Emmett Carlisle

Duke Carlisle, 84, of Lockhart, Texas, passed away peacefully, surrounded by family, on Friday, October 2, 2026.

Duke grew up in Athens, Texas, where he starred in multiple sports. He committed to play football at the University of Texas under Darrell K. Royal and quarterbacked the 1963 Longhorns national championship team, helping win the university's first title. He was later drafted by the Green Bay Packers and traded to the Dallas Cowboys before returning to the University of Texas to earn a Master of Business Administration.

He said, "I was skinny compared to the rest of those pros. I looked around and thought maybe I should get out of the NFL while I still had my head attached."

Duke was inducted into the University of Texas Athletic Hall of Fame in 1974 and the Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame in 2000.

That was Duke Carlisle, the football hero. But he was a much bigger hero in life to all who knew him. He was a devoted husband and a loving, active father, and one of his greatest joys was being "Poppy" to his six grandchildren. You could often find him showing off his dance moves with his granddaughters on a make-believe stage, shooting baskets with his grandson, or rowing each of them around a small lake near his home in a canoe.

He was a man of integrity, honesty, loyalty, humility, and intellect. He was always the first person to answer when somebody needed a helping hand.

Duke also had an engaging sense of humor. In 2018, he wrote Longhorns and Tall Tales, a collection of humorous short stories that offered readers a glimpse of 1960s-era football and life.

He dedicated the book to the 1961-1963 Longhorns, writing: "If there are any inaccuracies therein, only you guys will notice. So please keep it to yourselves."

After graduate school, Duke served in the Army in Germany and, upon his discharge, lived and worked in New York City and Dallas before settling for the next 50 years in his wife's hometown of McComb, Mississippi, where he went into the oil and gas business with his father-in-law. In 2025, Duke and Emily moved to Lockhart, Texas, to be closer to family.

Duke was preceded in death by his parents, Eloise and Emmett Carlisle Jr.. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Emily Alford Carlisle; daughter Kathy Carlisle Asher and husband Hugh; daughter Eloise Carlisle Terry and husband Rich; and his brother, Todd Carlisle, and wife Carolyn. He also will always live on in the hearts of his grandchildren: Aiden Briese (Max), Bryn Terry (Jake), Kate Willson (Ryan), Carlisle Terry, Claire Wallace, and Zach Terry; and his great-grandson, Henry Briese.

He said, "My grandkids give me the greatest joy. Except when they look at old pictures of me and remind me I had more hair back then."

Somebody described Duke as a "Great Man" a few days before his passing. To all who knew him, and to all who loved him, he truly was. And always will be.