Sooners' running back loss led to gain for Razorbacks

FAYETTEVILLE -- Among the college football recruiting stories, the one about Donald Roy "Ike" Forte, is a doozy that worked out in favor of the Arkansas Razorbacks.

The Texarkana native, who earned All-America honors at Tyler (Texas) Junior College, was targeted by Oklahoma for the 1974 signing class and he had every intention of playing for the Sooners and Coach Barry Switzer, the ex-Arkansas assistant coach, whom he had signed with out of high school.

But then he heard something on the recruiting trail that caused him to pause. Forte took a successful visit to Fayetteville and signed with the Razorbacks. He had two strong seasons there, capped by a 100-yard performance in a Cotton Bowl victory over Georgia, and earned a selection into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2020, which will be inducted on March 13.

"This is a true story," Forte said. "I was going to Oklahoma, and at the time there was this big stud down in Texas ... named Earl Campbell.

"So Barry [Switzer] was telling Earl, 'Hey, I haven't even signed a quality back yet. Earl we need you.' So I heard that or got wind of it or else somebody told a lie and told me that."

Forte had a big time with the Razorbacks during his recruiting visit and spurned the Sooners' scholarship offer, as did Campbell, who became a college football legend at Texas.

"So if I'm not quality there's no sense in me going up there [to Oklahoma]," Forte said. "And Leroy Montgomery, the recruiting coordinator at Arkansas, he was down in Tyler, and he was still after me, trying to get me to come. I took a six- or eight-hour visit and decided that's where I'm going. The guys were saying they were going to win and I wanted to be a part of it."

Win the Razorbacks did, particularly in Forte's senior season of 1975.

"He could have gone a lot of places and played for other people and made their teams great," said Scott Bull, the Razorbacks' quarterback starter in 1975. "But we were thrilled to get him. We needed someone of his caliber. He was everything he was billed to be."

Forte arrived on campus with glowing credentials, dubbed by the school paper The Arkansas Traveler, as "God's gift to the '74 Razorbacks."

Defensive back Muskie Harris, a 1973 signee for the Razorbacks, knew Forte's potential.

"We were really shocked that he changed his mind because Oklahoma was straight on him," Harris said. "They followed him to Fayetteville. They didn't want to lose Ike. Ike was a prized jewel."

Harris said the players made Forte feel welcomed on his recruiting trip.

"We were close, and he saw that and he saw there wasn't any black-white tension," he said. "We socialized with each other. We cried with each other.

"When he decided he was coming, we all cried for joy. And he said, 'I made the right decision. Y'all just made me feel at home. That's all I was looking for.'"

Forte, who famously wore a No. 85 jersey, quickly became a key contributor in the Hogs' talented backfield, rushing for 974 yards and 9 touchdowns and earning All-Southwest Conference honors in 1974.

He topped that as a senior, compiling 983 yards and scoring 10 touchdowns to earn All-Southwest Conference honors again while sharing time in the Veer offense with Jerry Eckwood, who was also a first-team All-SWC selection.

"Just two guys who you didn't care who got the dive or who got the pitch," Bull said. "Both could run equally well. We put a lot of pressure on defenses that year because I would run the ball as well."

Forte is in the Arkansas record books, ranking seventh in single-game rushing with 215 yards in a win over Texas Tech in 1974. His eight 100-yard rushing games are tied for 12th in school history with Razorback greats Madre Hill, James Rouse, Matt Jones and Rawleigh Williams III.

But Forte downplayed his accomplishments, saying he's not too excited to be going into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame because "I don't deserve it," he said.

"I'm thinking back when I played at Arkansas, all the offensive linemen that we had played pro ball," he said. "Any running back we put in the game did what I did, and it was obvious.

"Every back that we put in the backfield when I played -- Rolland Fuchs, Jerry Eckwood, Ben Cowins, Michael Forrest -- did the same thing I did. I didn't do nothing that extraordinary to be selected to a hall of fame."

Forte continued, saying, "When you're talking about hall of fame now, as far as running backs for Arkansas, you're talking Darren McFadden, Jerry Eckwood, Ben Cowins. These guys, they did leave a legacy at Arkansas.

"So I don't look at it like I deserve it, but I'm thankful. I have kids and grand kids and for them to see that their dad and Papaw did something that people thought he belongs in a hall of fame, then I accept it and I appreciate it. But all the credit for whatever I did went to the people I played with."

Those key offensive linemen include Greg Koch, Leotis Harris, Richard LaFargue, Gerald Skinner and R.C. Thielemann, who all played in the NFL. Eckwood, Harris, Koch and Thielemann have all preceded Forte into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame.

Forte said one of his lasting memories was not a good one, and his mother was there to see it.

"I was healthy and I felt good," Forte said of a game against SMU. "I broke for a 60-yard run and I saw Momma up in the stands, and I got to acting up and I dislocated three of my toes," Forte said. "If I knew what I knew now I wouldn't be showing out, trying to do things that weren't me anyway."

Forte would go on to play through pain, winning the respect of teammates.

"Oh yeah, he performed," Muskie Harris said. "Even with that Astroturf toe he ended up producing. He was a hell of a tough back. He really was."

Said Bull, "I really believe Ike was the heart of that running game. He was the guy that got a lot of the tough yards and he played hurt. That was one of the things I remember about him the most is how he had injuries every week and then every week he came back to play."

Forte was drafted by the New England Patriots and spent six years in the NFL, mostly on special teams, with the Patriots, Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles and he compiled 511 rushing yards, 387 receiving yards and 7 touchdowns.

He returned to Texarkana and retired after 22 years with Cooper Tire and now hangs out with his wife of 44 years, Glenda, a homecoming queen at Tyler Junior College, his children and grandchildren.

"Right now, life can't get any better for me," Forte said, referencing his time with family. "That's what life is about."

Sports on 03/09/2020