The Junction Boys is the name given to the “survivors” of Paul "Bear" Bryant's 10 day summer football camp in Junction, Texas in September of 1954.  The ordeal has achieved legendary status and has become the subject of a book by Jim Dent and a television movie produced by ESPN. 

Texas A&M University hired Bear Bryant as head football coach in 1954 replacing former coach Ray George.  Bryant arrived in College Station, Texas in February of 1954 and began cleaning house. Bryant felt that many of the players on the team were weak and not properly trained or coached.  He decided that his players needed a camp away from campus. He arranged for the camp to be held at the 411 acre adjunct campus of Texas A&M at the small town of Junction.At the time of the camp, the Texas hill country was experiencing an epic drought and record high temperatures.  The drought, the worst in the recorded history of the region, had lasted four years and would last another two after the camp was over. All 10 days of the camp saw temperatures rise over 100 °F (38 °C).

The oppressive heat combined with the brutal practice schedule caused many players to drop out of the football program from illness or disgust. The situation was compounded by Bryant refusing to allow water breaks. This practice is now widely recognized as dangerous, but at the time was commonly employed by athletic coaches in an attempt to toughen up their players. The only relief provided the players were two towels soaked in cold water, one to be shared by the offensive players, one for the defense.

One of the Junction Boys, future NFL player and coach Jack Pardee would later say in an interview that losing 10% of your body weight in sweat in a day was not unusual.Practices began before dawn and usually lasted all day with meetings in the evening until 11:00 PM. The conditions were too much for many players and each day, there would be fewer and fewer players at practice as men would quit the team. By the end of the 10 day camp, only a fraction of those that started were left.    The list of “survivors” varies from 27 to 35. The Junction Boys listed by writer Jim Dent were:  

Ray Barrett - G 5-9 195 Senior, San Angelo, Texas 
Darrell Brown - T 6-1 190 Sophomore, Liberty, Texas  
James Burkhart - G 6-1 185 Sophomore, Hamlin, Texas  
Henry Clark - T 6-2 205 Junior, Mesquite, Texas        
Bob Easley - FB 5-11 190 Junior, Houston, Texas             
Dennis Goehring - G 5-11 185 Sophomore, San Marcos, Texas         
Billy Granberry - FB 5-7 155 Sophomore, Beeville, Texas         
Lloyd Hale - C 5-10 190 Sophomore. Iraan, Texas          
Charles Hall - HB 5-10 185 Senior, Dallas, Texas       
Gene Henderson - QB 6-1 175 Junior, Sonora, Texas       
Billy Huddleston - HB 5-9 165 Junior, Iraan, Texas          
George Johnson - T 6-3 200 Junior, Ellisville, Mississippi     
Don Kachtik - FB 6-1 185 Senior, Rio Hondo, Texas               
Bobby D. Keith - HB 6-0 175 Sophomore, Breckenridge, Texas     
Paul Kennon - E 6-1 185 Senior, Shreveport, Louisiana                    
Elwood Kettler - QB 6-0 165 Senior, Brenham, Texas                          
Bobby Lockett - T 6-3 190 Sophomore, Breckenridge, Texas     
Billy McGowan - E 6-1 180 Senior, Silsbee, Texas                       
Russell Moake - C 6-3 215 Sophomore, Deer Park, Texas  
Norbert Ohlendorf - T 6-3 200 Senior, Lockhart, Texas      
Jack Pardee - FB 6-2 200 Sophomore, Christoval, Texas    
Dee Powell - T 6-1 210 Senior, Lockhart, Texas               
Donald Robbins - E 6-1 188 Junior, Breckenridge, Texas       
Joe Schero - HB 6-0 175 Senior, San Antonio, Texas      
Bill Schroeder - T 6-1 200 Senior, Lockhart, Texas           
Charles Scott - QB 5-8 160 Sophomore, Alexandria, Louisiana      
Bennie Sinclair - E 6-2 195 Senior, Mineola, Texas                   
Gene Stallings - E 6-1 165 Sophomore, Paris, Texas       
Troy Summerlin - C 5-8 145 Sophomore, Shreveport, Louisiana       
Marvin Tate - G 6-0 175 Senior, Abilene, Texas    
Sid Theriot - G 5-10 195 Senior, Gibson, Louisiana      
Richard Vick - FB 6-1 185 Senior, Beaumont, Texas      
Don Watson - HB 5-11 155 Sophomore, Franklin, Texas            
Lawrence Winkler - T 6-0 225 Senior, Temple, Texas     
Herb Wolf - C 5-11 185 Junior, Houston, Texas

It has often been portrayed that over 100 players made the trip to Junction. In fact, a smaller number actually went to the camp. Although Bryant started out with over 100 players on the roster, many had already quit or been cut by the time of the Junction camp.

The exact number that left for Junction varies but all the survivors insist that it was less than 100.Although the "survivors", as they came to be called, were mentally tougher after the experience, this new strength did not translate into immediate success on the field. In 1954, Texas A&M won only one game against nine losses. Two years later, however, the team went 9-0-1 and won the Southwest Conference.Many of the Junction Boys went on to great success in various fields after college. Two of the Junction Boys, Jack Pardee and Gene Stallings, would go on to become head coaches in the NFL. Stallings would also become the head coach of Texas A&M and later took over Bryant's Alabama Crimson Tide and won a national championship in 1992.