Tennessee All-American and Knoxville high school legend Buddy Cruze dies at 84

Tom Mattingly
Special to the New Sentinel

Buddy Cruze, a 1956 All-American wide receiver at the University of Tennessee and a legendary multi-sport prep athlete from Knoxville, died Saturday at Parkwest Medical Center. He was 84.

From left to right, Johnny Majors, Buddy Cruze, and John Gordy before the start of the 1956 season for Tennessee.

Cruze, who played for Knoxville High School and graduated from East High School, lettered in football, basketball, and track in 1950, 1951, and 1952. He was a high school All-American selection in football and basketball.

“He was my hero. I wanted to be like Buddy Cruze,” said Jim Smelcher, a Tennessee teammate in 1955 and 1956. “He had more character than any man I’d ever seen. He was a strong Christian, a tremendous person.”

After a year at Southern Methodist University, he was a three-year starter at Tennessee, playing under coaches Harvey Robinson (1954) and Bowden Wyatt (1955-56). He graduated in 1956 with a degree in civil engineering.

Buddy Cruze, star athlete at East High School, captain of the 1952 All-State basketball and football teams.  At the University of Tennessee Cruze was a teammate of Johnny Majors. (KNS Archive)

He was an All-SEC and All-American selection at Tennessee in 1956, on a team that compiled 10-1 record, won the SEC title, and finished No. 2 in The Associated Press and UPI polls. He led the team in receptions in 1955 and 1956, with 12 catches for 232 yards and four scores his junior season and 20 catches for 357 yards and two scores in his senior season. He was the school’s all-time record holder for both receptions and yardage at the time.

“He was my No. 1 receiver and a great friend, one of the greatest athletes ever developed in the state of Tennessee,” said teammate and long-time friend Johnny Majors. “He had clever speed and outstanding moves. He was a great family man.”

In the 1956 Georgia Tech game Nov. 10 in Atlanta, when No. 3 Tennessee was taking on the No. 2 Yellow Jackets, he was involved in the game’s two pivotal plays in underdog Tennessee’s 6-0 win.

Buddy Cruze, star athlete at East High School, captain of the 1952 All-State basketball and football teams.  At the University of Tennessee Cruze was a teammate of Johnny Majors. (KNS Archive)

The game was scoreless just after halftime when the Vols struck quickly.

“It was the great passing combination of Majors to Buddy Cruze that broke the game open in the third quarter,” wrote Harold Harris in the next day’s News Sentinel. “Majors hit Cruze with a pass, and the Knoxville youth raced 24 yards to the one-foot line from where Tommy Bronson ran over on the next play for the only score of the game. ... The Majors to Cruze pass covered 45 yards and was the longest gain of the day.”

The Associated Press also reported that, “the victorious Vols danced off the field carrying end Buddy Cruze on their shoulders.”

Cruze was a 12th round selection, pick No. 143, by the Chicago Bears in the 1957 NFL draft. He played in 1957 and 1958 for the Bears and the Baltimore Colts.

Buddy Cruze, star athlete at East High School, captain of the 1952 All-State basketball and football teams.  At the University of Tennessee Cruze was a teammate of Johnny Majors. (KNS Archive)

He was a 1988 selection by the Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame and a 2007 inductee into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame

He was successful in business as well, founding a computer software business in 1978 that still operates today.

Cruze was preceded in death by his wife of 62 years, Charlotte Ketchersid Cruze, in 2016.

He is survived by his sister and four children.

Friends may call Wednesday from noon until 6 p.m. at Berry Funeral Home, 3704 Chapman Highway. Graveside services will be on Thursday at Woodlawn Cemetery at 11:30 a.m.

Johnny Majors, left, David McMahan and Buddy Cruze joke and tell football stories after meeting at a restaurant  in Dandridge Thursday, Mar. 21, 2013. McMahan, a 1960 graduate of East High School, was a fanatical fan of Johnny Majors and Buddy Cruze his entire youth in Knoxville. They all met Thursday in Dandridge to look at a scrapbook of their Volunteer exploits that McMahan kept for the entire year of 1956.

A Celebration of Life service will be held Thursday at 6 p.m. at Fellowship Church, 8000 Middlebrook Pike, Knoxville. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Young Life of Knoxville (www.knoxville.younglife.org), Deeper Still (www.godeeperstill.org), or S.T.A.R. (www.rideatstar.org).

Tom Mattingly is a freelance contributor.