Tex Maule

Hamilton Prieleaux Bee “Tex” Maule was born on May 19, 1915 to 2nd Lieutenant Claude Wendell Maule (1889 – 1918) and Zelita Bee Maule (1891 – 1986). His father C. W. Maule had been serving in World War I when he contracted pneumonia and died in England after a short bout with the disease. The remains of 2nd Lt. Maule were removed for burial at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. Tex, one of two children of the couple, was born in Florida, though his family had lived in San Antonio for many years. His grandfather, named Hamilton Prioleau Bee, was a long time Texas resident who worked in the insurance business. The 1920, 1930 and 1940 census forms show Tex residing in San Antonio. He was single, living with his mother Zelita in the 1920 and 1930 census reports and married with no children in the 1940 census.

Tex attended San Antonio’s St. Mary’s University from 1935 to 1937 and played end on the football team. According to an article in the San Antonio Express on October 30, 1970, Tex was named an Outstanding Alumnus of St. Mary’s, where when a student he had majored in English. Tex then served in the United States Merchant Marine during World War II and completed a bachelor’s degree in journalism at University of Texas in Austin after the war ended.

The Rams of the National Football League began as the Cleveland Rams. The team remained in Cleveland from its inception around 1937 until the 1945 season. In Cleveland, they opened with their lowest record, 1-10 in 1937. In 1945, they closed out the season with a 10-1 record by defeating the Washington Redskins 15-14 for the league championship. The team then moved to Los Angeles where it would remain from the 1946 season until the 1994 season. Texas E. “Tex” Schramm joined the front office as publicity director of the Rams in 1947 and Maule joined him in 1949. Schramm stayed until 1956 and Maule remained about three years until he left the club around 1951 when he moved back to Texas to work for the Dallas Texans.

There were two different and unrelated teams that went by the name Dallas Texans. The first team was organized after World War II as the Boston Yanks, which was their name from 1944 to 1948. Then the club moved to New York, where for the 1949 season they were renamed the New York Bulldogs of the All America Football Conference. The AAFC merged with the NFL and teams including the Browns, 49ers and Colts were added to the NFL. The New York club, eventually renamed the Yanks, continued to flounder on the east coast and the team was sold back to the league before being awarded to Dallas and reorganized as the Dallas Texans.

Maule served during the club’s short life as publicity director and the owners were two brothers named Miller. The Texans played their first game at the Cotton Bowl on September 28, 1952, losing to the New York Giants by a score of 24 – 6. They went on to a record of 1-11, defeating only the Chicago Bears in their tenth game. During the season, they were outscored 182 to 427 points. The club ranked 11 out of 12 in total offense and 12 out of 12 in total defense. Despite playing in the Cotton Bowl, the team could not attract much of a local following and management was turned over to the NFL before the season ended. A later team would be organized under the American Football League with the name Dallas Texans. Aside from the name, this AFL team had no other connection with the 1952 club. The AFL team became known as the Kansas City Chiefs.

Maule went on to join Sports Illustrated in 1956 and remained there for nineteen years primarily covering American football. From time to time, Maule was referred to as “the oracle of Sports Illustrated.” He also covered professional boxing, horse racing and Major League Baseball for the magazine.

Entities similar to the American Football League had existed in various earlier configurations over the years as a rival to the NFL. The AFL was the last and most successful organization, founded in 1959. It had increasingly favorable success from 1960 on as teams were added and the league gained popularity. After years of discussions, a merger was agreed to in 1966 between the two leagues. The first Super Bowls occurred before the merger occurred. The actual agreement was implemented in 1970, when the AFL had ten teams. The agreement was vastly more complicated, but briefly described, the merger created a new entity named the National Football League and the two former independent leagues became “conferences.” At the time of the merger, there were 24 teams and the agreement provided for future expansion, two teams at a time.

Maule and some other sports writers were openly biased in favor of the NFL and against the AFL before the merger. This was not an unusual editorial attitude at the time. Maule’s opinions earned him some resentment. On January 12, 1969 when the New York Jets defeated the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, Maule was reportedly singled out and referred to in an off the air derogatory remark by one of the game’s broadcast personalities. Since that time, each conference has won roughly half of the games with neither conference having a long term edge over the other.

Tex moved to Dallas and wrote for the Dallas Morning News for about three years (1976 to 1979) before relocating to New York where he continued his career as a freelance writer. All along, Tex had been writing books. A partial listing of books just written by him follows below, compiled from various sources. In all Tex either wrote or co-wrote over thirty books, counting fiction, nonfiction and books not listed here that were co-authored with other writers. Tex is also credited for writing in two film or television productions named “Footsteps” and “Banning.” The actual extent of his involvement in either project is unknown, however.

1. The Rookie (1961)
2. The Quarterback (1962)
3. The Shortstop (1962)
4. Beatty of the Yankees (1963)
5. The Game (1963)
6. The Last Out (1964)
7. Championship Quarterback (1963)
8. The Linebacker (1965)
9. The Running Back (1966)
10. The Corner Back, a Novel (1967)
11. Mission in Black (1967)
12. The Players (1967)
13. The Receiver (1968)
14. Rub-A-Dub-Dub (1968)
15. The Pro Season (1970)
16. The Running Back (1971)
17. The Receiver (1971)
18. Running Scarred (1972)
19. Footsteps: His Drive and Ambition Made Him One of the Best—and Most Hated—Coaches in America (1973)
20. Bart Starr (1973)
21. The Gladiators (1973)
22. Championship Quarterback, a Novel (2021)

Tex suffered a heart attack in the 1960s and credited a considerable amount of his recovery to running. His book “Running Scarred” dealt with his experiences. Maule died at the age of 66 of another heart attack on May 16, 1981 while residing in New York. His was held at a Manhattan funeral home; burial details are unknown.

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