Rick McCurdy
Rick McCurdy ( 1961 Purcell High School Graduate )
Letterman Purcell High School Football (1958 - 1960)
Letterman Purcell High School Basketball (1958 - 1961)
Letterman Purcell High School Track (1959 - 1961)
Letterman Purcell High School Baseball ( 1958 )
3 year starter on PHS Football Team. 3 year starter in Basketball. 3 year starter in Track. 1 year starter in Baseball
Starter at Quarterback as a Sophomore ( 1958 )
Regional Champion 880 yard dash (1959 / 1960 / 1961). Finished 5th at State Meet in 1959. Finished 2nd at State Meet in 1960. Finished 3rd at State Meet in 1961
In basketball, Rick averaged (10.2) ppg as a Sophomore. He averaged (18.9) ppg as a Junior, and averaged (16.1) ppg as a Senior
Starting Tight End, Running Back, Defensive End, and Punter on the 1960 PHS State Semi-Finalist Football Team that ended the season with an (11 - 1 - 1) record and set a new standard for wins from a Purcell High School Football Team
An outstanding punter who averaged over 40 yards per punt during his Purcell High School career
Was named All-District, All-Conference, and was named the All-Area Lineman of the year in Football ( 1960 )
Selected to the Oklahoma High School All-State Football Team as an Offensive End ( 1960 ). Also selected to the Tulsa World All-State Football Team ( 1960 )
Named as one of the All-State Co-Lineman of the Year by The Daily Oklahoman ( 1960 )
Starting Forward on the (1960 - 1961) Class B State Basketball Championship Team that finished with a ( 28-1 ) season record losing only to Class 5A Dallas (TX), Perry Samuels High School
Selected to the All-Tournament Team for the 1961 Class B State Basketball Tournament.
In the 1961 Class B State Basketball Finals against an undefeated Lawton Douglass team, Rick scored 14 points and pulled down 21 rebounds in Purcell's (69 - 59) win
Was named All-District and All-Conference in Basketball (1960 - 1961)
Selected to the Oklahoma High School All-State Basketball Team ( 1961 ) and to the Tulsa World All-State Basketball Team ( 1961 )
Still holds the Purcell High School record for the 880 yard dash (1:58.2 ) and is still recognized as the only Dragon half-miler to ever break the 2:00 mark in the open half.
Set New Purcell High School High Jump Record of (6' - 3 3/4") at the 1961 Class B State Track Meet. A mark that lasted well over 20 years at Purcell High School
Runner-Up in the High Jump at the 1961 Class B State Track Meet . Rick actually broke the existing Class B State Meet record while finishing 2nd
Accepted Football Scholarship University of Oklahoma ( 1961)
Letterman University of Oklahoma Football Team (1962 - 1964) where he played Defensive End,
Tight End, and Punted for Head Football Coach Bud Wilkinson and later for Head Coach Gomer Jones
3 year starter on the University of Oklahoma Football Team
Set a new record at OU for Most Fumbles Recovered in one game (3) against Syracuse ( 1962 )
Member of 1962 Big 8 Champion OU Football Team
Caught the winning touchdown pass for the Sooners against Kansas ( 1963 )
Starter at Defensive End (1964) for the Sooners aand was named All-Big 8 Conference for his play
After the OU season ended, Rick was selected to play in the Coaches All-American Game
Selected by the New York Jets in the 8th Round of the 1965 NFL Draft. Rick was the 60th player taken overall in the draft that year, but he opted to fulfill a life-long dream of a career in medicine.
Rick eventually became a highly successful surgeon who wound up treating patients in the Norman and Purcell area.
No Purcell athlete has ever attained more success playing NCAA Division I Football
Named as an End on the 1960's PHS All-Decade Football Team by Purcell Football Alumni
Named as a Defensive End on the All-Century (1900 -1999) PHS Football Team by Purcell Football Alumni
Recognized by his peers as one of the greatest student-athletes to ever play any sport for PHS.
