Cotton Speyrer

Charles Wayne Speyrer (born April 29, 1949) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the Baltimore Colts and Miami Dolphins and who, while he played college football for the Texas Longhorns was a principle player in a drive the won Texas the 1969 National Championship.

Speyrer was born in Port Arthur, Texas but spent some time growing up in Brownsville, where he got the nickname "Cotton" due to his white hair.^[1]

Speyrer was a first-team all state running back at Port Arthur Jefferson High school and a two-time All-American receiver at the University of Texas at Austin. He is a member of the University of Texas Hall of Honor and the Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame and the only player ever named to the Cotton Bowl All-Decade team in two different decades.

Speyrer was a key play-maker in what is considered by some to be the most famous drive in Texas history. Texas was fresh off its famed 15–14 come-from-behind victory over No. 2 Arkansas in the "Game of the Century" with President Richard M Nixon in attendance. That victory earned Texas the right to represent the Southwest Conference in the Cotton Bowl where their opponent was eighth-ranked Irish, featuring Joe Theismann. This was Notre Dame's first bowl game in 40 years, but early on, the game had the makings of a big upset when Notre Dame charged out to a 10–0 lead.

Starting on their own 24-yard line, the Longhorns embarked upon a fourth-quarter, 17-play march that included a pair of fourth-and-two conversions, the last coming at the Notre Dame 10 when James Street completed a clutch pass to a diving Speyrer that took the Horns to the two. From there, it took three plays before Billy Dale pushed the ball over the goal line to cement UT's second national title—Texas 21, Notre Dame 17. He shared the game's MVP award with Street and LB Tom Campbell.

Speyrer is also known for his last minute touchdown catch during his senior year in a come-from—behind win during the Texas–UCLA game in the fall of 1970. The catch and victory was a key part of Texas finishing the regular season undefeated where they were awarded their 3rd National title (1963, 1969 & 1970) by the UPI Coach's Poll.

Speyer was All-Conference and First team All-American in 1969 and was 2nd Team All-Conference and a First team All-American again in 1970.

Speyrer was the 38th overall selection in the second round of the 1971 NFL draft by the Washington Redskins. He was traded along with a 1973 first-rounder (25th overall–traded to San Diego Chargers for Marty Domres) from the Redskins to the Baltimore Colts for Roy Jefferson and ninth-round draft picks in 1973 (218th overall–Rick Galbos) and 1974 (213th overall–traded to Los Angeles Rams for Joe Sweet) on July 31, 1971.^[2][3][4] He spent five seasons in the NFL, four with the Colts, and one final year with the Miami Dolphins.^[5]

He didn't see any playing time in 1971 due to a broken arm, but he took the field in five games in 1972 and in 1973 he had 311 yards receiving and a 101-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, the second longest of the season. The 101 yard return is one of the 100 longest returns in NFL history. He continued primarily as a kick returner in 1974.

In 1975, he was traded back to the Redskins for a 12th round drat choice after feeling he'd been given a "raw deal" in Baltimore. He injured his wrist in spring training. He left Redskins training camp during the 2nd week after complaining that he wasn't getting enough chances to play and was traded to Miami for an undisclosed future pick. Two days after joining the Dolphins he led them to a 20-17 victory over the Saints after catching three passes of longer than 50 yards in an exhibition game. He was nonetheless cut by the Dolphins before the season started. He returned to the Dolphins later that season, seeing little playing time and then retired in early 1976.