Forty-six years after the national championship victory of 1969, former defensive back, Tom Campbell, can still remember the emotional story of the national championship game against the fighting Irish of Norte Dame. 1969 was not only the year the Texas Longhorns won the national championship, it was also the year teammate and friend of Tom's, Freddie Steinmark, had his leg amputated because of a cancerous tumor.
Bud Brigham, a UT alum who works as an energy entrepreneur in Houston, had been approached for funding of a movie based on Freddie Steinmark and the 1969 Longhorns. Passionate to keep the story accurate and not caught in the fantasies of Hollywood, Bud rallied together other UT alumni to help fund the project.
Tom Campbell describes, "I went out with my brother, Mike, and long-time friend, author of Freddie Steinmark's biography "Courage Beyond the Game," Jim Dent, one night, when this movie producer, Bud Brigham, asks us how we feel about making a movie about Freddie Steinmark. I felt all along that Freddie Steinmark would be an inspiration to this entire country and this was how to show it."
Freddie Steinmark was a safety for the Texas Longhorns from 1968-1969 out of Denver, Colorado. He was a talented player on the Texas Defense who always kept faith, his family, academics, and football as his priorities in life. Unlike most, Freddie wasn't one to "go out" drinking with his friends. Off the field, he spent most of his time with his long-time girlfriend, Linda Wheeler. Tom Campbell played right next to him on every play and still finds it disturbing today that, "the most God-fearing person on the team got cancer".
Freddie played his last game against Arkansas in what was called, "The Game of the Century": #1 Texas vs. #2 Arkansas during college football's 100th year anniversary. It was a matchup of the two undefeated teams in college football. Freddie had played almost the entire season with tremendous pain in his leg, but it wasn't until after this game that he found out just how severe his pain was. Despite it all, Freddie was able to aid the Longhorns in earning a spot at the national championship game.
Tom recalls the emotions of excitement and happiness of heading to the national championship quickly being turned to heartbreak two days later when the team met for a special meeting,
"We beat Arkansas and then we were all called up to a meeting room somewhere in Gregory, and we didn't know why we were there, but next thing we know is Coach Royal is telling us Freddie Steinmark is getting his leg amputated."
During the making of the movie, Tom sat with the director and producers behind the monitors, watching this moment from every angle for 12 takes. "I became so emotionally drained that I just couldn't take it anymore and had to tell everyone to stop. That was the last time they filmed that scene."
Aaron Eckhart, who plays Coach Darrell K. Royal, "poured his heart and soul into the movie." According to Tom, he learned how Coach Royal talked, walked, stood, and knelt down. "They could not have found a better actor," he says.
The movie also features actors such as former wide receiver Jordan Shipley, former quarterback Case McCoy, and Justin Street, son of the Longhorn quarterback James Street from the 1969 team. Colt McCoy also served as a consultant for the movie, but was not in it.
Tom enjoyed making the movie and believes that it will be a "compelling story to see" and is excited for "the entire country to see who Freddie Steinmark was".
Freddie's story, despite not yet being well-known, has already made an impact. President Nixon, who was present at the "Game of the Century," the #1 Texas Longhorns vs. #2 Arkansas Razorbacks, had admired Freddie's final game of football. As a result, he was inspired to sign into law the National Cancer Act of 1971, declaring a "War on Cancer," just after Freddie's death.
"When you watch it, be prepared and bring some tissues, because it's going to be an inspirational, yet very sad movie." --Tom Campbell
