Former BU football star scores big buck
Brad Goebel played in big games as a quarterback at Baylor and in the NFL. He never won a championship, but, if he had, the experience might not compare with harvesting the buck he took Dec. 4 at the Shiner Ranch in South Texas.“That deer was like winning the Super Bowl,” said Goebel, 42, of Horseshoe Bay.
Goebel shot a buck white-tailed deer that scored about 199 while hunting with friend Bill Glendening, who invited him to the Frio County ranch.
“After about a week of hunting, this deer stepped out,” Goebel said. The rut was in full swing, and the men saw many mature bucks chasing does. They also saw lots of buck fights.
“Which was exciting to see,” Goebel said.
Goebel had not seen his buck until he shot it, though the ranch’s owners had seen him earlier in the year.
When Goebel saw it, it came into view chasing a doe. It jumped a cross fence, and soon Goebel had his shot.
Although he had top-notch coaches to turn to in high-pressure football games, Goebel turned to his friend for advice in combating buck fever. Glendening offered this wisdom: “Whatever you do, when you put that scope up, don’t look at his horns.”
“So I tried not to look at his horns,” Goebel said.
Goebel fired on the deer at 125 yards using a Winchester .270, and the deer was his.
The buck was the biggest Goebel has taken. His previous personal best scored 174.
“I thought that would be the buck of my lifetime, the biggest buck I’d ever shoot,” he said.
His latest trophy would have scored higher but for a broken tip on one point.
Glendening also came out a winner during their stay at the Shiner Ranch.
“It just so happened that during that same week of hunting with Bill that he shot a 212 Boone and Crockett,” Goebel said.
The bucks were some of the biggest to come from the ranch, Goebel said.
Goebel, a Cuero native, played five seasons in the NFL from 1991 through 1995 before retiring. He helped fill in for an injured Randall Cunningham with the Philadelphia Eagles during the 1991 season, according to the team’s Web site.
After that, he spent three seasons with Cleveland before playing his last season with Jacksonville. Goebel said he no longer has much involvement with pro football, but he is still a big supporter of Baylor. In Waco, Goebel played for the Bears from 1987 to 1991.
“Those were some good times, and we had some good teams,” Goebel said.
Today, Goebel’s hottest gridiron moves come during the football camp he hosts every summer for children in Horseshoe Bay.
