Javelina Hall of Fame
The 1959 Texas A&I football team became the first team to be inducted into the Javelina Hall of Fame in 2009.
Ten members of the 1959 team and coaching staff are members of the Javelina Hall of Fame, having been inducted as individuals.
This includes Gil Steinke, who was a member of the charter induction class in 1972. Others on the team who are members of the Hall are Barry Copenhaver, Willie Crafts, Gene Greene (coach), Jarrell Hayes, Harold Hees, Lupe Jaimes, Gerald Lambert, Butch Pressley and Dick Watson.
The 1959 team captured the first of seven national championships for Texas A&I and gained the South Texas campus nation-wide attention when it played the title game on CBS television. The Javelinas beat Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.), 20-6, in the title game in St. Petersburg, Fla., and had downed Hillsdale (Mich.), 20-0, in the semifinal contest in Javelina Stadium.
The Javelinas posted a 12-1 record and won the Lone Star Conference championship.
