How many of you are Vol fans for a reason other than…

[stolitonic]

I guess I was a hybrid.

Grew up in East TN. Honestly, growing up Vol football was kinda just there. Well on my radar, but I was indifferent.

Move forward a few years and in school at GT where UGA was our mortal foe. The enemy of my enemy is my friend-and that was back in the days of Ray Goff so we all know how UT throttled the Dawgs during that period

Made me a much bigger fan of Vol football.

Few years later ended up at UT to get another degree, and here we are.

 

[sami]

I don't exactly qualify, but I was looking at a few schools and flew down from NJ to check out UT, and I remember walking around the campus and into Stokely Athletic Center and around the court area (couldn't get into Neyland), and fell in love with the place. Got to see Dale Ellis' career here and the '82 Bama game, and have bled orange ever since.

 

[NcVolfan24]

My story is a bit unconventional.

I probably sold hats to some of you in the late 90s. Cat in the hat style (I saw one of ours on the basevols Regional broadcast last week) and jester style with the bells on the ends. A picture of my last remaining example of this experience is below.

My dad and his buddy were having hard times financially and started selling these hats all over the Southeast to make ends meet. Tennessee, UNC, Virginia Tech, South Carolina, Georgia, and others. Tennessee was our favorite place to go.

When I was 13 he took me with him for the first time. I'd sell hats too and make 100-200 bucks each Saturday, which was a big deal to a 13-14 year old. I still remember hawking them on the hill above the stadium yelling "Hats, Seven Bucks!" It was gimmicky and I took a lot of crap from drunks and others but dang we sold a bunch of them every time we went.

This was in 98-99 by the way and a couple games (can't remember against who) we would buy tickets for 10-20 bucks each by scalpers who couldn't sell them by the middle of the 2nd quarter. We went up to the nosebleeds for the 3rd quarter and watched the game. I remember how I felt like the stadium was actually swaying and moving from the fan noise, and I'm sure it probably was. Then, we returned to our spots outside the stadium and sold more hats. I've been hooked ever since and have held season tickets for a while now that I will never give up.

 

[VolnGermany]

If you grew up in Bavaria, why do you have a French accent? C'mon, quit BS-ing us!

You actually grew up in Alsace-Lorraine. Am I right or am I right?

Wo ist diesen “Alsace-Lorraine”? Ich weiss nur die Kase.

 

[Vol4gzus]

I don't qualify. Have lived in Tennessee all my life, attended the university and lots of Vols fans in my family.

You sir are top drawer and no apologies! GO VOLS!

 

[sjt18]

How many of you are fans of Tennessee NOT because of: living in Tennessee, attending the university, or having family that are Vol fans?

I bet there are some interesting stories out there on how some became Vol fans.

I am originally from Bryson City, NC. When Heath and Benji signed to play at UT, practically the whole town and anyone from there became Vol fans. I ended up following my career across the country and half way back. The Vols were always kind of a "tether" to home.

 

[Sarms58]

I'm a Vol fan because I had good parents - they raised me right! Both graduated from UT in 1951.

 

[Volunteer_Kirby]

I grew up in west Texas, and in that area college football isn’t that popular. I watched the Cowboys on Sundays and went to high school games on Fridays, they were huge in that area (Odessa Permian, Cooper, Abilene High, Midland Lee, etc,). My dad retired and we moved to middle Tennessee, where he is originally from. HS football in this area in the late 80’s was a bit of a culture shock comparatively speaking from where I came from and there wasn’t a pro team in the area. Everyone was into college ball, and it was either UT or VU. VU sucked and UT was pretty good at that time so I chose them.

Still a die hard Cowboys fan, don’t hate.

Odessa/Midland area?

 

[firedog28]

Born and raised in Tennessee, 78 yo Vol fan since I was 11 We were still running the single wing !

 

[LittleVol]

Nothing exciting here. My father lettered at Tennessee in 1931, brother played basketball here in 1941 before volunteering for the Army Air Corps , and my son lettered 1995-1998. I have 6 generations of my family who attended Tennessee. I never considered going anywhere other than Tennessee.. " Born and bred" a Tennessee VOL.

Buddy that is a great story, and you have a lot of pride!

But sir, Freak is asking for anybody NOT affiliated with the University and why THEY are Tennessee fans.

Just wanted to point that out.

 

[pimo1]

How many of you are fans of Tennessee NOT because of: living in Tennessee, attending the university, or having family that are Vol fans?

I bet there are some interesting stories out there on how some became Vol fans.

Born and raised in Chattanooga . i was never a college fan and because I am from the inner city was not a fan of anything Knoxville at the time. Hindsight being 20//20 stupid outlook. I got into sports heavy when Jerry Rice was drafted in 85 ( I was not around for the draft it just so happens I saw a game his rookie year). that led me almost directly into becoming a Lakers fan because I also discovered Magic Johnson. I am not sure exactly what year it was but it was likely 89 or 90 I started following UT ( I remember liking Andy Kelly) but it was my freshman year of college that got me hooked. I was a freshman at Tennessee State University in Nashville in 92 and there were a lot of Haters from Memphis and that's when Heath Shuler started showing his head. He helped me win a lot of arguments that had no basis in sports but it all came down to might is right. We beat Florida Georgia and LSU to ope that season and it shut them all up I was a fan from that point on. That roster was some of my favorite players. Shuler, Garner, Fleming, Hayden. Deron Jenkins and Ben Talley. I think the best WR's we had that year were Corey Fleming and JJ McCleskey. We were stacked in the backfield on a whole other level, 3 rb's on that roster STARTED multiple games at RB in the NFL.

I was hooked and it just never slowed down from there. I can honestly say being a UT fan changed my outlook on the world a lot. As a kid I wanted nothing more than to get the F out of Chattanooga and East TN period. Part of it was college and the Navy but my dedication as a UT fan made me come back and see if what I believed and had been taught was real. I grew up hating the idea of being from east TN because Pulaski is the birthplace of...and everyone in Knoxville wants nothing good for me on sight. I returned as an adult and realized a lot of what I just accepted as fact was not true at all. I can honestly say being a UT fan and having to constantly defend a place I thought (at the time) was indefensible opened my eyes to a lot of things. I grew up 'knowing' things that were not true at all.

So yeah I'm a huge UT fan for life. But, more importantly, being a fan directly opened my eyes to a bigger world. There is a lot of bad out there in the world but it's rarely as cut and dried as you may think.

 

[superdave1984]

Listen, I have red hair, orange really. My options are limited. Syracuse? Nope, Illinois? Not a chance. Clemson? Didn't know they had a team until like 2004. Okie St.? LOL. Texas? Ugly orangey brown, pass.

 

[joevol33]

How many of you are fans of Tennessee NOT because of: living in Tennessee, attending the university, or having family that are Vol fans?

I bet there are some interesting stories out there on how some became Vol fans.

I've shared mine, but... Born and raised in Kentucky for 25 years. Grew up on the state line, Kentucky side of Cumberland Gap. Kentucky basketball fans made me hate Kentucky . All of our channels came out of Knoxville,so I grew up watching more Tennessee stuff anyway. Just fell in love with that beautiful orange.

 

[Notorious B.E.N]

I was a little kid living in Alabama and I became a fan of Heath Shuler, been a fan ever since.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

I was born in Maryland and moved to NE TN in 1982. I just turned 7. I didn’t know anything about college football. My cousin was always a huge TN Vols fan. Fast forward to the 1986 Sugar Bowl when we stomped Miami. He invited a bunch of family over to watch the game. Ever since that game I have been a TN fan.

 

[BADGER_VOL]

Born and raised in Indiana.

No one in my house watched college football and in Indiana you were a Notre dame fan or “whatever” cuz IU and Purdue sucked at the time and still do.

Had two older sisters and they met two “new guys” that had moved from Knoxville and our families became friends. They were great older male role models to me and I idolized them. I was 10 years old at the time.

They were SO passionate about UT football their bedrooms were solid orange and the whole family were hardcore. Fell in love with their passion and declared I was now a UT fan. The boys took me to their room and gave me a pep talk about being loyal to a team. (You can’t make this crap up). They LITERALLY indoctrinated me like it was a cult (not far from the truth lol)

They gave me a few of their old sweatshirts and tshirts and from that day forward I was SO hardcore. Still to this day.

That was back in the Heath Shuler years.

I now live in Wisconsin. I don’t find UT fans up here all that often.

One of those boys ran at Wake Forest the other went to UT and is now a lawyer for the university. They can’t believe I’m still such a hardcore fan.

 

[feathersax]

I've shared mine, but... Born and raised in Kentucky for 25 years. Grew up on the state line, Kentucky side of Cumberland Gap. Kentucky basketball fans made me hate Kentucky . All of our channels came out of Knoxville,so I grew up watching more Tennessee stuff anyway. Just fell in love with that beautiful orange.

And today you live among the GA Dawg fans. That qualifies you for a Smokey Medallion with kitty litter & bulldog meat clusters, joevol33.

 

[VolBallGuy]

Well I think I qualify for this

Plain and simple the colors, so please only play in Orange/White and White/Orange (I dont see Alabama in Green/Yellow or Brown/Cream to attract players, its the tradition and sadly the size of the NIL)

We have a history of grey and black. I love wearing orange most of the time but we didn’t just pull it out of thin air. I have no problem with anyone loving the orange though!

 

[VolForLife83]

Every since I can remember, I have been obsessed with football. When I was about 5/6 years old, I was sitting in the floor in front of the tv "channel surfing" ( old box set tv without a remote) and I came across a football game. I remember seeing these huge guys in helmets and thinking how tough they looked ramming and jumping on each other. I remember asking my grandmother, which raised me, "Nanny how'd their shoulders get so big?" She said "they eat all their food!" It was a poor attempt of many to try and get me to eat more. From that day forward I was all about some football.

A few years later, my grandmother would marry a guy named Larry from Red Bank, Tn. We were born and raised in Georgia and living in Dalton at the time, which has its fair share of Vol fans, but it's still dadgum Dawg country..

Now Larry was a real pos. Drunk, abusive, wouldn't hold a job and constantly in and out of jail. Total opposite of my Papa and why she ever gave him a chance is beyond me. Anyway, this guy was diehard Tennessee and diehard Dale Earnhardt. So I grew up watching a lot of Tennessee football, but never rooted for them. In fact, I was almost a Gator fan just to get under his skin. Although, red WAS my favorite color as a kid and GA was the hometown team, and despite my mother always buying me Ga gear and Herschel Walker posters, I was born to hate those filthy mutts even before I knew why.

Flashforward to my middle school era (mid 90s) I was your typical Cowboys bandwagon fan. Didn't care much about college ball, though it was a staple around the house in the fall. Sometimes, Larry would let me watch the Cowboys, but he was always talking to me about college ball. I grew up watching some of the greatest moments and greatest players in Vol history and didn't think much of it. I even told Larry I was a Nebraska fan once lol.

It wasn't until around 1999-2000 when I really started paying attention to Tennessee football and taking an interest of my own. We had finally escaped Larry and was living in a little town called Cohutta, Ga. We didn't have cable there at the time and my source of entertainment was newspapers and whatever the rabbit ears picked up on tv. So through the week I read a lot about Tennessee in the newspapers and slowly fell in love with the Tennessee and some guy named Casey Clausen. As much as I hated Larry, it just felt right. It felt familiar, it was full circle. It wasn't long until I started following along on tv and haven't missed a game in nearly 25 years.

I found out ol Larry passed away a few years ago and even with all my hate for that man, I couldn't help but wonder through our good years how proud he must have been and how shocked I become a VFL.

 

[volfromyouth]

I grew up in Southern California and had never watched a football game, pro or college until my cousin came for a visit and wanted to watch a game. It must have been bowl season because college football games from other regions were not broadcast locally except at year end. I don’t remember much, but I was drawn in by the excitement of the crowd and the exploits of a running back by the name of Johnny Majors. Because of the limited viewing options during the regular season I was a USC sr. fan during the heady years when they seemed to dominate college football. However my heart was knit to UT football and would scour the the newspaper at year end to see if UT was playing and would make every effort to watch. Then in 1982 I moved with my wife and children to Kingsport. A good friend from our church had season tickets and invited my wife and me to go to a game at Neyland. As engaging as my introduction to UT football was as a child, being present only added to my enthusiasm. I have remained a fan through good years and disappointing ones. Therefore when I signed up for Volnation I selected volfromyouth as my screen name. This is my first post, though I read regularly.

 

[Vol524]

My Mom says when I was about 4 years old, I saw a Vols football game on TV. She said I watched it closer than cartoons. She could not get over how focused I was. After that, I was hooked. That Christmas I got a TN coat as a gift. She said I wore it everywhere until I outgrew it. Heck, I even slept in it. I went to school there because I never considered any other place. I am not a Vol fan, it is much more than being a fan. I was a VFL long before it had a name. GO VOLS!!!!!!!

 

[VFL-82-JP]

Love reading the "birth" stories in this thread. There are about as many ways to become a Vol fan as there are Vol fans, it seems.

None cooler or quirkier than London picking the lads because they share colours* with his soccer team.

Go Vols!



* British spelling intentional.

 

[dieseldaddy]

Born and raised West Tennessee boy. Never knew anything else but UT and Stl. Cardinals as I grew up. I have fond memories of the 89 and 90 teams. Still feel we were the best team those two years but lost to the gumps. That started my life long love for UT and my unadulterated hate for all thing bama. God ,I hate bama. I remember we were doing states in school 3rd or 4th grade, I had a gump for a teacher. Refused to capitalize either montgomry or alabama. She ask me why I would capitalize all the other states but not alabama. I remember I said we don't do that in my house.

 

[Boca Vol]

These are some great stories! Thanks to all for sharing.

 

[GameTime]

When I was a young boy my mother ran/owned a restaurant in downtown Knoxville....I spent a lot of time there helping with whatever I could do to help... One of her workers (named Chandler) was a huge UT fan.....He showed me a book of the 51 Vols National Champions making perfect blocks on I believe Alabama....His face glowed with pride when he explained the power of the pictures to me....

Mom let me go to a UT game with the guy (he was cool), strictly a UT fan and a great guy....He was dressed in orange, when not a lot of people were all dressed in orange...He had even painted his face and parts of his torso with actual real orange paint...Had a hell of a time getting it off....My mom took paint thinner and got most of it off poor ole Chan....He glowed red after mom scrubbed him and told him he was nuts, but a hell of a good worker and a great UT fan.

At the game, the continuous roar of the crowd, the powerful runs to daylight, and the excitement of just being there, hooked me as a UT fan like a Cherokee Lake Big Mouth Bass. I was a fan from that day forward!

When Chan died, I attended his funeral and some of the fans we set with at the game, when I was a little guy, were also there ....Of course, in between tears, we all shared a few Chan stories... During his eulogy, the speaker spoke of Chans' great love for anything UT; especially the football program..

I'm sure Chan enjoyed yesterday's baseball game too...