If you would’ve told me that Peyton Manning scored a game tying touchdown to break the all-time record, and then that would be the least important news that a former Vol was involved in, I’d tell you that you need a head examination.
Well, I would be wrong. Wronger than I would ever want to be. But while we have a new, all-time leader in touchdown passes for a single season, the greatest defensive lineman in Tennessee history is with Jesus far sooner than many of us wanted him to be. And I say this as a Giants and Vikings fan.
Growing up just outside of Knoxville, it is impossible to miss the Orange that is all around you. I’m sure there are a lot of people that take Tennessee football too seriously, and let it control their life. I am one such person.
Though I don’t have my full compliment of regular Vol shirts, gameday Vol shirts, and cold game Vol paraphernalia like I used to, at least I still remember the old days when I did. I was on the field when we beat Spurrier, uh, I mean Florida 35-3. I still have my Knoxville News Sentinel from the Notre Dame comeback. On the mantle I have the ‘85 commemorative SEC Championship bottles, as well as the ‘98 National Championship bottle.
Though I now bleed orangish-greenish-blackish-goldish, I still remember my first love. And winning the Sugar Bowl. That was fun. But this is what I have to look forward to…people dying. Getting older. Or not.
As I get older, I start to see that life just keeps getting better, even if the knees hurt a little more. Reggie White was a man of strong convictions, who wore his faith on his sleeve. He never missed the opportunity to use his position as a popular football player to draw attention of impressionable people looking for something that they knew they needed.
Reggie White was one of the strongest Christians I’ve even known. That got him in a lot of trouble in the Church he pastored in Green Bay. I remember that when he made the “white people pray, black people sing†statement, it was taken completely out of context.
I remember the talking heads on ESPN saying how horrible that somebody would say something like that. Frankly, I agreed with everything that he said. But, then again, I think that Donovan McNabb isn’t very good either, so what do I know?
But as I was reading about Tennessee’s reaction, and listened to Tennessee Coach Phil Fulmer’s comments, I can’t help but be moved by how much he has influenced my life.
Without Reggie White, what big-name recruit would come to Knoxville. Sure, they always got the receivers, but never that great back, or even any good defensive players. Till Reggie, that is. He was the first player to start the boon in Tennessee football.
In the NFL, he always seemed to end up on the wrong team. My Mom loved the Eagles for some reason. I think it had to do with Reggie White. That, and she loved a strong defense with a Quarterback who could get out of the pocket and make plays on the run. She didn’t like the whole West Coast offense thing.
Hmm. I wondered where I got that from. I, too, hate the West Coast offense.
Did you know that Bret Favre was such a bust in Atlanta that they traded him? Reggie White was the first ever “big name free agent†in the era of the salary cap. Teams either couldn’t afford him (the 49ers) or didn’t need him (the Cowboys). After consulting with God, he chose Green Bay, and was rewarded with a Super Bowl ring. Then a loss. Then a spiralling end to his career that had a stop in Carolina with George “hey, I did too win the Super Bowl†Siefert.
So he won’t have Carolina blue in Canton when he gets in, but that’s ok. Just make sure he gets in there. It better happen, or we’re gonna put on our orange shirts, pants, and hats and go burning the streets of Central Ohio, then find out where that Heisman Trophy place is to get Johnny’s and Peyton’s trophys, and then go attack Tuscaloosa. Do I have to explain why?
