Jaime Melendez passed away @ 6:00 this morning

[cherokeebrewer]

Rest in peace big guy. May The Lord bless and keep you...

[Petro-Sooner]

Who?

[Midtowner]

Googled him.. 1975 OU OG.

[cherokeebrewer]

Sorry, I forget sometime just how long ago the 70's were. Jaime played with many other Sooner greats from those years.

[NMSooner'80]

Big all-state lineman from Lawton High back in their glory days of the early 1970's. He was still at OU and started on the O-Line when I was a freshman in the fall of '76.

[Flagstaffsooner]

Jaime now has season tickets to the upper, upper deck. RIP

[8timechamps]

I bet Mama Mia was the first one to greet him. R.I.P. Jamie.

[Monster Zero]

"Hey you guys - we're going right here."

That's what Jaime used to say sometimes on 3rd and short, and then go laughing back to the huddle after they got the 1st down.

[SanJoaquinSooner]

http://media.247sports.com/Uploads/Assets/292/628/628292.jpg

Left to right: Karl Baldischwiler, Jaime Melendez, Paul Tabor, Greg Roberts ,Sam Jack Claphan, Victor Hicks

[SoonerinLA]

Very sorry to hear about Jamie. I just looked at the roster of players for the 1976 Orange Bowl. 7 of those players have passed away.

[zeke]

RIP

[stoopified]

RIP Jaimie.I lived in Lawton wnen Jaime was a Wolverine,loved seeing him play for the Sooners. I wish God wasn't such a Sooner fan,I'm tired of losing so many Sooners too early.

[olevetonahill]

Found this at Sooner Scoop

http://oklahoma.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=28&tid=162946507&mid=162946507&sid=895&style=2

[SoonerinLA]

I looked at the roster of the team that played in the 1976 Orange Bowl following that great 1975 season. I was surprised to see that 8 of the players on that OU roster have passed away. To Jaime and the others, rest in peace and thanks for the memories.

[Jacie]

Met him one night in 73 at Donovan's Reef (drinking hole, southeast side of Norman, off the beaten path) and we talked about a certain highschool game when Lawton destroyed my alma mater's team the year we thought they were pretty good up to that point.

Lawton also had this badass running back on that team. Any of Lawton alums remember his name?

[MyT Oklahoma]

Sorry to hear this. Rest In Peace big guy and thanks for the memories.

[KantoSooner]

"Hey you guys - we're going right here."

That's what Jaime used to say sometimes on 3rd and short, and then go laughing back to the huddle after they got the 1st down.

I never got to watch those teams because I was living outside the US and teevee was not then what it is today. I can remember some announcer (not Bob Barry Sr.) saying that the OU OL were pointing to the holes the RB was going to hit. And the other team still couldn't stop them.
Back in the days when Barry wore a black hat and smoked butts on the sideline during games....
Good times.

[texaspokieokie]

Karl Baldischwiler one of few Sooners from Okmulgee. Was in Detroit when Billy Sims was there.

[VA Sooner]

Rest in Peace, big guy.

[Pricetag]

Mr. Melendez was a Spanish teacher and coach at Broken Arrow when I was there in the late '80s and early '90s. I never had his class, but the kids who I knew who did have him loved him.