Mike Cotton, a former University of Texas football player (1959-61) and 1981 inductee into the Texas Athletic Hall of Fame, died Saturday after a short illness. He was 84 years old.
Cotton, born Dec. 12, 1939 in Uvalde, Texas, and a native of Austin, was a two-year starter at quarterback and earned All-Southwest Conference honors in 1961 while directing Darrell Royal's famous flip-flop offense.
Cotton was a lifelong Longhorns fan and never attended any other schools or campuses after graduating from Austin High School. He was also Royal's neighbor in Austin at the time.
After leading his Austin High School Maroons to the state semifinals, Cotton enrolled at the University of Texas and immediately led his freshman team to an undefeated season, the team's first since 1941.
Moving to the varsity team the following year, in 1959, he shared quarterback duties with Bobby Lackey and played as a defensive back as the team shared the SWC title with a 9-2 record and finished the season ranked 4th in the nation before losing to No. 1-ranked Syracuse in the Cotton Bowl.
He became the starting quarterback as a junior in 1960 and the team finished the season with a 7-3 record, but did win against No. 11 ranked Baylor and closed the season with a 3-3 tie with No. 9 ranked Alabama in the Bluebonnet Bowl. He led the team in both scoring and total offense that year.
As a senior in 1961, he was elected co-captain along with Don Talbert and led Royal's famous offense, one of the most potent in Southwest Conference history. A large part of that offense came from the rushing game led by All-American tailback James Saxton, but Cotton was always the best team player and just wanted to win.
Nonetheless, Cotton led the SWC in passing touchdowns with seven, and was lauded when he was named the game's outstanding player for his play in leading Texas to a 12-7 victory over No. 5-ranked Ole Miss in the 1962 Cotton Bowl. That game capped a 10-1 season in which the Longhorns held the No. 1 ranking in the nation for most of the year, but suffered a 6-0 upset loss to TCU.
Cotton was an excellent field general, passer and runner, but perhaps his greatest contribution to the Longhorns' success was the leadership he provided guidance and morale to the team, especially in their final two games after an upset with the No. 3 final ranking at stake.
Cotton compiled a record of 17 wins, 4 losses and 1 tie in two seasons as the starting quarterback, including wins in all games against rivals Oklahoma and Texas A&M.
A political science major at UT, Cotton knew what he wanted to do from the moment he enrolled at Texas: to become a lawyer. He enrolled in UT law school in 1962 and graduated in 1965. After serving three years as a captain in the U.S. Marine Corps, including a tour of duty in Vietnam, Cotton joined the law firm of Clark & Thomas in 1968. The firm would later become Clark, Thomas, Winters & Shapiro, and Cotton became a partner in 1975.
Cotton is a member of the Hall of Fame and was one of the founding members of the Stadium Veterans Committee, which was formed in 1996.
Cotton is survived by his daughters, Ashley Patman of Austin and Leslie Childress of Jackson, Mississippi;
