For generations of Seagoville students, certain educators are remembered for far more than what happened inside their classrooms. William Durr was one of them.
Durr spent decades educating Seagoville students. But during his years at Seagoville Middle School, he also became one of the most recognizable voices associated with the Dragons.
He was a teacher. He drove a school bus. And on football nights, he was the Voice of the Dragons.
For students who attended Seagoville Dragons football games during that era, Durr needed no introduction. Everyone seemed to know him.
A Career Spent Educating Seagoville Students
Durr spent approximately 33 years as an educator in Seagoville, serving students at Seagoville Middle School. He retired in 2000.
Durr died on August 21, 2000, at the age of 57, shortly after his retirement. He was laid to rest at Laurel Oaks Memorial Park in Mesquite.
But for many former Dragons, his legacy is tied as much to Friday nights as it is to the classroom.
The Voice of the Dragons
Long before video boards and professionally produced stadium broadcasts, the public address announcer helped set the tone for Friday night football. At Seagoville, that voice belonged to Durr.
He didn’t simply call out a player’s number after a tackle or note where the ball was spotted. He knew the game.
Durr followed the action closely, knew the players by name, and brought a professional style to the stadium that made Seagoville football feel like a much bigger production.
“Mr. Durr was a consummate professional who made you feel like you were at Texas Stadium,” said Shop in Seagoville editor Merv Moore. “He called play-by-play and knew the names of players from both teams.”
Moore experienced Durr’s work from more than one vantage point. He was one of Durr’s students at Seagoville Middle School and remembers hearing his familiar voice echo across the field during Dragons football games.
More Than a Teacher
Durr belonged to a generation of educators whose involvement with their schools often extended well beyond a single job description. Driving a school bus wasn’t separate from being part of the school community.
Neither was spending Friday nights behind a microphone supporting the football program. It was all part of being involved. And Durr was involved.
His association with Dragons football stretched back to at least the mid 1970s. The 1975 SHS yearbook even included a playful reference comparing his announcing style to that of the Dallas Cowboys.
For former Seagoville students, though, Durr didn’t need Texas Stadium. He had his own stadium and his own team.
“The PA announcer at Seagoville games these days are amateurs compared to Mr. Durr,” Moore said. “He made the games more fun because you always knew what was happening on the field.”
“Nowadays, there is no real play-by-play, and too much silence that ruins the auro of a live football game.”
For years, when the Seagoville Dragons took the field on Friday night, William Durr was behind the microphone.
Teachers come and go. Football players graduate. Seasons eventually become memories.
But every school has a handful of people whose presence becomes inseparable from an era. For Seagoville Middle School, William Durr was one of those people.
He was Mr. Durr in the classroom. He was Mr. Durr behind the wheel of the school bus.
And on Friday nights, he was the Voice of the Dragons.
