Snyder Renames Tiger Stadium For Teaff
SNYDER, Texas – Legendary Baylor head football coach Grant Teaff is a member of eight halls of fame, but, as noted at a luncheon in his honor Friday, has only one stadium named after him.
That stadium is the officially renamed Grant Teaff Tiger Stadium, dedicated to the Snyder great before the Tigers faced Pecos Friday night.
Many from the Snyder area, Baylor, and McMurry, where he coached from 1960-1965, were in attendance at a luncheon in his honor at Colonial Hill Baptist Church. Then they made their way over to the stadium for a pregame ceremony and the first game of the Anthony Gonzales era, a 41-7 loss to Pecos.
Former Baylor quarterback Neal Jeffrey
The guest speaker at the event was former Baylor quarterback Neal Jeffrey, who helped lead the Bears to the 1974 Southwest Conference championship under Teaff. Jeffrey, who speaks with a stutter, said a meeting that changed his life came before the season when he met with his head coach to discuss his goals, which were to be the starting quarterback at Baylor, to win the conference championship, and to speak in front of a group despite his stutter. With Teaff’s help, Jeffrey was able to achieve all three goals that season and now speaks in front of people regularly as a pastor at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano.
Grant Teaff with his daughter, Layne Pittman
Teaff, a 1951 graduate of Snyder High school, was a three-sport letterman and all-district selection in football for the Tigers. “Growing up in Snyder had a tremendous impact on me. I saw people that were hard-working, dedicated to their families, and loved this little community, at that time. It’s grown up a lot since I was a boy, but it’s still the same. I notice that the people that moved here, many from the oil industry, are the same kind of people. They’re good people that care about their families. Good people that care about their communities. Good people that love individuals and support their teams. My growing up in Snyder, Texas was one of the most important things that happened to me in my life. I was so blessed to grow up here,” he said.
Teaff and former McMurry head coach Steve Keenum
To be honored with a stadium in his name in his hometown is a big deal, even for a football legend like Teaff. “It’s honestly very hard to comprehend that a city and community as good as this one would do that at this time in my life, because it’s been a long time since I was a citizen here. Many, many things have happened to the world, to our nation, and to my life and Donell’s. It takes me back to one of the greatest times in my life. This community was the foundation of everything that I have accomplished in my life. There were individuals, my Sunday school teachers, my coaches, my teachers in school all the way up from elementary to high school have meant so much to me. There were so many lessons that I learned that came from the different individuals. One might set me down after I’d made a smart remark and tell me something like this, “Grant you can be a great leader, but you need to watch what you say, when you say it and who you say it to.” Wow. Did that ever have an impact? Did that ever make a difference in my life? Yes, it did. As I grew up and had different opportunities to be around different people and football teams where you had different young men coming from different backgrounds, what you say and how you conduct yourself and how you live what you say makes a difference. Thank you, Mom and Dad. Thank you, Snyder.”
