Texas Tech University Athletics
Unsung Hero
October 30, 2003 | Football
Oct. 30, 2003
By Adam Quisenberry, Texas Tech Athletic Media Relations - Far beyond the players on the field or the coaches on the sidelines there is a world that goes unseen - droves of dedicated people behind the scenes who all play a vital part in making the game happen. People whose efforts cannot be measured in touchdown receptions or rushing yardage but can only be seen in the love they show for this great university.
Although, he never received a standing ovation or had his named announced on game day Dick Gibson was all to happy to help the school he loved by serving anyway he could. And for over 40 years Texas Tech could not have had a more loyal employee or ardent supporter than him.
Gibson watched eight different head coaches lead the Red Raiders onto the field at Jones SBC Stadium, all the while he watched from overhead in the press box with his pencil in hand as he kept track of the official stats. Keeping statistics is no easy job. It requires a person to remove his red and black glasses and see the game with a methodical eye, seeing yardage and jersey numbers instead of celebration. No matter how many times he wanted to put his guns up or yell in jubilation, Gibson let his dedication show his love for Tech.
For the last several years, Gibson not only served as a member but also as the head of the stats crew, which oversaw the stat keeping for Tech and the NCAA for football games and men's basketball games. Gibson oversaw the assignments of the crew and relayed the spots of the ball and the yardage. He also was one of the most informed men about the game that could be found. It must have been very different from when he began over four decades earlier. In the beginning of his tenure, pencil and paper were the main resources that statisticians relied on to keep accurate accounts of the games but they soon gave way to keyboards and computer screens. But over the years there remained a constant; the team needed dependable, experienced and knowledgeable people to report the details of the game. Dick Gibson was one of the best.
"Texas Tech never had a bigger fan than Dick was," Dick's wife Peggy Gibson reflected. "I remember every year a few weeks before the start of football season, he would pack up all his statistical books and papers and say that he was going to give it up this year. I would just look at him and say 'Ok, Dick.' He would usually be gone about three hours and he would come home with more stuff than he left with and say 'They talked me into doing it another year.' I always knew he could not give it up, it was the love of his life. He could hardly wait for football season every year. He loved working for Tech and took a lot of pride in it."
Charles Haire who worked with Gibson on the stat crew since 1966 also saw another side of Gibson that most people were not privileged enough to witness.
"He and I were friends for 46 years," Haire commented. "We had gone to church together and grown our families together. He was a family guy and he loved children. Everyone always had a good time when he was around and there were sure to be a lot of laughs. He was all around great person."
"Dick was one of the most loving persons that anyone would ever meet," Peggy fondly recalls of her husband. "He loved sports, he would often go to area football games on Friday nights or to the Tech baseball games in the spring. On Sundays, he worked with the children at church."
A true supporter and fan, Gibson stuck with Tech through the thick and thin and he and his fellow stats crew members were excited at the opportunity that they enjoyed after the 1994 season when the Red Raiders were scheduled to play in the Cotton Bowl. The bowl invited the Tech stats crew to come to Dallas to work as the official stats team for the game. Although the game's final score did not favor the boys from Lubbock, it was a memorable trip for the Gibson's.
"We happened to be staying at the same hotel as the team the week of the Cotton Bowl and there was a bellboy there who spent the entire time we were there thinking that Dick was (former Tech head coach) Spike Dykes," Peggy remembers. "Every time he saw Dick he would ask 'How are you today coach' and Dick would always answer 'Fine, thank you.' One night we wanted to play cards and Dick asked the same bellboy for a card table and within minutes we had a table and all the refreshments we could handle. Dick just laughed and said that 'what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him.' That boy could not have been nicer to us that week."
Even as his health declined Gibson's devotion to the Red Raiders never wavered. After being diagnosed with terminal cancer before the 2002 season, he made what would be his last trip to Jones SBC Stadium in mid-September.
"When we came up to the stadium on Friday before the game to pick up the passes for the crew, Dick had to be pushed in a wheelchair," Haire remembering that weekend. "He went into the hospital that afternoon, but only under the condition that he could get a pass for the next day so he could go to the game. We picked him up on Saturday morning and took him to the game and after it was over we took him back to the hospital."
Dick Gibson passed away the following Thursday, five days after his final Texas Tech football game, a 42-28 triumph over the Mississippi Rebels.
Every Texas Tech fan owes a debt of gratitude to Dick Gibson and people like him, because they symbolized what makes this university special and great. Sometimes the biggest fans aren't the ones cheering in the stands. And every time the Red Raiders take the field, they will know that even though his seats are a bit higher than the press box this season, Dick Gibson has his guns up higher than ever.
