Hall of Fame
A native of DeKalb, Texas, Cleo House Sr. played football at Southern State College under legendary head coach Raymond “Rip” Powell (SAUSHOF C/O 2003) from 1969 to 1972 and became one of the most versatile players in program history which culminated in him being named an NAIA All-American following his senior season.
As a freshman in 1969, House led the team in fumble recoveries with a program-record five and over the course of his first two seasons as a Mulerider, he would blossom into a formidable defensive end and a feared tackler that early on helped anchor the SAU defense in what would become a historic tenure for Powell.
The following season, Powell made arguably one of the most important personnel changes in program history as he moved House from his defensive end position where he had earned back-to-back All-AIC Honorable Mention nods to fullback where the Texan proved to be an invaluable asset for the Mulerider rushing attack.
In 1971 and 1972, Southern State College went a combined 17-4 overall and finished House’s senior campaign of ’72 as the AIC Co-Champions with an 8-2 record and a 5-1 mark in league play. To say House had a part in those successes would be a dire understatement as the bruiser felt right at home in the Mulerider backfield as he combined for 1,635 yards and 13 touchdowns on 341 rushing attempts in addition to catching four passes for 56 yards and a score during his final two seasons.
Powell’s original intent in moving House to the other side of the ball in 1971 was to “take some of the pressure off of Cornell Williams.” House not only provided key blocking for his fellow All-AIC running mate, but used his “tremendous quickness” to become a highly dependable rushing option in 1971 and one of the AIC’s top running backs in 1972.
During that campaign, Williams racked up 855 yards and nine touchdowns on 179 carries with the help of House and the Mulerider offensive front. But the newly-minted rushing piece of the Mulerider offense performed his own yard-gaining act as well as he totaled 666 yards on 161 carries with four touchdowns as a junior which earned House his third All-AIC Honorable Mention selection and his first as a fullback.
In his final season at SSC, the aforementioned championship campaign; the team’s first in twenty years, House continued to impress on the ground as he led the team in rushing and finished third in the AIC with 969 yards and nine touchdowns on 186 carries.
House’s totals in yards and attempts during his senior year gave him one of the best single-season rushing performances for a Mulerider back at the time his career ended. Additionally, House’s superb running helped SSC lead the NAIA in team rushing that season as the Muleriders churned out 3,343 yards on 750 attempts at a nation’s best 334.3 yards per game.
Following the 1972 season in which he earned his fourth All-AIC accolade with a first-team selection, House signed with the National Football League’s Miami Dolphins in 1973. Although he didn’t make the team, House continued his professional football career in 1974 with the Portland Storm of the now-defunct World Football League and in 1975 he played for the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts.
In those two seasons, House ran for 228 yards on 48 carries with one touchdown and added seven receptions for 32 yards as he became one of the first Mulerider Football players to play professionally.
