Prince McJunkins, a college football pioneer at Wichita State, dies at age 59
.JPG "Former Wichita State football player Prince McJunkins poses in Fort Worth, Texas. McJunkins, 59, died of COVID-19 complications on Tuesday.")
Mobile quarterbacks are now the norm in the modern age of college football, but Prince McJunkins was the trailblazer who came before them all.
McJunkins, who played at Wichita State from 1979-82, was the first player in NCAA history to rush for more than 2,000 yards and pass for more than 4,000 yards in a career.
That legacy is only a part of what his teammates were remembering on Tuesday after they received news that McJunkins, at the age of 59, died of COVID-19 complications in a Tulsa hospital near his hometown of Muskogee, Oklahoma. He is survived by his wife and four children.
“I always tell people today that if Prince was playing in these days and times, he would have been like Patrick Mahomes or Deshaun Watson, a combination of those guys,” said Curtis Whitten, a former teammate of McJunkins on the WSU football team from 1980-82. “He could run the ball. He could throw the ball. You name it, he could do it. Every time he stepped on the field, we knew we had a chance.”
McJunkins was truly ahead of his time when it came to playing the quarterback position.
Willie Jeffries, the first Black football head coach at the Division I level, said part of it was due to race. McJunkins, who was Black, did not fit the traditional model of a quarterback when he arrived to WSU at 1979. Instead of standing and delivering passes in the pocket, he was a threat to scramble for a first down.
Being a dual threat is almost a requirement to play the position today. But McJunkins was viewed differently. Despite being chosen the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year in 1981 and 1982, NFL scouts were skeptical that he could play quarterback at the next level.
“It took a long time for people to open their eyes and see what impact these guys could bring to the game,” Jeffries told The Eagle in 2000. “Race was a factor. Most coaches are conservative, too. They go with the formula that has always worked before. That takes time to change.”
In a 2000 profile, McJunkins told The Eagle that his favorite memory as a Shocker came in 1982 when WSU upset Kansas 13-10 en route to an 8-3 season, the program’s best record. Down 10-6, McJunkins threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Don Dreher with 3:08 remaining for the game-winning score.
“They were a bigger school and had bigger players and all that stuff, but we beat them,” McJunkins said. “You can’t measure a person’s heart. We had a lot of heart.”
One of Whitten’s favorite memories of McJunkins came during the 1980 season when he was a freshman and McJunkins was starting to find his groove at quarterback. The Shockers traveled to War Memorial Stadium to take on Arkansas, a Southwest Conference power and top-15 team at the time.
WSU was significantly outmatched in the game, except for one player: McJunkins. His dazzling jukes and spins and pure athleticism made him stand out, Whitten remembers, even against a team full of top-notch athletes.
“If you ever had the opportunity to watch him play, then you know what I’m talking about,” Whitten said. “He was like a jackrabbit. I’m from Florida and we’ve got a lot of really good football players down there, but I never saw a football player like Prince McJunkins until I got to Wichita State.”
Whitten and McJunkins remained close over the years, well after their playing careers at WSU wrapped up. Whitten said that McJunkins spent much of the last decade doing contract work over in Afghanistan, but returned home to Muskogee frequently and the two would get together to play golf.
When Whitten was diagnosed with cancer, McJunkins was one of the first people to call to check in on him. It was a bond only former teammates could share.
Just last week, Whitten, who has remained in Wichita, said he was talking to McJunkins about playing a round of golf in Guthrie, Oklahoma. But then he received a call last Wednesday informing him that McJunkins’ mother had died of COVID-19 complications and McJunkins was being admitted to a hospital in Tulsa. Whitten said he though McJunkins was progressing this week and was stunned to learn of his friend’s untimely death on Tuesday morning.
“I know what COVID has done across this country and the affects of COVID, but to be honest with you, I’m still totally shocked,” Whitten said. “We’re talking about a healthy 59-year-old man who stayed in perfect shape with no underlying health problems. One day you’re talking to him, the next he’s not here. He was one of my best friends. It’s definitely been emotional for me.”
McJunkins will always have a special place in college football history.
But for the teammates who knew him and remained in touch all these years later, he will also always have a special place in their hearts.
“Prince was one of those types of guys who would give you the shirt off of his back,” Whitten said. “Things never seemed to bother him. He was a very charismatic guy. Very humble. He would always talk about his family and his kids. He loved his family. I’m just really going to miss him.”
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