1955 Sunset High School Yearbook Dallas, Texas, Jerry Mays NOTE and AUTOGRAPH

Description

Up for auction is a 1955 School Annual Called “The Sundial” for Sunset High School, in Dallas, Texas.
Famous and interesting students in this one include future pro football player Jerry Mays.  Jerry played for the Southern Methodist University (S.M.U.) "Mustangs."  He then played defensive end for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Not only is Jerry "Avery" Mays pictured in several photos throughout the yearbook, but he has written and signed a personal note to a classmate near his large full-page photo as "Sophomore Boy of the Year."  His signature is among the earliest examples in existence.
Mays put together an all-state career at Sunset High School before heading to Southern Methodist University, where he served as co-captain for the Mustangs and earned All-Southwest Conference honors at defensive tackle.
A fifth round draft selection of the American Football League's Dallas Texans in 1961, Mays turned down the National Football League's Minnesota Vikings, in order to play near his home in Dallas. He soon became a force at defensive tackle on the Texans' line, continuing his dominance at defensive end when the team relocated in 1963 to become the Kansas City Chiefs.
Combining emotion and durability with a competitive nature, Mays was a six-time AFL All-Star, and was selected to the All-Star team at two different positions. He played in 126 straight games for the AFL Texans and Chiefs, and used his speed, agility and strong "second effort" to once recover and return a Jets' fumble 58 yards for a touchdown. His contribution to the Chiefs' strong defense helped them defeat the Vikings, 23-7, in Super Bowl IV. He was a captain in Super Bowl I and Super Bowl IV.
Mays was named to the All-time All-AFL Team in 1970 and announced his retirement after that season. He then returned to Dallas to work for a construction company owned by his father, Avery. Jerry died of malignant melanoma cancer in 1994, two years after the death (from cancer) of his former teammate, Buck Buchanan. The other starting defensive end from the Super Bowl team, Aaron Brown, was killed in 1997 when struck by a car from behind, leaving Curley Culp as the lone survivor of the Chiefs' vaunted front four from the championship club.
Mays is a Member of the Sunset High School Hall of Fame.
The book is filled with autographs from students of all classes, teachers and faculty members.  There may be other celebrity autographs contained here within the pages.  Other signatures of note include Margaret Spencer (Secretary of the Junior Class), Jerrell Gleaves (Most Popular Junior Boy), B. J. Perkinson (Most Popular Junior Girl), James Gary (All-City Football Player), Sharon Lindsay (First Place in Lyric Poetry Reading at the San Antonio Tournament), Joann Rhome (Co-Editor of The Stampede), Bob Abercrombie (Football Running Back), and John Rouse (Basketball Co-Captain)...just to mention a few.
This particular book originally belonged to Frank "Nancy" Nance.
This is a typical yearbook with all the normal sections you’d expect to find in a school annual; i.e. individual and group photos, teachers and staff, clubs and organizations, campus life, activities, pictures of the period building interiors and exteriors, cars, music and theater, beautiful women, sports teams, advertisements, pictures from around the community and much more!
There are also some really great photos of the local businesses in 1955 including Earl Hayes Chevrolet, Fay's Jewelers, Penguin Drive Inn, Sunset Florist, Fain's Garage, Red Bryan's Smokehouse and many others!
Condition:
Excellent.  The only wear is very superficial.  The book still has its original plastic protective cover.