Miscellaneous
Lance Gunn was a star defensive back at the University of Texas from 1989-1992 earning All-Southwest Conference (1989-1991) and All-American (1992) honors during his time as a Longhorn. What most don’t realize is Gunn was never considered a top recruit in high school and only received one offer, which came out of the blue on an unplanned visit from Texas Head Coach David McWilliams who was in the area to visit with a pair of other recruits (future Longhorn Tommy Jeter and future Aggie Sam Adams). That meeting with McWilliams was the beginning of a journey for Gunn that lasted more than a decade and included starting in the NFL his rookie season before getting injured, followed by years of being on “The Circuit” trying to land a job with an NFL team before he finally earned a spot on a team in NFL Europe. Interestingly, it all ended much like it began, out of nowhere when Gunn opted to give up the game in order to donate a kidney to his ailing father. SHOW NOTES 4:25 – On his high school career – Last eight games I played I had an interception. Had a real good nose for the football. Kinda came into my own a little bit. 5:40 – I walk in the field house and there’s Coach David McWilliams. I recognized him from being on the cover of Texas Football magazine. 7:32 – McWilliams offers Gunn scholarship – I tell you what, Lance, we’d like to offer you a scholarship to come to UT. 13:34 – On redshirt season – Five weeks into the season I knew I was better than anybody who was playing. 16:30 – Played one game senior year in 1987 and the next time I step on the field is on national television in 1989 in Boulder, Colorado on Labor Day. I was nervous as hell. I hadn’t played and certainly hadn’t played at that level. 17:30 – There’s one play in that game and I’m beat. I’m about to reach out and tackle him and take the penalty. I’m about to dive and Stanley (Richard) comes in and knocks the hell out of him. Ball goes one way. Receiver goes other. 19:28 – On Arkansas Razorbacks in 1989 – an offensive lineman comes down and chips me late and like an idiot I punch him. And they toss me. It’s early. Maybe second quarter and I get tossed. I have to sit on the sidelines where folks are throwing spit cups at you literally. 21:37 – On 1990 season – we thought we were going to be pretty good. We returned a lot of folks. That summer is where the Shock the Nation thing came about. We had talent on both sides of the football. 27:37 – On Oklahoma Sooners 1990 Game – All four years we beat them that I was there it just so happened what they were doing offensively each and every year kind of matched up with what we did well defensively. That’s why we were able to hold them to a relatively small number of points in all four games we won. That game in particular was just a slugfest. Two teams going at it. Hitting hard. 35:17 – On 1990 game against Houston and quarterback David Klingler – (Game on YouTube) Offensively and defensively that was the best game we played all season. It was pretty intense. Had two picks in that game. 41:28 – On 1990 Cotton Bowl against Miami – Looking back on it I think we accomplished what we said we wanted to accomplish. I just think in some respects we wanted to win the conference and we did. We didn’t really adjust off that and didn’t have a great week of preparation. 43:50 – On 1991 season – Felt like we were great on defense but had some big parts to replace on offense – Keith Cash and Kerry Cash and Chris Samuels. Struggled to replace kicking game. Teams felt like if they could get a lead on us it was going to be very difficult for us to score. So the way teams played against us we could sense that really changing as the year went on. 47:22 – On David McWilliams resignation – I was shocked when they let him go. Absolutely shocked. Did not see that coming at all. 48:15 – I call him that night when it’s announced on the news and tell him that it was not his fault. It was our fault. I told him I was sorry. 51:51 – On new head coach John Mackovic – I don’t have a bad word to say about John Mackovic. My senior year. We had no issues. He was the coach. I don’t have a bad taste. Some don’t feel that way. For the limited time I was there with him, he treated me fairly and I didn’t have any issues. 53:22 – It was a big transition time for the University and its football program. I think we were somewhat still caught in the 70s and 60s and many programs had— facilities wise, and/or from an execution standpoint — kind of passed us. I will give Mackovic more credit for that. I think his entry to that started some of the aspect of improving facilities that kind of helped the program moved forward. 57:55 – On being drafted in 7th round by Cincinnati Bengals – Came in to camp kinda pissed and wanted to prove I could play. I had a good preseason and ended up being named the starter. Go from late draft pick to actually starting that first year in 1993. 58:22 – On making an NFL roster – It was the first time I realized there’s no guarantee that I’m going to be here. In college and high school as long as you make decent grades and don’t cause any trouble off the field, they keep you. That ain’t the case in the NFL. They don’t have to keep anybody. 1:01:18 – That was a hard one because it’s one of those deals where I knew I was odd man out. Really I was playing to get somewhere else and that’s an odd feeling. Doesn’t matter what I do I’m 99 percent sure and everybody else knows that I’m the odd guy out in that deal. 1:06:48 – On his time with the Frankfurt Galaxy in 1996 in NFL Europe – We ended up playing in the World Bowl against the team from Scotland and ended up losing that game in what ended up being the last professional football game I ever played in. 1:08:56 – On making a career- and life-changing decision – Mulling over going to Canada to play and during that time I find out that my dad needs a kidney. He’s about to go into renal failure. It’s either a kidney or dialysis. I go and get tested and it turns out I’m a perfect match. In that sense, it felt like maybe it’s time to go do something else. 1:10:10 – Looking back on his career – I’ve said this before if someone would have told me back in 1985 that your next 11 years of football would look like this. I would have taken it in a heartbeat. I wasn’t a particularly good football player in 8th and 9th grade and even 10th grade. But the way it turned out after that, I was very fortunate to have the career in college in particular and even an opportunity to play in the NFL even though it didn’t go quite like I wanted. I consider myself very lucky to have the kind of experience I had during that time. 1:12:00 – On induction into the Longhorn Hall of Honor in 2011 – What was really cool was I remember when I first got to campus and walking down the 2nd floor of Belmont Hall and seeing all those folks and their pictures on the wall. It feels good to be a part of that group and know how much respect I have for those guys and the names and what they had done and what they represented. And to now think there are some young men and women who come through there now and see my picture and they’re thinking the same thing that I want to be like that guy. 1:15:10 – On his son taking up baseball instead of football – He’s got some skill in baseball. He’s smarter than his dad because it’s a whole lot easier hitting baseballs than hitting people.