Duke Carlisle

Who is Duke Carlisle?

Emmet Augustus “Duke” Carlisle III is a former quarterback at the University of Texas and led the Longhorns to a national championship in 1963.

The Athens, Texas native also played defensive back and quarterback his sophomore and junior years during the era of one-platoon football.

Carlisle was named Outstanding Back in the 1964 Cotton Bowl win vs. Navy and Roger Staubach, averaging 30.4 yards per completion. Earlier in the season he had a game-saving interception to preserve a 7-0 win over Baylor University. It was the only time he played on defense his senior year.

"Tune in your television to the Cotton Bowl and you'll laugh yourself silly. Texas is the biggest fraud ever perpetrated on the football public," Pittsburgh sports writer Myron Cope said.

Carlisle's record as a UT starter at quarterback was 30-2-1.

The Green Bay Packers and Vince Lombardi drafted Carlisle in the fifth round, but he was cut in training camp. The Dallas Cowboys picked him up, but he spent the entire 1964 season on the taxi squad and never played a down of professional football.

Carlisle returned to UT and earned an M.B.A. He then applied to the Army's Medical Service Corps rather than waiting to be drafted. He assumed he would be shipped to Vietnam, but the call never came.