Game day at Faurot Field.
Is there anything better? I grew up in a great football environment at Blue Springs High School, where every home game was sold out and some had three or four thousand more fans than the stadium could hold – especially when we played our rivals like Rockhurst and Blue Springs South.
In high school, I loved Friday nights under the lights. I didn’t think there was anything better – until I got to Missouri. Now, nothing tops Saturday afternoon at Faurot Field. It’s electric. You can feel the electricity cracking and popping. It all starts building on Friday night, when we stay in a local hotel. That gets us thinking about one thing, and only one thing – football.
The next day we get on the bus, drive to campus, get ready for the game and begin the Tiger walk. I love it when the fans pound on my shoulder pads or call out my name. When we had Pig Brown, the fans would bring all sorts of pig mascots. With Ziggy Hood, they’d bring the Ziggy characters. I think I’m kind of known as the team’s high energy guy and the walk gets me fired up.
When we get in the stadium and the fans start cheering and screaming, you can’t even hear the person standing next to you. I remember my first game and I wasn’t even playing. I was a freshman and I was thinking how incredible it would be, to be a part of a big-time Division I game. Now, I know what that’s like.
I can remember back when Nebraska or OU would come to town and there would be so many Nebraska or OU fans in the stands you wondered where our fans were. Well, that doesn’t happen any more. You don’t see any of that red and white stuff. You see the black and gold – a whole lot of black and gold. And we notice that. We hear you screaming and cheering, we see the school colors and that just makes us want to play that much harder.
When you watch me out here playing, when you watch me out here yelling and screaming, even though I’m tired, that’s what being a Tiger means to me. This is my fifth year, my last year. I want to go out and do a lot of things during the season and after this season.
Me and Spoon (teammate Sean Weatherspoon) talked about this year after that bowl game (Alamo Bowl). We knew it was going to be our senior year and our time, and we were probably most likely going to be the leaders on the defense. We wanted to put our personalities in the defense, and that’s more of a loud, have fun, be loose but still be focused at the same time. I think the younger guys and some of the role-playing guys are starting to pick that up.
You see it out here. These guys are making great plays and having fun while they’re doing it. We just hope to have that going into the season.
My mindset now is to believe in myself and I want the other guys on the team, especially the younger guys, to believe in themselves. It used to be, “What if this happened? What if that happened?” It’s more just relaxed, enjoy the moment type of feel now, listen to some music just get ready to go, man.
That’s all I think about. I don’t like to get into what could have happened. I just get into it and get ready for the game. You just get ready for when it’s time to go.
It’s all coming together into one thing right now. It started in the little league in Kansas City to moving to Blue Springs for high school, and then coming to Mizzou to finish it up. Words couldn’t explain what it means to me. It’s just unreal, man.
And after the game, nothing is better than going into downtown Columbia and sharing the victory with the fans – especially the student body. You get to let them reap the benefits of a hard week of practice and share the moment with you and your teammates. Some guys like to just be by themselves after a game, but I’m the type of guy who wants to share the big-game atmosphere with everyone on campus. I love it here, I feel blessed, and I want everyone to experience that feeling.
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Game day at Faurot Field.
Is there anything better? I grew up in a great football environment at Blue Springs High School, where every home game was sold out and some had three or four thousand more fans than the stadium could hold – especially when we played our rivals like Rockhurst and Blue Springs South.
In high school, I loved Friday nights under the lights. I didn’t think there was anything better – until I got to Missouri. Now, nothing tops Saturday afternoon at Faurot Field. It’s electric. You can feel the electricity cracking and popping. It all starts building on Friday night, when we stay in a local hotel. That gets us thinking about one thing, and only one thing – football.
The next day we get on the bus, drive to campus, get ready for the game and begin the Tiger walk. I love it when the fans pound on my shoulder pads or call out my name. When we had Pig Brown, the fans would bring all sorts of pig mascots. With Ziggy Hood, they’d bring the Ziggy characters. I think I’m kind of known as the team’s high energy guy and the walk gets me fired up.
When we get in the stadium and the fans start cheering and screaming, you can’t even hear the person standing next to you. I remember my first game and I wasn’t even playing. I was a freshman and I was thinking how incredible it would be, to be a part of a big-time Division I game. Now, I know what that’s like.
I can remember back when Nebraska or OU would come to town and there would be so many Nebraska or OU fans in the stands you wondered where our fans were. Well, that doesn’t happen any more. You don’t see any of that red and white stuff. You see the black and gold – a whole lot of black and gold. And we notice that. We hear you screaming and cheering, we see the school colors and that just makes us want to play that much harder.
When you watch me out here playing, when you watch me out here yelling and screaming, even though I’m tired, that’s what being a Tiger means to me. This is my fifth year, my last year. I want to go out and do a lot of things during the season and after this season.
Me and Spoon (teammate Sean Weatherspoon) talked about this year after that bowl game (Alamo Bowl). We knew it was going to be our senior year and our time, and we were probably most likely going to be the leaders on the defense. We wanted to put our personalities in the defense, and that’s more of a loud, have fun, be loose but still be focused at the same time. I think the younger guys and some of the role-playing guys are starting to pick that up.
You see it out here. These guys are making great plays and having fun while they’re doing it. We just hope to have that going into the season.
My mindset now is to believe in myself and I want the other guys on the team, especially the younger guys, to believe in themselves. It used to be, “What if this happened? What if that happened?” It’s more just relaxed, enjoy the moment type of feel now, listen to some music just get ready to go, man.
That’s all I think about. I don’t like to get into what could have happened. I just get into it and get ready for the game. You just get ready for when it’s time to go.
It’s all coming together into one thing right now. It started in the little league in Kansas City to moving to Blue Springs for high school, and then coming to Mizzou to finish it up. Words couldn’t explain what it means to me. It’s just unreal, man.
And after the game, nothing is better than going into downtown Columbia and sharing the victory with the fans – especially the student body. You get to let them reap the benefits of a hard week of practice and share the moment with you and your teammates. Some guys like to just be by themselves after a game, but I’m the type of guy who wants to share the big-game atmosphere with everyone on campus. I love it here, I feel blessed, and I want everyone to experience that feeling.
Jaron Baston, Norm Stewart, Derrick Chievous, Chase Daniel, Jeff Handy, Jon Sundvold, Ryan, Brett and Shaon Fry, Gary Pinkel, Mike Anderson, Dennis Vanarsdall and Steve Stipanovich are just a few of the University of Missouri greats who will be a part of the book, “For Tigers Fans Only,” written by The Examiner’s Bill Althaus and former University of Missouri-Kansas City men’s basketball coach Rich Zvosec. This is an excerpt from the book, that also features Mizzou fanatics, talking about their favorite moments both on, and off the field. The book will be available in stores around the metro area in mid-October.
