A Special Tribute to our Fifth-Year Seniors

[Volosaurus rex]

I don't know how many of them are left but I would like to offer a special tribute to our fifth-year seniors. They have endured the demise of the Fulmer era, the upheaval of Kiffin's one-and-done tenure and the disappointment of Dooley's regime. Probably no group of players in the long and storied history of Tennessee football has endured more adversity than this group of young men.

General Douglas MacArthur once said that "On the fields of friendly strife are sown the seeds that on other days and other fields will bear the fruits of victory." If MacArthur's observation is true, these young men will surely achieve greatness in the course of their lives.

 

[GAVol]

We joke about Rod Wilks, but the fact that a guy like him playin limited snaps stayed for 3 different coaches says a lot about him. A lot of kids would have been at Chattanooga or MTSU after the second coaching change.

 

[Pacer92]

Good post! Indeed these young men have endured one of the roughest stretches in UT history, if not the worst. I salute these young men and hope the tough times endured here will only serve as a foundation for successful futures. VFL!

 

[FlintstoneGAVol]

Can/Will someone please list the 5th year Seniors please.

 

[44DivePlay]

Can/Will someone please list the 5th year Seniors please.

Lathers
Bart

Are two.

Other seniors off the top of my head without going to UTSports on phone:
Rivera-No
ZRo-Don't think so unless medical redshirt
Corey Alexander-maybe
Willie Bohanon-no
Dallas Thomas-no
PWaggs-no
Rod Wilks-no
Gooch-no

That's only 10 of 13 seniors and not sure if my nos are right on my second list. Just guessing. Someone help me out

 

[Antwturn]

We joke about Rod Wilks, but the fact that a guy like him playin limited snaps stayed for 3 different coaches says a lot about him. A lot of kids would have been at Chattanooga or MTSU after the second coaching change.

I agree. He's a stand up young man

 

[Volosaurus rex]

After consulting the roster ( Official Football Roster - UTSPORTS.COM - University of Tennessee Athletics), the following eight players are fifth-year seniors:

22 Rod Wilks (DB) RS SR, Smyrna, Tenn./Smyrna

23 Prentiss Waggner (DB) RS SR Clinton, La./Clinton

34 Herman Lathers (LB) RS SR, Baton Rouge, La./Scotlandville

39 Ben Bartholomew (FB) RS SR, Nashville, Tenn./Montgomery Bell Academy

60 Carson Anderson (OL) RS SR, Florence, Ala./Florence

71 Dallas Thomas (OL) RS SR, Baton Rouge, La./Scotlandville

86 Willie Bohannon (LB) RS SR, Mobile, Ala./Blount

90 Steven Fowlkes (DL) RS SR, College Park, Ga./Banneker

 

[44DivePlay]

After consulting the roster ( Official Football Roster - UTSPORTS.COM - University of Tennessee Athletics), the following eight players are fifth-year seniors:

22 Rod Wilks (DB) RS SR, Smyrna, Tenn./Smyrna

23 Prentiss Waggner (DB) RS SR Clinton, La./Clinton

34 Herman Lathers (LB) RS SR, Baton Rouge, La./Scotlandville

39 Ben Bartholomew (FB) RS SR, Nashville, Tenn./Montgomery Bell Academy

60 Carson Anderson (OL) RS SR, Florence, Ala./Florence

71 Dallas Thomas (OL) RS SR, Baton Rouge, La./Scotlandville

86 Willie Bohannon (LB) RS SR, Mobile, Ala./Blount

90 Steven Fowlkes (DL) RS SR, College Park, Ga./Banneker

Thanks. Had no idea Wilks, Bo, Thomas, etc all redshirted. Thank you for not being lazy like me in helping this fine feller out

 

[Volosaurus rex]

Statistics can often be misleading but some measure of their perseverence can be derived from the fact that they endured the worst five-year period in Tennessee football (22-30) since the 1909-1913 teams went a combined 17-22-5 (Fifth-year seniors get off 'roller coaster' » GoVolsXtra ).

 

[Insunseri]

I don't know how many of them are left but I would like to offer a special tribute to our fifth-year seniors. They have endured the demise of the Fulmer era, the upheaval of Kiffin's one-and-done tenure and the disappointment of Dooley's regime. Probably no group of players in the long and storied history of Tennessee football has endured more adversity than this group of young men.

General Douglas MacArthur once said that "On the fields of friendly strife are sown the seeds that on other days and other fields will bear the fruits of victory." If MacArthur's observation is true, these young men will surely achieve greatness in the course of their lives.

Good post. I can't imagine what it was like to survive through the entirely of this unholy 5-year mess

 

[tennvols77]

:thumbsup::salute:

 

[Volosaurus rex]

Perhaps the one thing that goes utterly unmentioned is the schizophrenic team chemistry that must have existed, to some extent, on this year's team. To their credit, we never saw or heard evidence of overt finger pointing on the part of offense vs. defensive personnel. However, you know that it had to be profoundly frustrating for Bray and co. to realize that they had to score on virtually every possession just to give us a chance to win.

 

[ChiefTKE]

Here is the video from the scoreboard yesterday.

2012 Football Senior Tribute - YouTube