Former Browns, Pats lineman, College Hall of Famer dies

Bob McKay, the towering offensive tackle who helped define the University of Texas' "Wishbone" offense and later spent nine seasons in the NFL , died Thursday. He was 78.

McKay was a first-team All-American, a national champion and a College Football Hall of Fame inductee whose career began in the small West Texas town of Crane. He was inducted into the T exas High School Football Hall of Fame in 2012 for his accomplishments at Crane High School, where he starred at end for the Golden Cranes and earned second-team all-state honors.

Darrell Royal's Texas program recruited McKay to Austin in 1966. He eventually developed into a 6-foot-5, 260-pound offensive tackle and became one of the most important players on the Longhorns' dominant teams of the late 1960s.

"He was a great leader," former Texas halfback Ted Koy said in a 2017 interview. "But even as big as he was, he didn't try to intimidate anybody. He led by cooperation. He had a way of convincing us to do it together. As a running back, you knew he was always going to do his job. If you just followed him, you were going in the right direction."

McKay played his final two college seasons in 1968 and 1969, helping Texas go 20-1-1, win two Southwest Conference championships and claim two Cotton Bowl victories.

In 1969, Texas went 11-0, won the national championship and finished the season with a 21-17 victory over Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl. McKay was a consensus first-team All-American and All-Southwest Conference selection.

McKay entered the NFL as the 21st overall selection in the 1970 draft, taken by the Cleveland Browns . He played six seasons in Cleveland before joining the New England Patriots for three more seasons, finishing his professional career after the 1978 season. He appeared in 105 regular season NFL games, starting 71.

Both the Browns and Patriots reached the playoffs during McKay's tenure; he started playoff games in 1971, 1972 and 1976.