In the spring of 1979, Craig James decided it was time to meet his future SMU teammate, Eric Dickerson. The two starred at different classifications as heralded preps destined to trade Friday Night Lights for NFL Sundays after their stop on the Hilltop as Mustangs. 

James and Dickerson heard about each other, even if they hadn’t seen the other in person. There were no satellite recruiting camps or 247Sports websites or social media platforms. They knew each other as box scores, as the duo kept track of what the other was doing on the football field and in recruiting. 

James attended Stratford High School, which is sandwiched between downtown Houston and Katy on I-10 in West Houston. He ran for a single-season Class 4A record – then the largest classification in the state – 2,411 yards in 15 games as the Spartans won the state championship in 1978. 

Dickerson led Sealy, 36 miles west of Stratford High School, to the Class 2A state championship also in 1978, setting a state championship game record with 296 yards and four touchdowns in the 42-20 victory over Wylie. James was a lock for SMU because his then-girlfriend and future wife, Marilyn, was already a freshman in University Park. Dickerson’s road to the SMU pledge is well documented. 

With pen to paper and both set to report to the Hilltop in the summer of 1979, James made an unannounced drive to Sealy to meet his future Pony Express member. James didn’t have Dickerson’s home phone number or his Twitter profile. He had an SMU staffer give him Dickerson’s address in Sealy and hopped in his car. 

James arrived at Dickerson’s address in Sealy and knocked on the door. Dickerson didn’t answer, at least not the one he was there to meet. Eric’s grandmother answered the door and told James that the teenager he was hoping to find was at the carwash downtown. James hopped back in his car and drove. Downtown Sealy wasn’t hard to find, and neither was the carwash. The town’s population in 1980 was 3,875. 

“I pull up to the carwash and there is Eric polishing his Gold Trans-Am. He had a big Afro and a smile on his face,” James remembered at dinner ahead of the ACC championship game in Charlotte. “I knew it was him right away, but he wasn’t sure who I was. He thought I was Black because the SMU coaches told him how fast I was.” 

The two helped SMU reach the pinnacle of the college football world. Dickerson was a two-time All-American and rushed for 4,450 yards in a career that spanned from 1979-82. He finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting behind Herschel Walker and John Elway as a senior. James was a three-time first-team All-SWC selection and a third-team All-American in 1982. 

“A lot of people thought there would be a rivalry or competition between us, but it was a true recognition of the other person’s talents,” James said of their partnership in the Pony Express. “Had we not been friends, the Pony Express never works. There was no jealousy. In fact, it helped save our legs for the NFL.” 

Forty-five years after that first meeting at a carwash in Sealy, James and Dickerson are teaming up again. This time, to rekindle “The Pony Express Award” given to the top tandem in college football. They first started the award in 2011 but it was put on the shelf when James left ESPN to run for the United States Senate. 

A funny thing happened between the first edition of The Pony Express Award and the one taking place digitally tonight – SMU is cool again. The ESPN documentary “Pony Excess” reintroduced a whole new storyline to the Death Penalty that knee-capped the Ponies football program and the legacy of their star players. James and Dickerson no longer wear a scarlet letter thanks to NIL and the general public coming around to the idea that college players deserve a piece of the pie in a country that swears by the free market. 

SMU is also relevant again. The Ponies signed away a potential $100 million in television revenue for a seat at the big boy’s table as members of the ACC. In the first season inside the conference, the Mustangs went 11-1 in the regular season and reached the conference championship game. James and Dickerson were there to watch and soak in the change of perception around them and the football program. 

“We were 18-year-old kids,” James said. “We weren’t doing anything anyone else wasn’t doing; we just got punished for it. I’m so happy it’s in the rear-view mirror and we can all enjoy Mustang football again as Ponies.”

The pre-recorded award show airs Monday at 8 p.m. on theponyexpressaward.com, and it’ll be hosted by Alex Jean Glover and current SMU quarterback Preston Stone. The selection committee consists of the seven SMU captains on the current team. James and Dickerson relished Pro Bowl invitations in the NFL because it was voted on by their peers. They want the Pony Express Award to have a similar feel. 

The finalists are Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter (Colorado), Red Murdock and Shawun Dolac (Buffalo), Cam Ward and Xavier Restrepo (Miami), Dillon Gabriel and Tez Johnson (Oregon), and Brashard Smith and Roderick Daniels (SMU). James and Dickerson plan to travel around to campuses next season to help nationalize the award. The selection committee will also grow. 

“We’re still working on a format for next season, but we want to travel to different games and get the word out, connect with the fans,” said James, whose Pony Express Huddle Foundation, a non-profit, is sponsoring the award. “We’re better friends now than ever before, so we’re looking forward to it."