The quarterback legend known as the “Graham Giant” is gone. 

TCU Trustee Trey Moore, who grew up seeing Sonny Gibbs at TCU tailgates, called him “a big personality” who naturally drew people into his orbit. Courtesy of TCU Library Special Collections.

At 6-foot-7, Guy Gilbert “Sonny” Gibbs Jr. ’68 was known nationally as the tallest signal-caller in major college football at the time. He was a TCU Athletics Hall of Famer, a former Dallas Cowboy and, for decades after his playing days ended, one of the most recognizable Horned Frogs in any room he entered. 

From 1960 to 1962, Gibbs served as a three-year starter for TCU, becoming one of the Southwest Conference’s marquee players and a frequent preseason All-America mention. He led the conference in passing attempts and yards during his breakout junior season in 1961, finishing just under 1,000 yards in an era when offenses leaned heavily on the run. By the end of his TCU career, he had thrown for more than 2,400 yards and 18 touchdowns.

One of the defining moments of his career came in 1961, when TCU stunned the then-No. 1 University of Texas as 22.5-point underdogs. Gibbs played a central role in the upset, tossing the winning touchdown to Buddy Iles ’62 for a victory that still lives in Horned Frog lore. That season, he received the Dan Rogers Award as the Frogs’ most valuable player. In 1992, he was inducted into the TCU Athletics Hall of Fame.

The publicity that followed Gibbs around campus — the Sports Illustrated cover story, the preseason All-America mentions, the nickname that preceded him everywhere — never quite translated to the NFL. Drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the second round of the 1962 NFL Draft, Gibbs entered the league in 1963 as the tallest quarterback in NFL history at the time. He was waived in 1964 and later signed with the Detroit Lions before playing in the United Football League. He left professional football in the mid-1960s.

Those who knew him remember more than the statistics or the headlines.

“He loved TCU with a purple passion,” said longtime friend Bob Blakeman ’62, who met Gibbs in 1960 in the Student Union and remained close to him for more than six decades. 

Blakeman was sitting beside Gibbs the day Sports Illustrated interviewed him on campus.

Gibbs’ loyalty to his university endured long after his playing days. He attended games when he could and followed the team closely, Blakeman said. “He wanted TCU to win.”

After football, Gibbs moved through several business ventures, including operating a golf club repair and manufacturing shop in Dallas, where future Hall of Famer Lee Trevino was among his customers, and working in the oilfield industry, including time in Singapore. He later joined Blakeman’s transportation and logistics business in Fort Worth.

“We had customers call and say, ‘We want Sonny to play golf with us. We want Sonny to go fishing with us.’ He was so likable.”
Bob Blakeman ’62

“We had customers call and say, ‘We want Sonny to play golf with us. We want Sonny to go fishing with us,’ ” Blakeman said. “He was so likable.”

TCU Trustee Trey Moore ’87, whose childhood nickname was “Sonny” after the famous Frog, grew up seeing Gibbs at TCU tailgates, remembered him as “a big personality” who naturally drew people into his orbit. “He was just a very good natural leader,” said his father, Frank Moore ’63. 

Born in Graham, Texas, the only child of a welder and a devoted mother, Gibbs carried his rural roots through an adventurous life. “Good West Texas people,” Blakeman said. “Salt of the earth.”

Gibbs remained fiercely loyal to his friends and to TCU. His height and athletic prominence first made him famous. His personality — big, opinionated and deeply attached to the university that shaped him — kept him memorable.

“He was crazy about TCU,” Blakeman said.

And TCU will long remember the Graham Giant.