By Richard Greene | Published Thursday, October 22, 2009
After 50 years of attending games, Decatur's Jerry Mara still gets a special feeling walking into Eagle Stadium. "I still get butterflies before kickoff," he said.
The retired dairy farmer was on the field 50 years ago for the first snap at Eagle Stadium. Mara and his teammates will be recognized Friday night as part of Decatur ISD's half-century celebration of the stadium at halftime of the game with Burkburnett.
"The first game was against Burkburnett, and we're bringing back as many of the old players as we can to celebrate 50 years of Decatur football," said Decatur coach and athletic director Kyle Story, who has called the stadium home the past 11 seasons.
Mara was a senior for Decatur in 1959. The Eagles played their games at Decatur Baptist College on South Trinity. What would become Eagle Stadium was used as a practice field.
"It was nothing but a field filled with rocks, grass spurs and goatheads," said Mara while walking across the Eagle Stadium field Monday afternoon. "If we played on anything like this, it'd been great."
A few weeks before the Eagles' final game in 1959, Mara recalls the coaches asking the team if they would want to play on the field that was to become the Eagles' new permanent home the next year.
"Coach asked us a couple weeks before," said Mara, the team's center. "We said sure. It was Friday night, and we were ready to play if it was in the middle of the street."
The field was in a primitive state for the first game.
"They lined the field so we could play," Mara said. "People parked their cars around the field."
A few hours before kickoff, the temperature in Decatur plummeted as a cold front pushed through.
"We were real excited to play until 3:30 in the evening when that front hit," Mara said. "Everyone came to town to get long-handled britches. It was terribly cold."
Mara recalled it being so cold that fullback Ronnie Elliott's eye lids were frozen before he crossed the goal line at the end of a long run. Spectators at the game stood around barrels of burning wood to try to stay warm.
The cold did not dampen the Eagles' spirits, Mara said, "because we were winning." The Eagles survived the cold to beat Burkburnett 22-20.
The 1959 Decatur yearbook said about the game, "though played in freezing temperatures, both teams played a rough and tough game. Played in the Eagles' new football stadium, this game climaxed the best season record in some 20 years."
Mara has regularly attended games at Eagles Stadium since that first game. He watched his son, Perry, play on the field.
"Things have changed; I'm 100 pounds heavier and instead of a flat top it's now a slick top," he said.
Mara and Decatur athletic secretary Virginia Caraway were unsure how many players from the 1959 team will make it to Friday's celebration.
"The sad thing is half the teammates have gone to meet the lord - some at a young age," Mara said.
As a life-long resident of the Decatur area, Mara said he is proud to be part of the first team to play at Eagle Stadium and to start a winning tradition.
"There's been a lot of great ballgames here," Mara said. "A lot of great men have come through here. Probably 25 ex-players have gone on to play college ball."
Eagle Stadium could receive several upgrades for its 51st season if voters approve an $8 million bond package Nov. 3. The proposal includes an artificial turf playing surface, new fencing, new concession stand and restrooms and upgraded parking lot.
