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. 

Texas Flashback

Lance Gunn

After a storied high school career at Evangel Christian Academy in Shreveport, Louisiana where his team went 60-0 and won four state titles, Phillip Geiggar came to Austin where he played defensive back at the University of Texas from 2000-2002 and 2003-2004. Playing along side future NFL talent including Michael Huff, Michael Griffin, Aaron Ross and Tarell Brown, Geiggar made his mark for the Longhorns with plenty of big hits and in 2004, his senior season, he lead the star-studded Texas secondary in tackles. While there were plenty of highlights during his time in burnt orange (he scored the first TD of the 2001 season recovering a blocked punt), there were also some dark days including the death of his high school and Longhorn teammate Cole Pittman and the roughing the punter penalty called on him during the Big 12 Championship Game against Colorado in 2001. In this episode, Geiggar talks about the highs, the lows, and how he’s finally found peace in life after football. 2:09 – On early success in high school – We won four state titles. We never lost a game. We went 60-0. 3:48 – On getting noticed by schools – I got noticed my sophomore year. LSU offered me a scholarship. After LSU, they just came flowing in after that. It was Kentucky, Penn State, Tulane, Rice, UCLA, Arkansas, Florida, Hawaii. All over the country they came flowing in after the LSU offer. 5:43 – Why he opted for Texas over LSU – Growing up in Louisiana, being a bi-racial kid, you’re not really accepted from either side back in the 1980s. I grew up with a lot of racism. I just thought it was a Louisiana thing. My dad passed away when I was seven. I didn’t have a lot of male influence in my life. Plus, a couple of my teammates had gone to LSU and said that Gerry DiNardo was not the guy I wanted to play for. That just made it easier for me to leave Louisiana. 7:43 – On when he arrived in Austin the first time – I remember walking down the hill on to Frank Denius Field. I remember saying, I can’t see myself coming here. 9:07 – On his first time meeting the Longhorn players – When we got to practice Coach Mack Brown stopped practice and told them to come say hi to Stevie Lee and I. The first person I met was Leonard Davis—the biggest man I’ve ever met in my life. I was thinking “oh my God, how can I be on the field with this guy?” 10:46 – On how he Coach Mack Brown’s honesty – Another thing I liked about Coach Brown, he told me the truth, to my face up front. He said you’re a great player, a great athlete. We’ll find a player just as good as you or better than you. I was surprised he gave it to me straight. I thought if he’ll give it to me straight now he’ll be straight with me if I come here. 14:04 – On his first memorable moment in game action – The first one was my very first game and the first kickoff I sprained a ligament in my thumb because I tripped over a teammate. That’s a big memory. Hurting myself on my very first play of my first college game. 15:43 – On learning of the death of his high school teammate Cole Pittman – We came into meetings for spring ball. There were a lot of police officers running around. It seemed like chaos. The meetings were starting late. Because Stevie and I were close to Cole and went to high school with him and knew his family, they pulled us out of the team meeting. I thought they were pulling us out because we had skipped class that Friday to go home early. I was thinking, “Oh My God, they take this class stuff seriously.” 17:53 – On his reaction to Pittman’s death – They allowed us to go call our parents. That’s when I broke down was when I talked to my mom and told her. That’s how we found out. It was a tough day. 21:30 – On scoring in the 2001 season opener on a blocked punt  – I just saw the ball rolling. I fell down somehow. I felt like I didn’t have time to get back up. I was for sure someone else was going to be running and couldn’t believe I got to the ball first. I just fell on it. I was pretty excited and couldn’t believe when I got to the sidelines that I had just scored a touchdown in college. That was one of my highlights. 22:01 – On 2001 Texas-OU matchup – I remember I was a nickel back and I got to blitz a lot. That was one of my favorite games just because I got to make an impact on defense. I had a couple tackles for losses. Defensive coordinator Carl “Bull” Reese gave me free reign. I could do whatever I wanted to do as long as I hit my gap at the right time. That’s one of the reason I love football is because it’s a mental game. 28:11 – On 2001 Big 12 Title Game Against Colorado – To be honest with you, I think the beating we put on them earlier in the year, I think we may have relaxed a little bit. They obviously had something else in mind. 32:14 – On the punt where he gets called for a roughing the punter penalty  – When the ball was snapped, normally what happens is the guy that I’m blocking will stay in front of me enough to hold me up so I can’t get to the punter. This guy did not do that. He just opened up. It just opened up like the Red Sea. And just said here, go get it. My eyes got bit and I went for it. 34:13 – On his immediate reaction following the penalty – I lost the game. I blew it. I blew it for the fans. I blew it for my teammates for my coaches. I wasn’t thinking of myself. I was just thinking of all the people that I had let down. I knew for sure these guys were mad at me. I just put the towel over my head. 38:50 – On how football helped him in life – I always called football my therapy. It was always my therapy session.  Being mad at something. Me growing up without a dad. My brother-in-law getting shot and killed. Us being poor. I was always mad at something and always had somebody to take it on and not get in trouble for it. I just enjoyed tackling people. It made me feel good. 42:23 – On never beating Oklahoma during his time at Texas – We couldn’t score enough points. I think if we would have scored just one touchdown my senior year we would have won that game. They were one of the top offenses in  the nation and we held them to six points. 46:13 – On defensive game plan against Michigan in 2004 Rose Bowl – Stop Braylon Edwards. We knew that he was their go-to guy. But you couldn’t forget about Steve Breaston either because he was so fast. 48:56 – On playing with so many all-time greats at UT – I think about it all the time. Probably every day when I’m scrolling through my Instagram I see some highlights of Vince Young, Cedric Benson, Michael Huff, Michael Griffin, Nathan Vasher. I can’t believe I got to share the field with those guys. I’m still so grateful I got to play with those guys. 52:10 – On not getting drafted – The draft is over. I had some close family and friends over at my mom’s house. After it was I went back into the bedroom, buried my head in the pillow and bawled my eyes out. I realized I wasn’t going to live out my dream. 57:59 – On his time working on the TV series Friday Night Lights – Basically when you see those big hits and the big crack backs on TV in those games, that’s what I did. You never see their faces. I was one of those guys. It’s not fun getting crack backed once in a football game, but when you have to do six and seven takes of it being crack backed. That is not fun. 1:01:13 – On how parenting has changed him – It’s definitely makes me appreciate life more. I appreciated life before but it gave me another reason to live. Like I mentioned before, if I didn’t play football, what was the purpose of living. God works in mysterious ways. 1:05:49 – On his current job working in currency trading – It’s definitely something I want for me and my family. I think a lot of that has to do with me growing up without a dad. I don’t want to be at work all day and not see my kids and not go to lunch with them or go to some kind of function. 1:09:22 – Final thoughts – Going back to the muffed punt, I did get a lot of mail but it was encouraging mail. Not one letter of hate mail. That changed my life. I was literally thinking about leaving school after that but I got a lot of encouraging mail from fans telling me to keep my head up. I really appreciate that because that really helped get me through a hard time. 

Phillip Geiggar

As a fan of University of Texas sports, we have been blessed to witness some pretty special accomplishments throughout the years. This podcast is dedicated to revisiting that rich Longhorn sports history and catching up with the athletes who made those moments, games, and years so memorable.