OU to Mark 38-Yardline Saturday

NORMAN, Okla. The University of Oklahoma has received permission from the NCAA to mark the 38-yardline with a solid crimson line from sideline to sideline for this Saturday's game against Colorado.

This is being done in honor of the late Prentice Gautt, who wore No. 38 when he played for the Sooners. No. 38 was not issued to an Oklahoma player this season.

Gautt was the first black football player at OU and a member of the 1956 squad that also will return this weekend to commemorate the 50th anniversary of its national championship season. Members of Gautt's family and more than 30 players from the '56 team will be honored at halftime. The group will be hosted for a dinner on Friday night in the Kerr-McGee Stadium Club.

Gautt's name adorns the athletics department's academic center at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, an honor bestowed in 1999. In 2003, he was honored with an honorary doctorate from OU.

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Former Sooner coaching great Bud Wilkinson awarded a football scholarship to Gautt. Gautt then became a two-time All-Big Eight player and the 1959 Orange Bowl MVP. As a senior, he was named to the academic All-America team.

He played football professionally in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns (one year) and St. Louis Cardinals (six years). After the NFL, Gautt coached football at Missouri while earning his Ph.D. in psychology.

He then started a career in athletics administration, first as an assistant commissioner for the Big Eight Conference then as a special assistant to the commissioner of the Big 12 Conference.

Gautt played football at Douglass High School in Oklahoma City.As a senior, he became the first black to play in the All-State game and he earned MVP honors.

He died on March 17, 2005 from flu-like symptoms. He was posthumously given the 2005 Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Award by The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) in May 2005.

It should be noted that the University of Colorado was gracious in approving the plan to place a special marking on the playing surface for Saturday's game.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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