PROVO — Sonny Detmer, father of Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer, died Tuesday at the age of 76 after being hospitalized for complications with bronchitis and pneumonia.
Sonny was a legend in Texas high school football coaching circles for his innovative approach with the passing game. His two sons, Ty and Koy, starred in major college football programs and both enjoyed long NFL careers.
Sonny was a kind, funny, intelligent, extremely competitive and doting father who loved his kids and was especially linked to his sons on and off the field with hunting, fishing and ranching in Texas.
I’ve often thought in the past three decades that whenever I talked to Ty Detmer, it was like talking to his father. They were so similar in how they approached life. It was Sonny who taught both his sons they had to give back to the community that cheered them on. It was not only an obligation, but a duty.
I first talked to Sonny in the summer of 1987, just as Ty prepared for his senior season at Southwest High in San Antonio, where Sonny was the head football coach. We spoke nearly every other week that season. His enthusiasm for football, the science of attacking defenses and his love for Ty was infectious.
Sonny believed in his heart that Ty could put up big numbers against anybody. He saw it in high school in Texas and witnessed it after a college career that produced more than 15,000 yards and 121 touchdowns, culminating in a Heisman trophy.
The day BYU retired Ty’s jersey, Sonny was in LaVell Edwards Stadium. He was so impacted by the moment, he could not speak. Tears ran down his cheeks. He was always easily affected by tender moments.
Sonny was the only child of Hubert and Doris Detmer. Hubert, who worked for the Monsanto Corporation, instilled a love of competing, having fun doing it, and winning in Sonny and Doris’ firstborn, Ty. Hubert was a calming force in the family. A World War II veteran, he grew up a figure straight out of the movie “Hoosiers,” helping lead his Rising Sun Shiners to their first Indiana sectional title back in 1930.
Doris was the disciplinarian, the mover and shaker, who worked at several banks, directing financial affairs in the background for several institutions. Paw Paw and Maw Maw, as they were called, were Ty Detmer’s biggest fans.
They poured a lifetime of love on Sonny and he excelled at everything he tried, from football to basketball and baseball to coaching.
Ty said via text Tuesday that his father’s death was a shock and unexpected.
Sonny was a “The Sporting News” All-American receiver at Wharton College in Texas and went on to play baseball and basketball at Florida State.
“He had the best pair of hands I’ve ever seen,” said Dr. Ron Bateman of Fort Collins, Colorado, who was a former teammate of Sonny’s for the Lawrenceburg Tigers (Indiana).
Sonny met his wife, Betty, at Wharton College. She was the daughter of Campo, Texas, chiropractor Clyde Spellman and his wife, Alva.
“Sonny is a dreamer of dreams. I always told the kids I was never a dreamer but their father was. He was fun and games. I was always there to help with their dreams. I’m a helper and a doer. Sonny was the one who set dreams in the minds of kids. When I first met Sonny, I latched on to his dreams.” — Betty Detmer
“Sonny is a dreamer of dreams,” Betty told me back in 1990. “I always told the kids I was never a dreamer but their father was. He was fun and games. I was always there to help with their dreams. I’m a helper and a doer. Sonny was the one who set dreams in the minds of kids. When I first met Sonny, I latched on to his dreams.”
Sonny compiled a high school coaching record of 235-141-2 in 35 seasons at Southwest, Mission and Somerset high schools in Texas. He joked with me that once he finished coaching Ty and Koy, he was called back to coach his grandchildren so he kept putting on the earphones and calling plays.
In an interview with Texas Monthly back when Ty was an active NFL player, Sonny explained what he loved about Ty.
“That’s what I appreciate about him so much,” Sonny told the magazine. “He doesn’t look, talk or act like a tough guy, but this guy is tough. You know that goin’ in, he’s got to be, because he’s not gonna get all the opportunities to make mistakes and have time to mature and have time to learn — like Brett Favre got all the time in the world to mature. And he made mistakes and they patted him on the back and said, ‘You’ll do better next time.’ For Ty it was, ‘Well, if you don’t win this one, this could be the end of your career.’ Why wouldn’t you root for a guy who is an average guy to go in there and do super things? Why wouldn’t you be rootin’ for a guy like that to make it?”
In writing about sports personalities the past 43 years, it is safe to say the most genuine, true-to-their-nature subjects I’ve ever covered were Ty and Sonny Detmer.
And it is a bonafide tie.
My condolences to the Detmer family for their huge loss.