The moment or game you were hooked

[Macminnvol]

For me it was the year Fulmer took over for Johnny Majors. I had been working in Chattanooga, and was about to drive back to Mcminnville. I got in my truck and scrolled through the radio as I was leaving.I happened to tune in the Vols game and decided to listen. I was drawn in immediately by the voice of John Ward, and as I drove the hour and a half back home my obsession with Vols football began. I'm pretty sure it was the Georgia game. I don't think I would have the love for it I do if not for John Ward. I sure do miss hearing him.

 

[GAVol]

1982 Alabama game - I’ll never forget riding down the strip after the game. I was 9 years old. It was also the first time I remember noticing drunk people lol.

 

[VolinMC]

Watching Hubert Simpson score 4 TDs against Notre Dame. I know some of his family and from the same town and high school.

 

[fatal1]

1968 tenn vs Oklahoma in the bowl game was stationed in germany and listened to it over armed forces radio. after the game was over I didn't know there was that many okla fans in the world but I got lips from all of them.

 

[tennrich1]

I was a lurker until Holloway showed up. Then I became a avid follower.

 

[SpringBokVol]

I was looking at colleges - I was living in Florida and my Dad wanted me to go to college out of state.

My girlfriend, who later become my wife, was planning to attend Florida State.

In my mind, I wanted to attend Miami, but was not allowed by my Dad.

So I went on a visit to Tennessee and decided to drive to Knoxville and see the school.

Then the moment happened:

I turned right onto Neyland Dr from Kingston Pike.

We rounded the corner and I saw, for the first time in my life, Neyland Stadium.

I was in love. And that was it. I applied. I was accepted. I attended. I graduated.

 

[Manning Up]

I was looking at colleges - I was living in Florida and my Dad wanted me to go to college out of state.

My girlfriend, who later become my wife, was planning to attend Florida State.

In my mind, I wanted to attend Miami, but was not allowed by my Dad.

So I went on a visit to Tennessee and decided to drive to Knoxville and see the school.

Then the moment happened:

I turned right onto Neyland Dr from Kingston Pike.

We rounded the corner and I saw, for the first time in my life, Neyland Stadium.

I was in love. And that was it. I applied. I was accepted. I attended. I graduated.

Wish I could give this a thousand likes.

 

[VolsnRavens]

I was aware of them and a fan because I lived in Knoxville, but when, as a teenager (around 16, 1982), I worked at the stadium and sold cokes. After about the 3rd game, I would sell a tray, then stand there and watch the game. Never sold cokes in the stadium again, but I was hooked. True Orange and never looked back. John Ward and CPF only made my Orange blood run deeper. Go Vols!!

 

[tennesseeduke]

For me it was the year Fulmer took over for Johnny Majors. I had been working in Chattanooga, and was about to drive back to Mcminnville. I got in my truck and scrolled through the radio as I was leaving.I happened to tune in the Vols game and decided to listen. I was drawn in immediately by the voice of John Ward, and as I drove the hour and a half back home my obsession with Vols football began. I'm pretty sure it was the Georgia game. I don't think I would have the love for it I do if not for John Ward. I sure do miss hearing him.

9 yrs old on Sept 21,1974 17-3 over Kansas. My first of hundreds of UT games to attend! Condredge Holloway was a beast!

 

[N.ohio vol]

Being from Ohio,Tennessee and Peyton Manning were household names i was around 10. The year i became hooked was my first trip to Neyland in 2010 for the oregon game. Ive been to the big house the horse shoe and notredame stadium. Neyland blew them all away. Rocky Top will always be home sweet home to me.

 

[Hacksaw]

Always followed the Vols growing up, but Dad was career military and we lived all over -- so it was hard to be a big fan. This was before global live satellite TV and waaay before the internet and cell phones. Most of the time we would have to wait until Sunday morning to see the score in the newspaper.

The first game I ever attended in-person was at Neyland in 1983 as an 18 year-old freshman. What I experienced that day has stuck with me my whole life. I know it sounds weird to people who don't know, but it's not an exaggeration to say that it was like a religious experience. Every game I have watched since, whether on TV or in-person, has given me the same feeling I had that day as I watched from the student section. But that day was the first day.

 

[Boston Vol]

‘91 Notre Dame game was it for me.

 

[Manning Up]

Was a little feller in 69.
Saw my dad watching a football game."Who's playing?" I asked.
"Tennessee and Texas" was his reply.
"Tennessee has a football team?"
" A college team."

Because I was always proud of the state I was born in, I sat and watched with him. As the game went on, my blood began to turn orange. It's caused considerable concern in whomever has performed blood draws on me over the years.

 

[Macminnvol]

I love hearing these stories! I been lurking on this site a long time, it's good to be part of something with people who love the Vols like I do. Can't wait till its football time in Tennessee again! When John Ward would say that, sometimes it made the hair stand up on the back of my neck.

 

[Caspian]

Had just moved to Oak Ridge from New Mexico in 1967 as a 14 year old kid. Sitting around kitchen table with my Dad listening on a transistor radio to the first game of that season at UCLA. Was instantly hooked. Lost that one, 16-20. But the season turned out to be special.

 

[malinoisvol]

Birth.

 

[clarencepeabody]

It was the year we played Florida at home in the rain. I was a kid, going to a game with my granddad, who was a lifelong Tennessee fan. He was probably in his mid-70s by then, had a hard time walking and could barely make it up to our seats. We sat in the rain and were pretty much miserable.

But then, Mose Phillips caught that pass and ran down the sidelines...as he ran, everyone in the stadium knew he was gonna score. But one little kid sitting in the upper deck looked over and saw his nearly-crippled grandfather literally jumping up and down, pumping his fists and screaming at the top of his lungs.

I knew that day that this was about more than just football. It was about an emotional connection to a team, a program, and a fanbase that you can’t explain, especially not to someone who hasn’t experienced it.

To this day, I still sit in those seats. The same seats he took me to that day. And there’s not a single game when I don’t look over and imagine him right there, dripping wet, and smiling at me.

 

[Sudden Impact]

1966 Gator Bowl and the 1968 Orange Bowl. Attending home games in the 1966 - 1968 was also the Clincher. Doug Dickey Coach.

 

[Illinoisvolfan2]

First game I saw in person with my dad. 1966 vs Vandy. We won 28-0. I was 10 years old

 

[Boogievol]

First game I watched was the sugar bowl against Miami. I was a kid but understood that the team from home state was not supposed to win. I have been addicted since that night.

 

[Tin Man]

9/21/1974: I'm in Neyland Stadium, seeing Condredge "The Artful Dodger" Holloway play live for the first time. While one of the fellows seated near me kept calling him, "Birdy Legs," I was in awe. The 1974 team included some memorable Vols - Stanley Morgan, Tommy West, Pat Ryan, Paul Johnson, Andy Spiva, Ron McCartney, David Page, David Parsons... For me, seeing Condredge lead the Vols to three TDs was IT! From that day forward, my Orangeness was set.

 

[ksgovols]

1980 game against USC was my first live Vol event. Hooked right then if I wasn't before.

 

[jwilliams]

2001 - my freshman year. I had never followed college sports before that. I went to the first game against Syracuse and I was hooked. Haven't missed a game since.

 

[901 Orange]

Well im not old enough to go back to the 80's or earlier but for me it had to be the 97 SEC title game when Peyton hit Marcus Nash and he strolled down the sidelines for a 73yd tub. That was the moment for me and I've been GBFO every since

 

[901 Orange]

9/21/1974: I'm in Neyland Stadium, seeing Condredge "The Artful Dodger" Holloway play live for the first time. While one of the fellows seated near me kept calling him, "Birdy Legs," I was in awe. The 1974 team included some memorable Vols - Stanley Morgan, Tommy West, Pat Ryan, Paul Johnson, Andy Spiva, Ron McCartney, David Page, David Parsons... For me, seeing Condredge lead the Vols to three TDs was IT! From that day forward, my Orangeness was set.

Ole Tommy West lol. That guy once went on a rant that was so intense it fixed the memphis football program