‘Just the kind of guy you liked’ for Midshipmen

Roger Staubach was two classes ahead of Calvin Huey at the Naval Academy. However, the sophomore made such an impression on the senior that Staubach made mention of Huey in his autobiography titled “Staubach: First Down, Lifetime to Go.”

“Calvin Huey was just the kind of guy you liked. He had a great personality, worked hard in football and was an intelligent guy,” Staubach wrote.

Staubach remains the most renowned player in Navy football history, the 1963 Heisman Trophy winner and unanimous first team All-American.

Huey holds his own special place in Navy football history — one that Staubach forever respected. The Mississippi native became the first African-American football player at the academy when he earned a varsity letter as a sophomore in 1964. Calvin Huey

Huey died on Sept. 1 at the age of 75 from kidney disease. He lived in Annapolis for the better part of three decades with his wife, Deborah, and son, Callen.

Staubach, like so many Navy football players of that era, was saddened to hear about the loss of such an important figure in the program’s history.

“I knew Calvin had some long-term health issues and I got the word not too long ago that things had kind of taken a turn for the worse,” Staubach said in a phone interview on Wednesday.

“I called Calvin not too long ago, but unfortunately was not able to speak to him. I did speak to his wife and son and was able to pass along how highly I thought of Calvin.”

The 1963 season was one of the greatest in program history with Staubach leading the team to a 9-2 record and berth in the Cotton Bowl. Navy defeated archrival Army in one of the most memorable games in series history since it came shortly after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

Most fans would like to forget the following season, which proved to be the last for coach Wayne Hardin. Staubach suffered a foot injury in the season opener against Penn State and was hobbled the rest of the way.

Staubach wasn’t the only key player hurt that year as star halfback Pat Donnelly and standout flanker Skip Orr also missed time. It was the loss of Orr that provided an opportunity for Huey, who seized the starting job.

“We began that season with a starting backfield of Roger, Pat, Kip Paskewich and myself,” said Orr, who currently lives in Falls Church, Virginia. “Within a few games, all four of us were injured. We had several sophomores, including Calvin, moved into starting positions.”

Orr recalls that he wound up playing mostly on defense late in the season since Huey was excelling as the primary wide receiver.

Staubach, Orr and other members of the Class of 1965 entered the Naval Academy with an African-American football player named Darryl Hill, who would make history elsewhere. Hill, a Washington, D.C. native, was Staubach’s favorite target on the Navy plebe team that went 8-1 in 1961.

However, Hill left the academy following the school year and transferred to Maryland – having been lured away by assistant coach Lee Corso, who is now a popular ESPN college football analyst. Hill became the first black football player in the history of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

“You could not help but like Calvin Huey because he was such an engaging guy,” Orr said. “Calvin was a good player and a good person, and the fact he was African-American did not mean a thing. He was just another member of the team as far as we were concerned.”

Huey was one of two African-American members of the Class of 1967 along with Peter Tzoms, who became the first black graduate of the Naval Academy accepted into the nuclear power program.

Following graduation, Huey was assigned to the USS Perry out of Mayport, Florida and was soon deployed on the first of two tours of duty in Vietnam. He reached the rank of lieutenant and later earned a PhD in chemistry, returning to the Naval Academy in 1973 as a professor.