What does Tennessee Football mean to you?

[RCKYT0P]

Rocky Top
Running through the T
Wearing my orange
playing of the other teams fight song by POTSLMB - not one I agree with
Peyton Manning, Heath Shuler, Al Wilson, and recently Eric Berry - 3 personal favorites

 

[MOTOVOL]

It means goose bumps as soon as you see the lights of the stadium from afar. The nervousness you feel when watching the Vol walk , almost so much you feel as if you could suit up and play. The band ,crowds,and the uncomparible pride the fans show. The reason we all get up early on saturday or the reason fridays seem to take for ever.
That to me is the Big Orange.

 

[vollygirl]

Tennessee football meant an education for me.

I had never seen a UT game before my freshman year; heck, I hated football in general. I came to UT as a recruit of the band program, which is funded in part by donations from the athletic department. The visibility the Pride of the Southland Band has because of the football team meant a higher level of donations from fans, and therefore a higher level of scholarship money that could be used to bring someone of my childhood economic standing (lower-middle class) to UT.

Thanks to the athletics department, I was able to march in the 1996 Clinton inaugural parade. I was in the band room when Peyton Manning delivered a check from the athletics department to take care of the funding Sundquist canceled because Clinton won instead of Dole. Thanks to their donation, the state of Tennessee was represented at that event.

I have lost count of the places I've been, the people I've met, and the experiences I've had because of Tennessee football. I have met two presidents, tackled a Georgia football player, touched the turf at the Rose Bowl, been to a National Championship game, walked Between the Hedges, shaken hands with a Heisman Trophy winner (Eddie George, and boy is that a story for another thread).... the list could go on for quite a while.

Even though I never had the opportunity to suit up in pads and run through the T, I am thankful for the opportunities that I've had because of the people who do.

That was a very nice read. Thank you.

 

[MOTOVOL]

I have two sons and the day I got them there first Tn shirt or onesie the pride I had that day.

 

[bleedorange0037]

My earliest memories are from the 1990 season. I was 6 years old at the time, I remember watching the ND game that season with my dad on tv, and a couple weeks later he took me to Neyland for the first time to see the Vols play Kentucky. I remember that my first favorite Vol was Tony Thompson, and how disappointed I was when my dad explained to me why he wouldn't be playing for the Vols anymore after that season. Anyway, I've been hooked ever since, with countless wonderful memories over the years, and looking forward to many more in the future.

 

[RCKYT0P]

After going to many games over the years...I have went off and on since I was 10....I am now 33...I still get chills when the Vols run through the T