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Rene Ramirez, 'The Galloping Gaucho' for the Longhorns in the late 1950s, dies at 85
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Rene Ramirez, a Texas Athletics Hall of Honor member and halfback for the Longhorns football team in the late 1950s, died Tuesday, his family announced. He was 85 years old.
Family members said Ramirez passed "surrounded by friends and family" at his home in McAllen after battling a long illness.
"He was surrounded by people he loved, and until the day he died, everything was Hook ‘em Horns, Hook ‘em Horns," his daughter Teresa Castillo said. "When he would have a good day, we’d sing him and play UT band songs, and he would just light up."
Ramirez, nicknamed "Tha Galloping Gaucho," was one of Darrell Royal's first recruits when he took over the Longhorns in 1957 and one of the first Mexican-Americans to play football at Texas.
As a halfback in Royal's wishbone offense, Ramirez was a first-team all-Southwest Conference performer his senior year. Texas finished 9-2 and was ranked No. 4 in both national polls that season. He also made four interceptions on defense in his career.
The Hebbronville native was inducted into the Hall of Honor in 2013.
"He made a huge impact in so many ways, not just for Texas, but for other people throughout his life," Castillo said. "His work ethic, his belief in God is just who he was. Just the way he treated people, his personality, he didn’t judge people. Everyone knew him and everyone liked him. With his personality, he would light up a room."
After football, Ramirez worked in the insurance industry in both Austin and the Rio Grande Valley and founded the Rene Ramirez Youth Development Camp to help underprivileged kids in east Austin. He graduated from Texas in 1961 with a degree in mechanical engineering.