A Sooners ring...60 years later

Sixty years ago, on Dec. 1, 1956, Woody Wolverton stood on the field after his University of Oklahoma Sooners beat Oklahoma A&M 53-0 to clinch its second consecutive national championship.

“It felt joyous,” said Wolverton, who played for the Sooners from 1953 to 1956 under legendary coach Bud Wilkinson, who coached 47 consecutive victories from 1953 to 1957. “It was overwhelming. We didn’t know if we could do it or not.”

The previous year, Oklahoma beat University of Maryland 20-6 in the Orange Bowl for the national championship, and winning back-to-back titles is something Oklahoma has yet to repeat.

“In those days, we were from a dry state where all we had was six-point beer,” Wolverton said. “So I think we celebrated by drinking beer.”

The University of Oklahoma football team continues to be one of the most successful collegiate college football programs in the history of the NCAA, Wolverton recently attended a 60-year reunion, which honored the team’s 1950, 1955 and 1956 national championship seasons.

“It was quite a deal, and we were asked to go out on the field at half-time, and we were awarded rings because back in the ‘50s, they didn’t give out rings,” Wolverton said. “They gave away jackets and blankets. They started giving rings in the ‘60s. I’ve been asked 1,000 times where my ring is, and now I finally have one.”

Ten of Wolverton’s family members attended the reunion, including some of his children and grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

“The athletic director made speeches at this big party we had,” Wolverton said. “He said, ‘You guys are the ones who started our reputation at Oklahoma.’ It was neat. It was a great time back then. It was unprecedented.”

Wolverton believes the team's record will never be beaten.

“We were the fastest, quickest team in the nation," he said. "On any given day, our fourth string could beat the other team’s first string.”

Football players then played both offensive and defensive positions, and Wolverton played both center and linebacker.

“My most thrilling memory was probably when we beat Notre Dame at Notre Dame in 1956,” Wolverton said. “We beat them 40-0, and their quarterback, Paul Hornung, went on to win the Heisman that year.”

In the 60 years since he’s played, Wolverton believes football has evolved.

“I think it’s changed a lot,” he said. “Kids are bigger, faster, stronger. The equipment is more sophisticated.”

Wolverton hopes further technological advances help prevent the issue of concussions and brain damage among football players.

“One horrible thing is half of the 180 kids who played on the team with me are dead now, and half of the ones who died died of Alzheimer’s disease from getting hit in the head so much,” he said. “It’s becoming worse and worse even. Now, you’ve got a 300-pound running back coming at you that’s 6-foot-4. It’s like a train rolling over you.”

Wolverton, now a financial advisor at Ameriprise Financial Services, still cheers on his Sooners and enjoys the camaraderie with other teams.

“My favorite fight song of all the schools was University of Texas,” he said. “We have rivals, but we don’t have anybody we hate. We all respect each other. It was just being part of a group of guys that loved to play football. It’s been my life.”