The face of Tennessee football

[VOLINVONORE]

Total garbage article

Who is this idiot? There is plenty of room to respect new stars when they have earned their respect and Kamara is beginning to earn some respect. However, he is just beginning to make his way to the same level of Manning and Neyland. If he has another 10 years of stardom and supports our University in the same manner as Manning and Neyland, then one can add him elevate to the same level of respect. He is no where near that status at this time. I am very proud of what Kamara has has accomplished and hope he continues to perform and support Tennessee. However, we have to remember he snubbed Tennessee when he chose Alabama out of high school and only came here after he failed to make it at Alabama. I seldom see him around campus or celebrating his playing days at Tennessee. He has another 10 years before he eligible to join the elite status at Tennessee. I think Reggie White is still way in front ahead of Kamara.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

Wasn’t AK with bama longer than us?

Nope.

Just one season (true freshman) at Bama. Redshirted, didn't even play a down, I don't think.
Then one season (redshirt freshman) at a JUCO.
Then two seasons (sophomore and junior) with the Vols. Played quite a bit, though I think we'd all like to have seen him even more.
Passed on senior season for the draft.

Alvin was more Vol than anything else. The core of his college experience was in orange and white. For certain.

We won’t replace Manning as a legend of the vols just like Gators will never replace spurrier or Tebow.

We won't. But time will.

Remember George Cafego? Or Beattie Feathers? They were like the Peyton Mannings of their day.

One day, in the somewhat distant future, folks will semi-remember Peyton the way we semi-remember Cafego. And that's okay, because there will be some new faces of the Vols filling in for those who faded into the mists of the past.

Go Vols!

 

[FlyFishnVol]

I wouldn't exactly replace Manning, but I would definitely put Kamara around Campus and Neyland more

The Vols need to replace Peyton Manning as the national face of Tennessee Football

This Ragan guy is out of his mind....WTH?

 

[tbh]

Tennessee football doesn't have a face. There's no contest to pick a new face. No face-selecting committee. The university doesn't designate or choose or crown a face. It's not an official position, or even an unofficial one.

But we do have many faces. Every time the fan base falls in love with a player or coach, we get a new one. Yes, Ed, the General is a face of Tennessee football. So is George Cafego, though fewer and fewer remember. Doug Atkins is a face, a body, and two huge mitts of hands.

Condredge Holloway is a face of the Vols. And Peyton. And Tee. Reggie White is. Eric Berry, too. Derek Barnett is, quietly, a face of the Vols.

And I would argue that Alvin Kamara, yes, he is --already-- a face of the Vols, as well. Not sure what Zach Regan is getting on about, we already embrace Alvin. We have since he was a student, well before he became a superstar in New Orleans.

We embrace all these faces of the Vols football team. Some of them embrace back more loudly and frequently than others. Some prefer to leave their college years behind and focus on the present, or the future. That's their choice. But we love all these lads who played wearing orange and white, and we wish them all the best.

Face that, Zach Regan. We have plenty of faces. And we'll keep them all, thank you very much.

Ragan needs to face reality and perform an about-face from his article about "face", it seems. Having just one designated "Face of the Vols" is for a program with so much history (and so much history that hasn't been written yet) seems simplistic and impulsive. When it comes to ambassadors of the program, I'd think most recruits would prefer seeing a line-up of bronze statues than a constantly changing digital billboard cycling every so often (so to speak).

 

[VolFlAlum]

Peyton was a great football player but the fact that he is still the face of Tennessee football just shows how little success this program has had over the last 20 years.

BINGO!

 

[GAVol]

Peyton was a great football player but the fact that he is still the face of Tennessee football just shows how little success this program has had over the last 20 years.

Hershel Walker is still pretty much the face of UGA.
Bo Jackson is still Auburn football.
Knute Rockne still gets play at Notre Dame.

The greats just are who they are. This notion of “faces” is goofy fan narrative crap.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

Peyton was a great football player but the fact that he is still the face of Tennessee football just shows how little success this program has had over the last 20 years.

BINGO!

No, not bingo.

Tee Martin won the national championship, not Peyton. Success alone doesn't make you a face of a program, or Tee would be more famous for all of us than Manning.

It's more complicated than that.

Being a winner in college is one component, for sure. It's just not enough. A fella also has to remain in the public eye. Say, through NFL stardom and catchy commercials and SNL appearances.

But even that isn't enough. Alvin's an NFL star. Eric Berry was an NFL star, too. Reggie White, too. None of them became as MUCH of a symbol of Volunteers football as Peyton, though. Why not?

Simple: they didn't embrace the university, publicly, loudly, every chance they got. They moved on. Let their past fade into the past.

I mean, Peyton moved on as well, but he never took himself entirely out of the past. He wears orange when he can. He comes back to games. He mentions the Vols in interviews. He donates to the university, loudly and proudly. In short, he keeps the state of Tennessee, and the university of Tennessee, a part of his persona. By design. On purpose. With intent.

None of our other faces have done that as well or as often as Peyton, so they don't radiate Vol-ness.

As you might be noticing, this is more a decision by the athlete than the university or the fan base. Sure, we embrace the faces of the Vols as we get to know and respect them. But if they're not actively generating energy back toward the orange and white, the world won't notice our energy flowing toward them.

So if Zach Ragan really wanted to pursue this line of thought, perhaps he should have written a letter to Alvin, rather than an open commentary to the University and its fan base. Might've had more effect.

Go Vols!

 

[TNnative]

I see many comments on this thread, but no links to an article.

However, just going on the title, and recent history?

THIs seems to be the REAL face of Tennessee football:

or at least the face of the administration.

 

[marvin616]

This is the real face of UT football.

 

[901 Orange]

Peyton was a great football player but the fact that he is still the face of Tennessee football just shows how little success this program has had over the last 20 years.

Peyton would still be the face of our program no matter what success we had after him. He is an alltime great football player not just at UT. On top of that he played QB. Unless some QB comes and wins a heisman, followed by a natty, #1 overall NFL pick, plus 3-4 superbowls he can replace Peyton. Until then Peyton is the face.

 

[TNnative]

Nope.

Just one season (true freshman) at Bama. Redshirted, didn't even play a down, I don't think.
Then one season (redshirt freshman) at a JUCO.
Then two seasons (sophomore and junior) with the Vols. Played quite a bit, though I think we'd all like to have seen him even more.
Passed on senior season for the draft.

Alvin was more Vol than anything else. The core of his college experience was in orange and white. For certain.


We won't. But time will.

Remember George Cafego? Or Beattie Feathers? They were like the Peyton Mannings of their day.

One day, in the somewhat distant future, folks will semi-remember Peyton the way we semi-remember Cafego. And that's okay, because there will be some new faces of the Vols filling in for those who faded into the mists of the past.

Go Vols!

Good responses. Time fades memory, but no face of a player with ever replace Robert Neyland. He was the guy who's original concept he pushed for made the stadium that it is named for him come to fruition. He set the standard of excellence. Had his tenure not been interrupted twice by the call to arms? Imagine how much greater his record would have been.

And that statue of him that many pass by as they enter? That makes his face endure to those who never were alive in his time. But in truth, there are many who's faces make up the program. Some will be remembered more than others. Some will be honored more than others. And we hope that the faces yet to be recognized as faces of the program, fans should have hope they exceed the accomplishments of those who's legacies are already set in stone. But as for me, and though he was gone on well before all of us, the General will probably always be "the" face of the program. He set the bar high. Those who truly deserve to be placed beside him will have to reach high.

 

[GulfCoasterVol]

I wouldn't exactly replace Manning, but I would definitely put Kamara around Campus and Neyland more

The Vols need to replace Peyton Manning as the national face of Tennessee Football

Nupe!

 

[franklinboy]

Let's try and replace that win loss record from last year.

excatly or players that don't wanna be up there all because they don't "earn" enough anymore or because the coaching staff has changed

 

[RobertPellitt]

So replace the face of the program with a dude who barely produced (Thanks Butch) due to lack of opportunities and oh BTW his first choice was Bama, not UT?

This guy is a moron.

So does that mean you are fine if Henry T transfers to Bama, since he picked Tennessee first? I don't think that is how this works. AK would be a great ambassador of UT Football, he is young, hip, funny and a Pro Bowler. UT Football should bring him back, no reason you can't promote both AK and Manning. And Dobbs, Jennings and Marquez Callaway and Derek Barnett. All of them should be a face for the program.

 

[Fanforlife21]

Use him more after he is gone than he got used on the field. Most Tennessee thing ever!

 

[K-town Vol Fan]

So does that mean you are fine if Henry T transfers to Bama, since he picked Tennessee first? I don't think that is how this works. AK would be a great ambassador of UT Football, he is young, hip, funny and a Pro Bowler. UT Football should bring him back, no reason you can't promote both AK and Manning. And Dobbs, Jennings and Marquez Callaway and Derek Barnett. All of them should be a face for the program.

I agree they should be a face for the problem, but not THE face of the program.

 

[ptcarter]

Wasn’t AK with bama longer than us?

Dunno, but he sat on the bench more than Peyton

 

[firedog28]

Just like some on VN to want to replace Peyton on anything.Add to maybe but never replace.

 

[RobertPellitt]

I agree they should be a face for the problem, but not THE face of the program.

A retired NFL quarterback should not be the sole face of the program. The idea has to be that you relate to the next generation. Unless there is some other reason...........

I bet you wouldn't argue that Bernard King should be the face of the Basketball team over Grant, Tobias or Richardson.

 

[EZE]

Peyton was a great football player but the fact that he is still the face of Tennessee football just shows how little success this program has had over the last 20 years.

Exactly. And while we’re at it, why don’t we try to get where the current players are the “face” of Tennessee football...kinda like Lawrence at Clemson, etc. But, as you point out, the current program needs success to get there.

 

[VolFlAlum]

No, not bingo.

Tee Martin won the national championship, not Peyton. Success alone doesn't make you a face of a program, or Tee would be more famous for all of us than Manning.

It's more complicated than that.

Being a winner in college is one component, for sure. It's just not enough. A fella also has to remain in the public eye. Say, through NFL stardom and catchy commercials and SNL appearances.

But even that isn't enough. Alvin's an NFL star. Eric Berry was an NFL star, too. Reggie White, too. None of them became as MUCH of a symbol of Volunteers football as Peyton, though. Why not?

Simple: they didn't embrace the university, publicly, loudly, every chance they got. They moved on. Let their past fade into the past.

I mean, Peyton moved on as well, but he never took himself entirely out of the past. He wears orange when he can. He comes back to games. He mentions the Vols in interviews. He donates to the university, loudly and proudly. In short, he keeps the state of Tennessee, and the university of Tennessee, a part of his persona. By design. On purpose. With intent.

None of our other faces have done that as well or as often as Peyton, so they don't radiate Vol-ness.

As you might be noticing, this is more a decision by the athlete than the university or the fan base. Sure, we embrace the faces of the Vols as we get to know and respect them. But if they're not actively generating energy back toward the orange and white, the world won't notice our energy flowing toward them.

So if Zach Ragan really wanted to pursue this line of thought, perhaps he should have written a letter to Alvin, rather than an open commentary to the University and its fan base. Might've had more effect.

Go Vols!

The key point to the BINGO response was the fact that he is still the face of Tennessee football just shows how little success this program has had over the last 20 years. You totally overlooked that as the key point. The bottom line is that it is imperative to have someone both recent and relevant as the face of the program if you want to recruit these hot shot 17 years olds who weren't alive went PM was relevant........

 

[tennesseeduke]

Yeah that won't happen. You don't just replace someone like Manning. You replace someone like him when you prove you can replace him. He did things on the field and for the University thats hard to match...

Never will be matched!

 

[VFL-82-JP]

The key point to the BINGO response was the fact that he is still the face of Tennessee football just shows how little success this program has had over the last 20 years. You totally overlooked that as the key point. The bottom line is that it is imperative to have someone both recent and relevant as the face of the program if you want to recruit these hot shot 17 years olds who weren't alive went PM was relevant........

I don't think you're touching on the key dynamics involved.

I mean, yes, Peyton is the best-known football alumnus, and yes, he comes from a period when the Vols were strong.

But imagine if Alvin Kamara were to mention Tennessee and Vols football every chance he got, the way Peyton does. Imagine Alvin on Saturday Night Live and in good-hearted life insurance commercial skits. Imagine Alvin donating big $$ to the Vols, and popping up on the sidelines in Neyland Stadium one or two games every season.

Under those conditions, are you really trying to tell me that he wouldn't be a very positive, and very powerful, Face of the Volunteers? In spite of "how little success this program has had over the last 20 years"? Alvin's from the Butch Jones era. You really think that disqualifies him somehow?

I'm just saying. Face of the Vols, proud representative of the Vols, it doesn't have much to do with whether the team enjoyed championship-level success while the player was here. It comes mostly from the player (a) being great even at the NFL level, (b) being famous even beyond the sport, and (c) embracing the Vols every chance he gets.

Put more plainly: Peyton being "the face" of our program doesn't show anything about how successful we've been since. Those are independent variables. We could have won a national title every year between 1997 and 2021, and Peyton might very well still be unique in that respect.

There. A little more overt way of saying, "sir, I don't think you got it right."

Go Vols!

 

[sonofUT62]

Like time I remember AK being spot lighted, he wore a Magic City sweatshirt on the field. Wife didn’t think it was nearly as funny as i did.

 

[N.ohio vol]

Never will be matched!

Its hard to match. You gotta want to put in the work and the hours. Film room weight room. School work. Now days kids just want everything given to them. That's why there arnt to many Manning's in this field. he did it all...