Javelina Hall of Fame
Hall Whitley, from Anahuac, resides in his hometown. He was inducted into the Javelina Hall of Fame in 2007.
He was a four-year letterman for the Javelina football team in 1953-56. He was on the 1954 Javelina squad that was the first to compete in the Lone Star Conference.
Whitley was coached by Dewey Mayhew in 1953 and played three seasons for Gil Steinke when he became the head coach in 1954.
The 1953 Javelinas won the Texas Conference championship.
Whitley was on the Associated Press Little All-America second team in 1956 and became only the third Javelina to be selected to an All-American unit. The first was Javelina Hall of Fame member Leroy Fry, who was on the 1938 Wigwam All-America team and the second was Hall of Fame member Stuart Clarkson, who was a Little-America honoree in 1940.
Whitley was also one of the first Javelinas to make All-LSC. Two were on the 1954 squad and Whitley was on the 1955 team with four teammates.
He was a team captain in 1956.
Whitley played three seasons in the Canadian Football League. He was in Winnipeg and British Columbia and played in the 1957 Grey Cup game that decides the Canadian championship.
He returned to Anahuac after his pro career and was in sales for Caterpillar, John Deere and other machinery companies. He was the Ford dealer for seven years.
Whitley is married to the former Marian Merritt of Anahuac and they are the parents of two sons, Randy of Tatum and Worth of Gypsen, Colo. Randy is a coach at Tatum and the school’s football and boys track and field teams have won Class 2A state championships. Worth is a minister.
