State Fair of Texas Announces New “Texas Sports Legends” Exhibit

The State Fair of Texas and the Dallas Historical Society, in cooperation with the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, present a new exhibit honoring a selection of individuals who have contributed to athletic history in Texas, titled “Texas Sports Legends.” The exhibit will be open daily during this year’s State Fair of Texas, September 26 through October 19.
The “Texas Sports Legends” exhibit will be located in the Hall of State at Fair Park and will focus on a selection of leading legends in a variety of sports already in the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. Visiting from Waco, exclusively for the Fair’s run, the attraction will showcase a selection of memorabilia from Texas sports legends recognized since the hall of fame’s start in 1951.
“Whether they grew up here or became a member of a Texas-based team later in life, there are many legends to be honored who have contributed to Texas athletics,” said State Fair of Texas President, Mitchell Glieber. “We know that we cannot honor them all, but we thank the Texas Sports Hall of Fame for loaning us a selection of sports memorabilia for fairgoers to enjoy during this year’s Fair, themed “Deep in the Heart of Texans”.”
State Fair of Texas officials determined that there was no place more fitting on the fairgrounds to house this exhibit than the Hall of State Building. Constructed in 1936, the Hall of State was considered the crown jewel of the Centennial Exposition. Marble construction in the Hall of Heroes, within the Hall of State, comes from a variety of sources in the United States and Europe, and lavish murals represent Texas history from early exploration to 1936.
A selection of the inductees from the Texas Sports Hall of Fame who will be highlighted in this exhibit include: auto racing legends – A.J. Foyt and Johnny Rutherford; baseball legends – Roger Clemens and Nolan Ryan; basketball legends – Rolando Blackman and Clyde Drexler; boxing legend – George Foreman; football legends – Joe Green, Tom Landry, and Doak Walker; golf legends – Ben Crenshaw and Lee Trevino; hockey legend – Mike Modano; rodeo legend – Don Gay; soccer legends – Mia Hamm and Kyle Rote, Jr.; swimming legend – Eddie Reese; tennis legend – Zina Garrison; and track and field legends – Carl Lewis and Michael Johnson.
To add an additional dimension of fan involvement into the exhibit, there will be a special section entitled, “Future Texas Sports Legends.” The Dallas Morning News SportsDay team, in cooperation with the Dallas Historical Society, have chosen a selection of sports figures not yet inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, but who have contributed to Texas athletics during their lives. From the list, fans will get the chance to vote for their top five. The top five legends will each have a special display as part of the “Texas Sports Legends” exhibit during the State Fair of Texas.
The list of potential “Future Texas Sports Legends” includes: baseball stars – Yu Darvish and Clayton Kershaw; basketball coach – Gregg Popovich; basketball stars – Tim Duncan, Britney Griner, Dirk Nowitzki, Julius Randle, and Chris Bosh; football stars – Dez Bryant, Johnny Manziel, Adrian Peterson, JJ Watt, and Matt Stafford; golf star – Jordan Spieth; gymnastics star – Nastia Liukin; hockey star – Jamie Benn; and soccer star – Clint Dempsey.
Voting for “Future Texas Sports Legends” has ended.
This exhibit is sponsored by The Dallas Morning News and NBC 5 / KXAS-TV.
Disclaimer: This is a small selection of individuals featured in the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and as potential Future Texas Sports Legends. There are many more deserving to be considered Texas sports legends. The poll for the potential “Future Texas Sports Legends” is for the 2014 State Fair of Texas exhibit only, and in no way reflects any official action on the part of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.