Warren McVea, a Texas football trailblazer and Super Bowl champion with the Kansas City Chiefs, has died at the age of 79.
McVea’s daughter, Tracey Ellis, said he died at home in Los Angeles surrounded by family members after a long illness.
The speedy running back was the first Black player to receive a football scholarship to a major Texas school and later helped Kansas City win its first Super Bowl title.
From San Antonio, McVea starred at the University of Houston before joining the Cincinnati Bengals in 1968 in the American Football League.
McVea moved to Kansas City the following season, with the Chiefs going on to beat Minnesota 23-7 in the Super Bowl. He had 12 carries for 26 yards against the Vikings. In five NFL seasons, he had 2,552 all-purpose yards and 13 touchdowns.
Under coach Bill Yeoman at Houston, McVea had a school-record 3,009 all-purpose yards in 1966. In the first football game played on artificial turf, he had a 99-yard scoring catch against Washington State.
Warren McVea, a Super Bowl champion with the Kansas City Chiefs, has died at the age of 79
The former running back (pictured in 2015) died at home in Los Angeles surrounded by family
He earned the nickname ‘Wondrous Warren’ for his 9.5-second speed in the 100-yard dash and a rapid change of pace that left defenders in his dust.
Wearing the No. 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson in high school in San Antonio, McVea led Brackenridge to a state title as a junior in 1962. He also starred in track and field as a sprinter.
However, following his playing career, McVea fell on hard times. In the 1980s, he lost both his parent sin quick succession and went through a divorce.
The challenging time saw him turn to drug use that led to his imprisonment in 1993. In a 2017 interview with the San Antonio Express-News, McVea recalled this period of his life as a time when he ‘lost it. I didn’t know where I was.’
After his release in 2000, McVea turned his life around and was inducted into the University of Houston’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004.
