Colorado University Athletics
White Statue Unveiled
November 18, 2004 | Football
BOULDER - A life-sized, bronze statue of the late Byron "Whizzer" White, the famed Supreme Court Justice from the University of Colorado, was unveiled in a ceremony here Thursday afternoon.
The sculpture's permanent home is in the Byron R. White Stadium Club, on the club level of CU's year-old suite and club seats addition to Folsom Field, where White became the school's first All-American in any sport when he led the football Buffaloes to an 8-0 regular season record in 1937, as well as to CU's first bowl berth.
Colorado sculptor Rhonda Vickers was commissioned by the university to create the statue of its most notable graduate in its 128-year history. It was privately funded.
Vickers, who started her art education in Kansas has continued to study in annual workshops at the Scottsdale (Ariz.) Art School but has not formal training in sculpture. "I painted for years but was never great," she said. "When I started sculpting (at age 30), it was love at first touch. I knew I had found my medium."
"(White) was as genuine, as honest, and had a big a heart as you can imagine," CU athletic director Dick Tharp said at the ceremony. "What a gentleman, one who represented what the University of Colorado is all about."
White, who passed away on April 15, 2002 at the age of 84, led the nation in rushing with a then record-breaking total of 1,121 yards, and amassed 122 points. Those marks, erased nationally only after colleges went to 10- and 11-game schedules, set CU records. He was known as a "60-minute performer," excelling on defense as well as offense.
White's Buffaloes faced Rice in the '38 Cotton Bowl on New Year's Day in Dallas. Though Rice won, 28-14, "Whizzer" left them talking. He threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Joe Antonio and then returned an interception 47 yards for a touchdown to put Colorado up 14-0 in the first quarter before the Owls battled back. He rushed 23 times for 54 yards in the game, and had 166 all-purpose yards including returns.
White was also a .400 hitter on the baseball team, and a standout on CU's basketball squad that made the N.I.T. in 1938. But his performance in the classroom exceeded his impressive ones outside of it. In 186 hours of undergraduate work, White earned 180 hours of A, and 6 hours of B. He was the student body president, a Rhodes Scholar, and Phi Beta Kappa.
After his time at Colorado, the Wellington native went on to play professional football for the Pittsburgh Pirates (now known as the Steelers). White was Pittsburgh's first pick in 1938. "Whizzer" led the league in rushing with 567 yards in 1938, and was named all-Pro. White left professional football to attend post-graduate school at Oxford College in England. After Oxford, White played one more season of football with Detroit, and again led the league in rushing with 514 yards, and punt returns with 15. White was again named to the All-Pro team. In the off-season, White attended Yale Law School.
During World War II, White was an officer in naval intelligence, serving most of his duty in the South Pacific. During his time of service, White earned a Bronze Star, and formed a friendship with John F. Kennedy.
Following the war, White returned to Yale Law School where he graduated first in his class in 1946. After a successful career as a corporation lawyer, White entered the political sphere in 1960, heading a pre-convention Kennedy movement that helped the soon-to-be president win the state of Colorado. White later served as deputy attorney general under Kennedy.
On March 30, 1962, White was appointed an associated justice of the U.S. Supreme Court at age 44. He served for 31 years, and retired in March 1993.
White was one of the first three athletes inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in 1965. He was also inducted into the NFL Hall-of-Fame, the National Football Foundation's College Football Hall-of-Fame, the GTE Academic Hall-of-Fame, and was selected to CU's Athletic Hall-of-Fame in 1998. White was a member of the 1940 NFL All-Decade team. White was selected to CU's All-Century Team in 1989, marking the school's first 100 years of football, and his football number, 24, was the first retired by the University.
Best known for humorous pieces, like a 10-foot long contemporary yoga figure recently installed in the Orchard Falls reflection pond, Vickers has also created busts of the 12 founders of Castle Pines Golf Club and White in his Supreme Court Justice robes.
"It was an honor and a pleasure to be able to sculpt the first football All-American at the University of Colorado and also the only Supreme Court Justice from the state of Colorado," Vickers said. "Good guys do finish first."
