Jack Pardee, who was one of the top players to come out Bear Bryant's "Junction Boys" teams at Texas A&M, died on Monday at age 76, according to the Associated Press.
The report says that Pardee's family announced last year that he had gall bladder cancer that continued to spread around his body and they also made a memorial scholarship fund in Pardee's name at the University of Houston, where he was formerly a head coach.
Pardee was originally born in Iowa and later moved to Texas, where he established his football legacy while playing six-man football at Christoval High School. He went to Texas A&M and trained with Bryant and later was the 14th overall pick in the 1957 NFL draft by Los Angeles after three seasons with the Aggies.
He later became a coach of the Redskins after playing for the team and also was a coach in World Football League. He was coach of the Bears and took the team to the playoffs for the first time before heading to the Redskins. After a 6-10 season he was let go and then was San Diego's defensive coordinator before coaching the Houston Gamblers in the USFL after which he went to the University of Houston.
During his time in Houston his teams were offensively powered and coached a team that once scored 95 points, According to the AP, his team was the first to finish with over 1,000 yards of offense in a game and he coached quarterback Andre Ware as the first black quarterback to win the Heisman.
"The Bears family was saddened to hear of Jack Pardee's passing," Bears chairman George McCaskey said in a statement. "Coach Pardee's time with us was only three seasons, but he made an impact by ending a 14-year playoff drought in 1977."
"Today, we mourn the passing of a great man who dedicated his life to the game of football and was a true gentleman in every sense of the word," Houston athletic director Mack Rhoades said. "It was not a coincidence that success followed coach and his teams wherever he worked, and the University of Houston program was blessed to have him lead our football program during some of our most exciting times."
