The Wall of Honor project recognizes former Bearkats who played football at the next level, be it college and/or professional, as well as a special tribute to the heritage of the 1st football team - three members of which played at the college level.
Due to the diligent work of past football booster club members, we started with just over 100 photos on the wall, but many more will be displayed as we identify the MIAs over the years and add successive classes in the future.
The Wall of Honor committee has worked diligently since September of 2005 to upgrade the wall. We have identified 182 former Bearkats who played college or pro football and have installed individual plaques to honor each player. It is our goal to make the Wall of Honor display the crown jewel of the recently upgraded weight room. Although we have made every effort to insure that our research is accurate, we welcome any corrections, additions, or other constructive changes. Please click here to report any corrections or MIA contact information.
This virtual Wall of Honor has been crafted to allow honorees, family and friends who live out of town to view the wall and help us locate the remaining MIAs. It also allows everyone an opportunity to browse the profiles and bios at their leisure.
< top >At the completion of their first year of non-conference football, the Klein High Bearkats won 3 games and lost 4. The team scored 96 points to their opponents' 106. Out of the 22 boys who finished the year, 19 lettered and 14 returned for the 1948 season; the other five being lost to graduation. This inexperienced squad had but two casualties. The boys' loyalty and spirit of co-operation was a big help to the team in making a better showing next season.
Letterman are as follows: Edwin Theiss, James Kreger, George Kreger, Nyles Reed, Wilburn Giddings, Louis Hartman, Delbert Gerhart, J.W. Lenze, R.E. Wortham, Loyd Thornton, Frank Herzog, Charles Hebert, Lendon Richardson, Henry Hassler, Frank Robilio, Eddie Gage, Clay Godfrey, Gus Schreiber, Walter Schultz, and Roger Wunderlich, Mgr
The first football team played on a make-shift practice field and suited out in the dressing rooms of the old gym at 7200 Spring-Cypress Road, current site of the KISD administration building. The old gym is a fading memory compared to the state of the art training facilities at the current Klein High School campus. The following slide show juxtaposes the past facilities, equipment, and players with the current ones.
The KHS Football Booster Club and Wall of Honor Committee acknowledge the following groups and individuals for their contribution to the Wall of Honor project.
Wall of Honor Committee. Since September 2005, the Wall of Honor committee has worked diligently to upgrade the wall with the goal of making the Wall of Honor display the crown jewel of the recently upgraded weight room. The committee members are as follows:
Committee Members: | Ex Officio Members: |
Ken Gerhart | Butch Theiss, KHS 1st Football Team ('47-'48) |
Scott West | R.E. Wortham, past KHS Head Football Coach |
Kristelle Fruge | Bobby Brezina, past KHS Head Football Coach |
Jeff Hawkins | Randall Dorsett, past KHS Head Football Coach |
Eddie Farley | Burr Davis, past KHS Head Football Coach |
Allen Boren, past KISD Athletic Director | |
Robert Grove, past KHS Principal | |
Mac Langston, Equipment Manager |
KHS Football Booster Club. Generous funding for upgrading this project was provided by the 2005 KHS Football Booster Club. Dues, fund raisers, and other donations fund worthy projects of this nature. The Wall of Honor Committee would like to thank the booster club board for their enthusiastic support for this project. The 2005 KHS Football Booster Club Board members are as follows:
David & Jan Parsons, President | |
Chris & Tracy Bauman, Treasurer | Steve & Kathy Randall, Tunnel Coordinators |
Jim & Lee Steckel, Secretary | Bret & Carla Shugarts, Tunnel Coordinators |
Les & Suzy Tomlinson, Spirit Items | Larry & Rhonda Vail, Membership |
Jeff & Barb Hanrahan, "The Den" | Brian & Helen Guzman, Awards Banquet |
Matt & Lin Neef, Golf Tournament | Ken Gerhart, Wall of Honor |
Centerpiece Plaque. The centerpiece plaque pays special tribute to Klein's first football team and anchors the Wall of Honor heritage by identifying the three original Bearkat football players who played football at the next level:
D.L. Gerhart | KHS 1948 | Blinn College |
Nyles Reed | KHS 1950 | Wharton County College |
R.E. Wortham | KHS 1951 | Rice Institute |
Master Craftsman. The centerpiece plaque was handcrafted by master cabinet maker, David Evans, Sr., KHS Class of 1952 and a former Bearkat football player. It is crafted of ¾ inch birch plywood with a 1½ inch cherry wood trim that was routed to match the individual plaques. The KHS Football Booster Club Board and Wall of Honor committee wish to thank Mr. Evans for the contribution of his time, talent, and the materials for this center piece plaque.
Mr. Evans tells the story of being an 8th grader at Klein when that first team took the field. Inspired by that first season, Evans badly wanted to play football the next year, but had no football cleats. When senior tackle, D.L. Gerhart - who was headed to Blinn College on a football scholarship, heard that Evans wanted to play but had no cleats, he gave Evans his cleats so Evans could play the following year.
Mr. Bearkat. A very special thanks also goes to Mr. Edwin G. "Butch" Theiss - a co-captain of the first football team - who assisted in conceptualizing, researching, identifying, and contacting members of the first football team as well as arranging for Mr. Evans' help. His assistance was invaluable in making this part of the project happen.
Stan Labay, KHS Head Football Coach & Campus Athletic Director
Robert Young, KISD Athletic Director
Pat Huff, KHS Principal
Click on the link where indicated to see a slide show of the wall of honor or mouse over the individual name and click to see the full bio of each player.
Year ^ | Last Name | College |
1948 | D.L. Gerhart | Blinn College |
1950 | Nyles Reed | Wharton County Junior College |
1951 | R.E. "Shorty" Wortham | Rice Institute |
1959 | Bruce Evans | Navarro College |
1961 | Jerald Theiss | Sam Houston State University |
1966 | Phelan "Al" Allee, Jr. | Texas A&I University |
1966 | Charles "Sweet Pea" Smith | North Texas State University |
1966 | Louis Gonzales | Navarro College |
1967 | Robert Young | Texas A&I University |
1968 | Roy Allee | Texas A&I University |
1969 | Ed Kersten | Rice University |
1970 | Don Alewine | University of Houston |
1970 | George Smith | Rice University |
1970 | Harold Bridges | University of Colorado |
1970 | Tommy Kaiser | University of Houston |
1972 | Rex Doerre | Texas Christian University |
1974 | Kent Allee | Texas A&I University |
1975 | Dale Reed | U.S. Air Force Academy |
1975 | Greg Johnson | U.S. Military Academy at West Point |
1975 | Ken Gerhart | Texas A&I University |
1975 | Mark Oltermann | Texas A&I University |
1976 | Gary Hopper | U.S. Military Academy at West Point |
1976 | Melvin Jones | University of Houston |
1976 | Kyle Davis | Southern Arkansas University |
1977 | David Dykhuizen | Southern Methodist University |
1977 | Gary Sills | Baylor University |
1978 | Earnest Johnson | Cisco Jr. College |
1979 | Jeff Shaffer | University of Houston |
1979 | Raymond Boudreaux | Cisco Jr. College |
1980 | Bo Montgomery | Tarleton State University |
1980 | Dan Benditz | Baylor University |
1980 | Don Miller | New Mexico State University |
1980 | Keith Johnson | Tarleton State University |
1980 | Mark Cline | Tarleton State University |
1980 | Kevin Brown | West Texas State University |
1980 | Allen Rice | Baylor University |
1981 | Bill Lampkin | Abilene Christian University |
1981 | Matt Darwin | Texas A&M University |
1981 | Mike Klein | West Texas State University |
1981 | Rusty Nettles | Texas A&M University |
1982 | Ken Rose | New Mexico State University |
1982 | Russ Carol | University of Texas at Arlington |
1983 | Carl Holder | Blinn College |
1983 | Greg Dillon | Texas A&M University |
1983 | James McGuane | McNeese State University |
1983 | Jeff Boren | University of Texas |
1983 | Rusty Atwood | University of Southwestern Louisiana |
1984 | Randy Kirk | Texas Tech University |
1984 | Ross Klein | Sam Houston State University |
1984 | Wade Guinn | Southwest Texas State University |
1984 | Kevin Elliott | U.S. Air Force Academy |
1984 | Brian Letbetter | Southwest Texas State University |
1984 | Paul Salnas | Texas Lutheran University |
1984 | Randy Stanfield | Sam Houston State University |
1984 | Dean Wittholz | University of Texas at El Paso |
1984 | Jack Curtis | Abilene Christian University |
1985 | Byron Forsythe | University of Houston |
1985 | Jake Guarino | Abilene Christian University |
1985 | Joey Banes | University of Houston |
1985 | Max Moss | Rice University |
1985 | Mike Holley | University of Houston |
1985 | Stan Gustas | Rice University |
1985 | Steve Thompson | Rice University |
1985 | Terry Woods | Southwest Texas State University |
1986 | Brian Wright | Southwest Texas State University |
1986 | Craig DeCarlo | Abilene Christian University |
1986 | Eddie Enriquez | Rice University |
1986 | Gary Hays | Baylor University |
1986 | Jerry Raymond | Trinity Valley Community College |
1986 | Olivier Parchois | Southwest Texas State University |
1986 | Tony Williams | University of Houston |
1986 | Mark McDonald | Syracuse University |
1987 | Frank Frankousky | Blinn College |
1987 | Steve Jeter | Sam Houston State University |
1987 | Lee Bruderer | Baylor University |
1988 | Jack Webb | Sam Houston State University |
1988 | Reggie Leday | Blinn College |
1988 | Steve Blanchard | Nicholls State University |
1988 | Sean Pettigrew | Abilene Christian University |
1988 | Mark Enriquez | Texas Tech University |
1988 | Sean Glascow | Baylor University |
1989 | Todd Davidson | Sam Houston State University |
1989 | Shane Starkey | University of New Mexico |
1990 | Christopher Coker | Occidental College |
1990 | Shawn Thomas | Sam Houston State University |
1990 | Weyland Harding | Iowa State University |
1990 | Brian Garrison | Southwest Baptist University |
1991 | Calvin Branch | Iowa State University |
1991 | Kevin Massie | U.S. Air Force Academy |
1992 | Brandon Black | Brigham Young University |
1992 | Reed Livesay | Baylor University |
1992 | Ritchie Crowell | SFA State University |
1992 | Dan Babyak | University of Wyoming |
1993 | Jeff Cobb | Northwestern State University |
1993 | Tracy Williams | Iowa State University |
1993 | John Beckwith | Trinity University |
1994 | Chad Hakemack | University of Southwestern Louisiana |
1994 | Charles Bowman | Louisiana Tech University |
1994 | James Dummer | Sam Houston State University |
1995 | Joel Reichling | Trinity University |
1995 | Joel Marsh | Southeastern State University |
1996 | Brad McFarland | Tulane University |
1996 | Jonathan Hebert | University of Notre Dame |
1996 | Justin Jacobs | Yale University |
1996 | Mike Green | University of Houston |
1996 | Nick Gatto | Arkansas State University |
1996 | Troy Andrew | Duke University |
1996 | Scott Lanning | Trinity University |
1996 | Chris Millwee | Ranger College |
1996 | Steve Sanders | Naval Academy - Annapolis |
1996 | Clark Scharman | Naval Academy - Annapolis |
1996 | Goldy Jackson | Texas Southern University |
1997 | Jason Hebert | Rice University |
1997 | Marcus Cossey | Blinn College |
1997 | Ryan Carver | Oklahoma State University |
1997 | Keith Carpenter | Southwest Baptist University |
1997 | Ryan Stirpe | Trinity University |
1997 | Anthony Dozier | Baylor Univeristy |
1998 | Charles Hall | Baylor University |
1998 | Gordy Quist | Dartmouth College |
1998 | Kyle Jacobs | The College of William & Mary |
1998 | Lawrence Flugence | Texas Tech University |
1999 | A.J. Ricker | University of Missouri |
1999 | Chris Gatlin | Middle Tennessee State University |
1999 | Jordan Hase | Cornell University |
1999 | Justin Hebert | Auburn University |
1999 | Kris Bowen | University of Southwestern Louisiana |
1999 | Ryan Vorhies | U.S. Air Force Academy |
2000 | Adam Caridi | Southwest Texas State University |
2000 | Ed Bailey | Rice University |
2000 | Jess Demarest | McNeese State University |
2000 | Mark Farrington | University of Virginia |
2000 | Sloan Thomas | University of Texas |
2000 | Brandon Lathan | Texas Tech University |
2001 | Ben Childs | Utah State University |
2001 | Bryan Jones | Texas A&M-Commerce |
2001 | Earl Morris | Southern Methodist University |
2001 | Jeff Hebert | Texas A&M University |
2001 | Steve Burke | Miami of Ohio University |
2001 | Ryan Frazier | Baylor University |
2002 | Bobby Luyties | Texas Lutheran University |
2002 | Chris Kindred | University of Tulsa |
2002 | Clayton Barhorst | Dartmouth College |
2002 | Jason Knussmann | U.S. Air Force Academy |
2002 | Marcus Jones | University of Colarado |
2003 | Ashton Youboty | Ohio State University |
2003 | Josh Hebert | Auburn University |
2003 | Matt Shavers | Trinity University |
2003 | Matt Weldon | Trinity University |
2003 | Nick Reasons | Nicholls State University |
2003 | Robert Killebrew | University of Texas |
2003 | Treeo Gibson | Tarleton State University |
2004 | Caleb Morris | U.S. Air Force Academy |
2004 | Elen Thompson | Occidental College |
2004 | Noah Barboza III | Washington University St. Louis |
2004 | Wesley Beck | University of New Mexico |
2005 | Courtland Marshall | Prairie View A&M University |
2005 | Daniel West | Harvard University |
2005 | Jared Hawkins | Vanderbilt University |
2005 | Mark Ortmann | University of Michigan |
2005 | Matt Pharis | Wheaton College |
2005 | Adrian Thomas | Texas State University |
2005 | Steve Firmin | Navarro College |
2006 | Chris Stewart | University of Notre Dame |
2006 | Karl Zipps | Texas Lutheran University |
2006 | Douglas Winfield | University of Houston |
2006 | Derek McDonough | Blinn College |
2006 | Brett Dewhurst | Texas Tech University |
2007 | Aaron Yates | Texas State University |
2007 | Matt Tomlinson | University of North Texas |
2007 | Jake Eannarelli | Angelo State University |
2008 | J.B. Shugarts | Ohio State University |
2008 | Henry Kaetzer | Colorado School of Mines |
2008 | C. J. Palmer | Montana State University |
2008 | Randy Bullock | Texas A&M University |
2008 | John Youboty | Marshall University |
2008 | Brian Moore | University of Tulsa |
2008 | Kyle Nichols | Southeastern Louisiana University |
2008 | Clay Hebert | Rice University |
Click on the link where indicated to see a slide show of the wall of honor or mouse over the individual name and click to see the full bio of each player.
Year ^ | Last Name | Team |
1967 | Robert Young | British Columbia Lions |
1970 | Harold Bridges | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
1974 | Kent Allee | Houston Gunners |
1976 | Melvin Jones | Washington Redskins |
1980 | Allen Rice | Minnesota Vikings |
1981 | Matt Darwin | Philadelphia Eagles |
1985 | Byron Forsythe | Sacramento Surge |
1985 | Joey Banes | Houston Oilers |
1990 | Weyland Harding | Iowa Barnstormers |
1991 | Calvin Branch | Oakland Raiders |
1996 | Chris Millwee | Shreveport-Bossier Bombers |
1996 | Mike Green | Tennessee Titans |
1996 | Nick Gatto | Grand Rapids Rampage |
1996 | Troy Andrew | Miami Dolphins |
1997 | Jason Hebert | San Diego Chargers |
1998 | Lawrence Flugence | Berlin Thunder |
1999 | A.J. Ricker | Rhein Fire |
2000 | Sloan Thomas | Tennessee Titans |
2003 | Ashton Youboty | Buffalo Bills |