A Letter to Vol Nation



A Letter to Vol Nation

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38 thoughts on “A Letter to Vol Nation”

  1. I remember being too small to remember the age and my grandmother yelling at the tv. She loved the Vols as much as I do. She’s gone now, but oh those memories. Same with my dad. I couldn’t play as a girl, but the Vols and sports in general bonded my dad and I. He took me to every game, practice, and tournament. He never missed one. Winning the state two years in a row for him in softball was the culmination of years of hard work. Work ethics he instilled in me. Anyways, yes we are obsessed. He’s the only one I can talk to about every detail of the team. Even my hubby thinks I’m too much. 😂GB🍊🧡

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  2. 1984–my first visit to Neyland. My uncle and I had trash bags over us to try to keep dry during the steady November rain. When Johnny Jones broke a long touchdown run against Memphis we all jumped up cheering. When we sat back down, all the water that had gathered on our bags had dumped into our seats so we were wet almost head to toe and didn't care! I was a junior in HS, and already knew I wanted to go to TN. I was fortunate enough to go to school there and see lots of games from 1986-1989.
    I took my future wife to her first football game a few years later at Neyland (I think 1997). I told her that the tradition was that you kiss when the Vols scored. She believed me, and I got several kisses during the game that day against Bama. It was several years later before she found out I had made up the "tradition".
    Another best memory: we put together a trip with my extended family to see UT vs Mississippi State in 2019. We had 21 Vol fans in my family attending that day, including 8 that had never been to a UT game before! Rocky Top prevailed 20-10.
    Another one: I took my wife and 3 kids to Death Valley in 2022, and we got what we came for!!! Orange Crushed the Tigers!
    I have so many fantastic memories of following the best football program in the country. It's great to be a Tennessee Volunteer!

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  3. Myself I have so many memories of coming to watch my favorite team! There are no other ones if you ask me, I am almost 60 years old and I have been watching the Vols for all of my life. So proud of the players and the coaches that make this possible and like you said Danny White, it was meant to be! Let’s Go! GBO 🍊🏈

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  4. I grew up watching the VOLS. I can remember going deer hunting with my dad and listening to John Ward on a little hand held radio and screaming in a stand when the VOLS pulled off the miracle in South Bend over Notre Dame. We didn’t get a deer that day but I got something ever more valuable and that’s a great memory with my Dad. GO VOLS!!

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  5. My first game was with my -brother-cousin in 1972 to watch Tennessee play Penn State for the first night game at Neyland Stadium. I remember the long TD run by Haskel Stanback. I was hooked.

    We hooked up several more times, but the most memorable one was with him, his son and my other brother-cousin. It was the 1992 Florida game. The second half was in a downpour. The stadium was so loud that we literally could not talk to each other standing side-by-side. And there was the screen pass to the slow-footed Mose Phillips. A thing of football beauty in the rain.

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  6. I've been a Vol fan my entire life. I'm from Franklin, NC. Our old antenna picked up all the Knoxville stations vs the SC stations which were more common. I went to high school with Shawn Bryson and was in my 2nd year in the Army when he caught the first TD of the 1998 championship game. I retired from the military after 20+ years and got to take my daughter to the spring game this year. That was my first time in Neyland, and even though it was a spring game, it did not disappoint! Hope one day to get back for a game. Go Vols!

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  7. My Dad took me to my first game in 1990 lol when I was 10 against Kensucky score was 42-28 if my memory servers me right! Lol I got a little spoiled my dad worked at a radio station in Morristown and used his press pass to get us in the locker room! I met a lot of players but I remember Andy Kelly and Coach Majors. Coach Majors took a pic with me and my dad sent it to him and he signed it! And wrote a note to me man I was fired up! My favorite player is James little man Stewart!

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  8. My favorite was when we beat Florida in Neyland for the first time since 1998 in 2004. When James Wilhoit missed the extra point and redeemed himself with kicking that 50+ field goal to win the game. That is my favorite Neyland moment always. I was just with a few friends. My 2nd favorite memory is when we came back to beat LSU in Death Valley in 2005. I was suppose to go to that game, but it got moved to a Monday because of Katrina. Watched with friends at the BCM on campus and when we came back and won everyone went out and went to the stadium. Some people were trying to get into the stadium other people burned a mattress. I guess that is something our fans do. 🤷🏾‍♀️ I have a photo with 3 other friends. One of which is no longer with us and I will never forget my experience of being a student at UT. Those were some of the best years of my life.

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  9. But of course my favorite memory will always be watching Tennessee games with my daddy. He is the reason my entire family are Tennessee fans. I told my parents they are no longer allowed to go to bowl games after the 2001 Cotton Bowl. Everytime they went to a bowl game we seemed to lose. 🤣😂 Neither of them are with us anymore, but I will always have those memories.

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  10. My favorite memory was my first Fall in TN, 2003. I left active duty at Fort Hood, TX, on Valentines Day 2003 and moved to Maryville, where my family was now living. My dad was a Finish Carpenter and when work started to slow in Georgia, he moved to Maryville where he had better opportunities. I was unsure of what civilian life would be like, but knew my best starting point would be with my family. I immediately fell in love with actually having distince seasons (seemed Texas and GA only flipped from hot to cold and back) and the mountains. However, I'll never forget around the beginning of August I started seeing orange EVERYWHERE. Businesses painted their windows, people wore orange, UT flags came out in full force, and even commercials on tv became entertaining when they all were in support of the local team. And then came the first weekends when you could feel the energy, no kidding. I started to hear Rocky Top everywhere and don't know to this day if it was real, or just in my head because I had been hearing it so often. I talked with my dad about it and he said we needed to go to the stadium to check out the atmosphere. We didn't have tickets, but he wanted me to see and experience the tailgating and how the entire downtown area turns into a sea of fellowship and fun. I probably walked around with my jaw hanging open and we had people asking if we wanted BBQ (Texan-born I never turn this offer down) and offering us games of cornhole (this was the first time I had ever heard of or seen cornhole and actually thought it was something invented by Vol fans lol). We watched the game at home that afternoon and I knew right then I was a UT Vol fan and I've never looked back.

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  11. I just want it to be known that was listening to todays Locked On Vols and was told in the podcast to stop what I was doing to come here and subscribe! But besides that, love to hear your takes, Boogie! Go Vols! 🍊

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  12. For as long as I can remember my little brother and I sat on the couch and watched Tennessee football every Saturday in the fall with my Dad. We always talked about going to see a game in Neyland the way other families talk about seeing the grand canyon or Mt. Rushmore. It was like a holy place for us. When my dad's health started failing due to complications from diabetes I knew he would never get to go. He just couldn't handle a trip that long or crowds like that. He passed away in early 2013, but I got to take my brother to see the vols beat App st in overtime in 2016. We ate at Calhoun's on the river and took pictures next to a bunch of landmarks. To this day, we still talk about that trip down to Knoxville and how much fun we had. As we were leaving the stadium basking in the joy and relief of victory with a hundred thousand other people my brother looked at me and said, "Dad would have loved this." All I could say was "Yeah buddy. He would." I'm not a Tennessee fan because I like the colors or because I live nearby. I'm not a fan because of the tradition or all of the great players I've seen do impossible things in those orange jerseys. All that stuff is great, but I'm a vol for life because there's no other place on earth that could have given that moment to my family. There's no place like Neyland on Saturday night. That's why when I see anyone else out and about with that power t on their clothes I make sure to say GBFO! I'm fortunate to know such a place and to be part of such a fanbase. Nothing else like it. Man, I can't wait for football!

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  13. I'll never forget spring 2007. Was convinced to walk on as a receiver at UT by one of the starting lineman at the time. 43 receivers tried out for 2 spots and I got one of em. Before the spring game, we had fan day and I had to get a new sharpie because I ran out of ink signing autographs. THATS when I fell in love. No one knew who I was but yet everyone showed me so much love that I wanted to do well for them. VolNation is 2nd to none and I've been a part of it since then.

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  14. My dad grew up on a dairy farm in southeast Tennessee… He tells me of helping my grandfather in the dairy on Saturdays listening to the Vols games on a small am radio on Saturdays. On November 24, 1970, Dad took me to my first, and his only, trip to Neyland. At 9 years old, I was so excited to see Coach Bill Battle lead the Vols in beating Kentucky 45-0…even back then we were their Daddy. While at UT in the early-mid 1980’s, I attended almost every home game but today that one with with Dad is the one that always stands out!

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  15. So many memories, so many times with my best friend when he was alive. We used to actually walk across the old train bridge before every game and throw a silver dollar in the river at the half way point and share a jar. That place is magical in every way, you can feel it from the time you get remotely close. I'm so glad to have been there for so many great moments in time with my best friend and usually sprinkled throughout the stadium 2,3,and even 4 generations of family at the same time. I'M SO GRATEFUL I WAS BORN HERE AND GRACED BY GOD TO BE A VOLUNTEER. THE ROAD TO HOUSTON BEGINS TOMORROW IN NASHVILLE AND I BELIEVE IT'S OUR TIME. GBO/VFL

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  16. Watching a UT basketball game with my grandfather who always listened to all games on the the radio all his life, we watched his last on his TV by his death bed , and going to many football games and hawkeyes for beers and food before it was tore down with my descesed uncle.😢🍊🧡

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