Former Sooner Ed Lisak fought a war, then finished up his high school career
Age: 90
Hometown:
In his first OU football game, in 1948,
Lisak was a defensive back stalwart on OU's 1950 national championship team. But Lisak had plenty of adventure before ever reaching Norman -- he spent two years in the
After leaving OU, Lisak again returned to
I'm doing fine. Just enjoying life. Taking it easy. Playing a little golf and playing with the grandkids. I have a daughter that lives here. My son lives in
How long have I been married? Just a minute. "How long have we been married (he asks his wife, Theresa)?" Sixty-nine years in November. You have to work on it and get along with each other. You have to give and take. It's not a one-way street.
I grew up in
Joined the
I took some tests, and they said I could qualify to become an air crewman, which was an aviation radio and dive bomber. I had to go aviation radio and radar school. Went through gunnery school in
Very exciting. Didn't know any better. At the young, tender age of 17, I'm flying around. I never did get into any real big action, but I was in on the latter part of the war. I guess I did a lot of flying... On the Randolph, we were in the Pacific near the end of the war. We were chasing the Japanese. I guess anytime you flew, it could be dangerous.
After the war, I went back to high school and I was still eligible to participate in sports. It all worked out. It was quite an experience. I went back my senior year and got involved in sports. We had a real good team that particular year. I had a very good year. I was recruited by four or five schools. There were three or four of us on the team that were all ex-servicemen. I had a coach that liked me real well.
The reason I ended up at Oklahoma, my best friend played there,
John had mentioned to (Bud)
I'm very grateful and happy it ended up that way. Very fine school. Worked out really well. The players on the team, we were a close bunch of fellows. Most of us at that particular time, we were all veterans.
Wilkinson was one fine gentleman. Easy to get along with. He didn't have to yell or scream too much. To me, he could generate what he was telling you was right, and we had to do it. And he was fair. He did emphasize going to school and getting your degree. He was a good organizer. I think him being in the service, and he wasn't all that old, he knew how we were. He know how to handle us and keep us in line.
I was a backup offensive fullback, and he made me a defensive halfback. I played three years. Got to play a little bit offensively.
The (
I could say this. If you were from the Big Ten, you had a better chance of playing with the Bears. Most of the players were from the Big Ten. Unless you were really a topnotch hotshot, there weren't too many from the South or Southeast. Most of the pro players were from this area. But anyhow, I guess if you're good, you make it.
I went back to
I've lost a lot of my contacts there in
My (championship) ring, I have it on right now. I started the campaign. I started this thing and really got things going. I grew up here in Big Ten country and got a few friends that played for UofM and Michigan State and Notre Dame. And they all had their rings. I figured, by golly, if the Big Ten boys can get rings and Notre Dame, why can't we? You shook up the troops and things started rolling. And that was really great. That's the way it happened. The people at Oklahoma are great.
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