OU hero dies
Tom Carroll, the Sooner hero in the 1953 OU-Texas game, has died at age 85. Carroll was a halfback out of Okemah High School.
Tom Carroll, the Sooner hero in the 1953 OU-Texas game, died last Wednesday in Stillwater. He was 85.
Carroll, a graduate of Okemah High School, was an OU halfback in 1950 when he was called into duty for the Korean War. His departure prompted coach Bud Wilkinson to move sophomore Billy Vessels to offense, and Vessels eventually won the 1952 Heisman Trophy.
Carroll returned to the squad in 1952 and played sparingly. But he was the star of the 1953 classic in the Cotton Bowl, intercepting a pass and scoring a touchdown on a 48-yard run, leading the Sooners to a 19-14 victory. Carroll suffered a knee injury the next week and never again played a prominent role on the gridiron.
“It was my only claim to fame,” Carroll told The Oklahoman in 2002. “It was a day I’ll never forget.”
Carroll was born Dec. 21, 1931. Between stints as a Sooner football player, he served the U.S. Army’s 45th Infantry Division during the Korean War. Carroll earned two engineering degrees from OU and was in the oil business until retirement.
A memorial service for Carroll will be held at 2 p.m. Friday at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Oklahoma City.