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AUSTIN (KXAN) — Mike Cotten, quarterback of the Texas Longhorns from 1959-61, died Saturday after a brief illness at age 84, Texas Athletics announced Sunday.
Cotten was inducted into the Texas Athletics Hall of Honor in 1981 and finished 17-4-1 as a two-year starter for the Longhorns under head coach Darrell K Royal.
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He was a 1961 All-Southwest Conference selection after leading the SWC in passing touchdowns with seven and he was the most outstanding player of the 1962 Cotton Bowl in a 12-7 win over Ole Miss. Texas finished the season No. 3 in the country.
Cotten led the Austin High Maroons to the state semifinals his senior year before enrolling at Texas. He split time at quarterback with Bobby Lackey and played defensive back in 1959, helping the Longhorns to a 9-2 record and No. 4 national ranking. He took over full-time at quarterback the next year.
Cotten went to law school at UT, graduating in 1965, and was a captain in the U.S. Marine Corps. He was a Vietnam veteran and then joined the law firm Clark and Thomas in 1968 before becoming a partner in 1975. He was an original member of the Stadium Veterans Committee that formed in 1996.
Cotten is survived by his daughters Ashley Putman of Austin and Lesley Childress of Jackson, Mississippi.