oldest living former player in 2010[2][9] and turned 100 in 2012.[10] As of 2016, he had attended at least one Longhorn football game each season since his 1932 debut.[11] In November 2019, John, 106, and Charlotte, 105, were named world's oldest living couple by Guinness World Records.[3] John died on October 16, 2020 in Austin at the age of 107.[12]

See also

References
  1. "John Paul Henderson | Obituaries | baytownsun.com". The Baytown Sun. October 19, 2020. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  2. Young, Tiffany (November 5, 2010). "University of Texas' oldest living football player, John Henderson". Go Lake Travis. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  3. Abrahamson, Rachel Paula (November 13, 2019). "Husband, 106, and wife, 105, are named world's oldest living couple". Today. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  4. Taliaferro, Tim (May–June 2010). "Village Elder John Henderson". The Alcalde. Austin, Texas: Texas Exes: 78. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  5. "1932 Texas Longhorns Schedule and Results". College Football. Sports Reference.com. 2017. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  6. "1933 Texas Longhorns Schedule and Results". College Football. Sports Reference.com. 2017. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  7. "1934 Texas Longhorns Schedule and Results". College Football. Sports Reference.com. 2017. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  8. "1935 Texas Longhorns Schedule and Results". College Football. Sports Reference.com. 2017. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  9. Murray, Shannon (December 24, 2015). "Oldest living UT football letterman celebrates 103 years". USA Today College. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  10. Cahalan, Rose (December 4, 2012). "A UT Legend Celebrates a Century". Texas Exes. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  11. Jones, Brandon (August 31, 2016). "Oldest UT football player makes prediction on Sunday's game". KVUE. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  12. "Longtime Baytonian dies at 107". Bay Town Sun. October 17, 2020. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
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