FAYETTEVILLE -- Jon Brittenum, the starting quarterback on dominant teams for the University of Arkansas in 1965 and 1966, passed away early Thursday at age 78.
Brittenum, a native of Brinkley, had been in ill health for several years and living in south Texas.
Brittenum lettered in 1963, when he split time at quarterback with Bill Gray, redshirted during the national championship season of 1964, then held the starting job as a junior and senior the following two years.
He earned All-Southwest Conference honors in both of those seasons. Brittenum passed for 1,103 yards with 8 touchdowns and 7 interceptions for the 1965 team, which won its first 10 games to extend the school's winning streak to 22 consecutive games.
Brittenum was credited with calling the plays in a 27-24 win over No. 1 Texas that season, pushing the Razorbacks to the top spot in the Associated Press top 25.
The Razorbacks were ranked No. 2 going into the Cotton Bowl with a chance to win back-to-back national championships due to No. 1 Michigan State's loss to UCLA in the Rose Bowl. However, Brittenum suffered a separated shoulder and LSU beat the Razorbacks 14-7 in Dallas.
He passed for another 1,103 yards in 1966 and added 168 rushing yards as the Razorbacks went 8-2 and stayed in the top 10 for eight of 10 regular season Associated Press polls.
Brittenum was selected for the UA Sports Hall of Honor in 2020 but was inducted with the 2021 class due to the covid-19 pandemic.
Coach Frank Broyles wrote in his autobiography that Brittenum was "the best passer on the move that I've ever seen. He could throw it like a frozen rope on the sprint-out series. He was the perfect passer-runner for the system that we played at the time."
Brittenum was selected to the UA's All-Decade team of the 1960s.
He was undrafted in 1967 but made the Miami Dolphins practice squad that year and played one season for the San Diego Chargers in 1968.
BASKETBALL
Norton dies at 60
Ricky Norton, a 1980 McDonald's All-American at Okolona High School who played guard for Coach Eddie Sutton at the University of Arkansas, died Thursday at CHI St. Vincent's Hot Springs. He was 61.
"Ricky had been dealing with some ailments the last few years," said University of Arkansas-Little Rock Coach Darrell Walker, who was Norton's teammate with the Razorbacks. "He was on [kidney] dialysis, but he was doing fine until a couple of days ago. Then he took a turn for the worse."
Walker said Norton's wife, Ann, let him know her husband's condition and he got to visit his close friend in the hospital.
"I was there when Ricky passed away," Walker said. "I was able to spend some time with him and hold his hand and talk to him a little bit.
"It was tough, but at least I got a chance to say good-bye to my friend."
Kentucky was among the teams Norton turned down scholarship offers from to stay home and sign with Arkansas.
The Razorbacks went to the NCAA Tournament in all four of Norton's seasons from 1980-81 through 1983-84 and had a combined 98-25 record.
As a senior, Norton averaged 8.6 points, 2.4 assists and 1.5 rebounds in 30.3 minutes per game.
"Ricky was a guy that ran the team," Walker said. "He took shots when he was open. He didn't turn the ball over, and he could play good defense.
"He had to change his game at the University of Arkansas after being a McDonald's All-American, but he fit in with Coach Sutton's system and had a good, solid career.
"Razorback Nation has lost a good one in Ricky -- on and off the court."
Walker and Norton both arrived on the Arkansas campus in the summer of the 1980.
Walker, who became an All-American and played 10 seasons in the NBA, was a sophomore transfer from Westark Community College. Norton was a freshman.
"We hit it off pretty good," Walker said. "We've been friends ever since we first met and stayed in constant contact with each other.
"Ricky was one of my favorite teammates. I'm going to miss my friend dearly."
Jon Brittenum
In this file photo former Arkansas Razorback basketball player Ricky Norton stands next to his son's basketball goal Monday behind his Antoine home, southwest of Arkadelphia.