Walter Schlinkman<\/a>, who was the Red Raiders\u2019 first prolific running back and later went on to a pro
\n football career.<\/p>\nBuster still remembers the day he got in trouble with Red Raider head coach Dell Morgan
\n for calling a pass play when the team was supposed to punt. By the way, that play
\n became something of a turning point in his career.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am famous really for two things,\u201d Buster said. \u201cBeing the oldest ex-quarterback
\n \u2013 and a fourth-down pass.\u201d<\/p>\n
That play occurred during the second game of the 1946 season, when the Red Raiders
\n squared off against Texas A&M at Alamo Stadium in San Antonio. The game was scoreless
\n as each defense kept the other in check.<\/p>\n
Conventional thinking at the time held that if a team didn\u2019t get inside the opponent\u2019s
\n 40-yard line and was facing fourth down, it was time to punt and play for field position.
\n Players typically saw action on both offense and defense in those days with some quarterbacks
\n even taking on punting and kicking duties at times.<\/p>\n
The Red Raiders were facing fourth-and-6 near the Aggies\u2019 40 when Melton had noticed
\n A&M\u2019s linebackers playing farther off the line of scrimmage than usual. It seemed
\n like the perfect time to surprise the Aggies by not punting, throwing a pass and changing
\n the game\u2019s momentum.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told them in the huddle, \u2018It\u2019s got to work,\u2019\u201d Buster said. \u201cSo, I called the play
\n and threw the pass, and he dropped it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Buster recalled returning to the sideline and being greeted by a furious Morgan. He
\n would have kept Buster on the bench, but an assistant coach interceded, and Melton
\n ultimately helped the Red Raiders claim a 6-0 victory as part of what would be a successful
\n eight-win season.<\/p>\n
![\"Football](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Buster-5.jpg\")
(Courtesy: Southwest Collection)<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the bus going back to the hotel, Coach Morgan couldn\u2019t forget that fourth-down
\n play,\u201d Buster said. \u201cHe was ranting about it at the front of the bus \u2013 even though
\n I was all the way in the back, and even the next week, he still hadn\u2019t forgotten about
\n it.\u201d<\/p>\n
It wound up being a short season for Buster. In addition to that play, he routinely
\n arrived at practice late because of required labs for his engineering classes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then, there was the day he was playing defense during a practice and took a sharp
\n knee in the back while making a tackle.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat kind of paralyzed me for a little bit, and I didn\u2019t get up,\u201d he said. \u201cCoach
\n yelled, \u2018Melton, get up and get off the field! I did. I got up. I walked straight
\n to the dressing room, turned in my uniform and that was that.\u201d<\/p>\n
A year later, football forever in the rear-view mirror, he put the final touches on
\n earning a degree. Fortunately, his benefits from the G.I. Bill helped offset college
\n expenses.<\/p>\n
\u201cI missed playing football,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I went to school to get an education so
\n I could make a living for myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Buster's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Buster-2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Buster spent the bulk of his career working for a company that eventually became part
\n of what is now TXU.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI spent 34 years with them and had a good life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Two years after graduating from Texas Tech, Buster got married. He and Nancy were
\n together 46 years and had three children before he lost her to cancer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen I married my high school sweetheart, and we had a 23-year honeymoon,\u201d he said
\n with a smile, explaining he and his second wife Clarene had reconnected in the aftermath
\n of seeing each other at their 50th reunion.<\/p>\n
Buster has been a lifelong Red Raider football fan. His favorite quarterback through
\n the years is Patrick Mahomes, and Buster has closely followed this year\u2019s team, one
\n of the most successful in school history.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said he has noticed a lot of changes since his playing days, but one thing has
\n really stood out.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot more fourth-down plays,\u201d he said with a grin.<\/p>\n
Turns out maybe Buster was ahead of his time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This former Red Raider has fond memories of his days on campus and has enjoyed following this year\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39691,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[168,170,169],"class_list":{"0":"post-98985","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-lubbock","8":"tag-lubbock","9":"tag-lubbock-headlines","10":"tag-lubbock-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98985\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Portrait](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/doug-hensley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Image-1a.jpg\")
Buster Melton shows off his vest “Oldest Living Texas Tech Quarterback”<\/p>\n![\"Buster](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Buster-4.jpg\")
![\"Buster](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Buster-6.jpg\")
Photos Courtesy: Southwest Collection<\/p>\n