Former TCU football player, who helped usher in ADA after spinal injury, has died
Alvis Kent Waldrep Jr., a former TCU football player who after becoming paralyzed during a game in 1974 helped shape the Americans with Disabilities Act and raised tens of millions of dollars for research, died on Sunday.
Waldrep passed away in Natchitoches, Louisiana, his mother Denise told the Star-Telegram on Monday. He would’ve turned 68 on Wednesday. A celebration of life service will be held near Cedar Creek Reservoir in Kemp. A date has not yet been set.
“I hope people will remember Kent as someone who gave them hope,” Denise said. “He believed that one day paralysis would be cured. That’s what he strived for every day. He opened many doors. He was a pioneer of the wheelchair movement.”
Waldrep helped raise tens of millions of dollars around the world for paralysis research. He helped draft and pass the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, serving on the National Council of Disability under former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. And he was the grant committee chairman of the College Football Assistance Fund, which providing financial aid to football players who suffer serious injuries.
Waldrep, a running back at TCU in the 1970s, suffered a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed at age 19. Waldrep was injured during TCU’s 41-3 loss at Alabama on Oct. 26, 1974, on an end sweep during which he was swarmed by defenders and landed head-first into the artificial playing surface at Legion Field in Birmingham.
Legendary Alabama coach Paul “Bear” Bryant was deeply affected by Waldrep’s injury and went to the hospital following the game. Waldrep and Bryant developed a relationship afterward with Waldrep speaking at Bryant’s funeral in 1983.
Waldrep’s two sons, Trey (Alvis Kent Waldrep III) and Charley, attended Alabama on a Bryant Scholarship. Bryant started the scholarship fund in 1973 to benefit primarily the children of his former players, which is how he came to view Waldrep. Trey and Charley were the first children of a player who competed against Alabama to receive the scholarship.
Bryant also established a fund that covered Waldrep’s medical expenses.
Waldrep’s mother recalled the following season in 1975 when TCU played at Alabama. Bryant invited the entire Waldrep family to the game.
“Coach Bryant called up Kent, ‘I’m looking forward to seeing you on the weekend,’” Denise said. “They had a sign up at the airport and our own section for us. The doctors who worked on him were there. It was nice seeing all of them. The people at Alabama were just wonderful. Governor [George] Wallace helped get us a plane to get us back to Texas once Kent could leave the hospital.
“They didn’t have to be that good to us, but we’re very thankful.”
Waldrep’s relationship with TCU was more complicated. He started playing for the school in 1972 under coach Billy Tohill, and then Jim Shofner took over the program in 1974. Waldrep’s career stats were 133 yards on 39 carries, and 34 yards receiving on five catches.
Waldrep stayed in touch with the program over the years. F.A. Dry had Waldrep speak to the team before the Baylor game in the 1982 season, but Waldrep later sued the school for worker’s compensation in the 1990s.
TCU won that lawsuit with 10 of 12 jurors siding with the school that Waldrep was not a TCU employee when he got hurt. During the trial, Waldrep also alleged that TCU paid its football players, leaving up to $100 in shoes in their lockers.
Over the years, though, Waldrep’s relationship with the school improved. Waldrep was able to drive for years but faced the possibility of never getting behind the wheel again after he had a stroke in March 2012. That’s when folks, including former TCU football coach Gary Patterson, made a financial donation to help Waldrep secure a new van in 2013.
Patterson and Moritz Dealerships stepped up to help even though they didn’t know Waldrep personally. Former Star-Telegram columnist Randy Galloway wrote about it in 2013.
“It’s really heartwarming,” Waldrep told Galloway. “The friends, and then the people I didn’t even know doing all this. The Moritz people. Coach Patterson. Fort Worth has always been a second home for me. Tell Fort Worth I said thanks.”
Patterson was quoted in the article, saying: “Once a Frog, always a Frog. Tell Kent that.”
TCU athletic director Jeremiah Donati issued a statement on Waldrep’s passing on Monday, saying: “We were saddened to learn of the passing of Kent Waldrep. He was and will always be an important part of TCU and our football program.
“Kent’s impact went beyond TCU and onto the national level when he was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to the National Council on Disability and helped write the Americans with Disabilities Act. We will forever have a special place in our heart for Kent. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.”
Before landing at TCU, Waldrep had a standout high school football career at Alvin.
Waldrep ranked as both the district and Brazoria County’s top scorer from the running back position for Alvin in 1971. He was part of Alvin ISD’s inaugural Hall of Fame class in 2009, joining other alums such as baseball great Nolan Ryan.
“He was a great football player and always gave it 110%,” Denise said. “That’s what he did his entire life. People in wheelchairs used to have to go through the kitchen to get into restaurants. He got ramps put down.
“He opened so many doors with his work.”
This story was originally published March 1, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
