The History of Wide Receiver U

#1
Daloth

Daloth

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#1
Would any knowledgeable college and UT fans be able to explain when we started being called WRU by large groups of people, if there was a team that did it, several guys in the NFL, or what. Also, what other schools have laid claim to the title, both in the past and in recent years. Trying to educate a fan of another school that claims "Only Tennessee fans think TN is WRU." I should mention he's a Texas fan. I figured it would be much easier to hear from people who know from seeing it as it happened or know a lot about college football history than just googling it all and spouting random pages I find.

Thanks :hi:
 
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#2
#2
I remember it with the Willie Gault, Tim McGee and "deleted name" years. We had good receivers prior but that is the way I recall it.
 
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#3
#3
Daloth said:
Would any knowledgeable college and UT fans be able to explain when we started being called WRU by large groups of people, if there was a team that did it, several guys in the NFL, or what. Also, what other schools have laid claim to the title, both in the past and in recent years. Trying to educate a fan of another school that claims "Only Tennessee fans think TN is WRU." I should mention he's a Texas fan. I figured it would be much easier to hear from people who know from seeing it as it happened or know a lot about college football history than just googling it all and spouting random pages I find.

Thanks :hi:
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Can't listen to him. I know who your talking about. He's the type of guy that roots against who everyone else likes just to be different. Tell TB FSU isn't WRU either.
 
#4
#4
thebjd said:
I remember it with the Willie Gault, Tim McGee and Stanley Morgan years. We had good receivers prior but that is the way I recall it.
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Stanley Morgan was primarily a RB at UT, became an all-pro WR in the NFL. Seivers, Gault, McGee, Harper, Pickens, Miller..... long list of great SEC WRs, many of whom went on to very good/great NFL careers.
 
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#5
#5
Justin Hunter & Cordarrelle Patterson recently. Before that there was Stanley Morgan, Willie Gault, Alvin Harper, Anthony Miller, Carl Pickens, Joey Kent, Marcus Nash, Donte Stallworth, Peerless Price and Robert Meachem. Pretty good group I would say.
 
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#6
#6
I think an article came out a few months ago that showed we do actually put out the most WR's can't remember when the term WRU started. But as for you friend, ask him how would know with Texas only putting 3 offensive players in the draft since 2009 and none were above the 3rd round.
 
#8
#8
First time I remember it was in the late 80s after Sievers, Morgan, Hancock, Gault, McGee and during the time when Harper, Pickens and Anthony Morgan were here. I think I remember it being on a media guide with all the WRs on the cover....maybe in 1990.
 
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#10
#10
The names mentioned above were near the beginning. Probably, the original was Richmond Flowers. The key to WRU was the marriage of our football team to one of the best track programs in the country. The WRs were track stars. Put them on the field together, and nobody could cover them. If "they were even, they were leavin'. The track coach was as much a part of WRU as was the football coach. Chuck Rohe and Stan Huntsman were the daddies of WRU. Rohe won 15 consecutive SEC track titles. Huntsman picked up the baton when Rohe left. Why am I old enough to remember this.
 
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#11
#11
KBVol said:
Stanley Morgan was primarily a RB at UT, became an all-pro WR in the NFL. Seivers, Gault, McGee, Harper, Pickens, Miller..... long list of great SEC WRs, many of whom went on to very good/great NFL careers.
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True. It was post Seivers and Morgan though Morgan was a star in the NFL in the 80's. It was in the 80's with Gault, Miller, McGee, Harper, Pickens when the nickname started.
 
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#12
#12
thebjd said:
True. It was post Seivers and Morgan though Morgan was a star in the NFL in the 80's. It was in the 80's with Gault, Miller, McGee, Harper, Pickens when the nickname started.
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I can remember when I was a kid and they had the whole "Orange Lightning" thing when Gault, Hancock, Miller were around in the early 80s. But I think you're right, the actual WRU stuff was at least late 80s.
 
#13
#13
ESPN has even called us "Wide Receiver U" so it's not just a Tennessee fan thing.
 
#14
#14
KBVol said:
Stanley Morgan was primarily a RB at UT, became an all-pro WR in the NFL. Seivers, Gault, McGee, Harper, Pickens, Miller..... long list of great SEC WRs, many of whom went on to very good/great NFL careers.
Click to expand...

There you go you hit the nail right on the head
 
#15
#15
Daloth said:
Would any knowledgeable college and UT fans be able to explain when we started being called WRU by large groups of people, if there was a team that did it, several guys in the NFL, or what. Also, what other schools have laid claim to the title, both in the past and in recent years. Trying to educate a fan of another school that claims "Only Tennessee fans think TN is WRU." I should mention he's a Texas fan. I figured it would be much easier to hear from people who know from seeing it as it happened or know a lot about college football history than just googling it all and spouting random pages I find.

Thanks :hi:
Click to expand...

I think WRU had its routes way back in the 1960's when Johnny Mills and Richmond Flowers were All Americans. These two were followed by Larry Seivers, Stanley Morgan, Willie Gault, Alvin Harper, Tim McGee, Carl Pickens, Joey Kent, Marcus Nash, Donte Stallworth, Peerless Price, Bobby Meacham and recently Justin Hunter and Cordorrell Patterson. All these guys were game breakers and fortunately for the most part, had very good quarterbacks to throw to them!

Other schools IMO that could lay claim to WRU are Florida and USC.

It may interest you to know that along with Penn State, Tennessee was also known in the 60's and early 70's as Linebacker U with the likes of Paul Naumoff, Jack Reynolds, Steve Kiner, Jackie Walker, Craig Puki and others.

Go Vols!!
 
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#17
#17
thebjd said:
True. It was post Seivers and Morgan though Morgan was a star in the NFL in the 80's. It was in the 80's with Gault, Miller, McGee, Harper, Pickens when the nickname started.
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Just setting the record straight on Morgan. People always seem to include him as a great WR and charter member of WRU at UT, but he was primarily a RB.

Seivers was the first great WR I recall at UT so I included him. The string of great WRs beginning in the mid to late 80s at UT was amazing.
 
#18
#18
Various schools over the years laid claim or were labeled as WRU. I recall reading a year or so ago, an article that gave the origin of the term. It seems that 2-3 eastern schools were the first to hold this title. I just can't recall which but none were Tennessee. And I think they were all what you'd call smaller schools. In any case, I did find the following site that might prove informative: Scout.com: Receiver U. - The Best College WR Schools
 
#19
#19
casetopia said:
Justin Hunter & Cordarrelle Patterson recently. Before that there was Stanley Morgan, Willie Gault, Alvin Harper, Anthony Miller, Carl Pickens, Joey Kent, Marcus Nash, Donte Stallworth, Peerless Price and Robert Meachem. Pretty good group I would say.
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You forgot Denarius Moore!!!
 
#20
#20
I thought I read somewhere that Jimmy Johnson called us WRU once back in the day and that's when it took off as an unofficial nickname
 
#21
#21
Thanks for all the help guys. Being born in the early 90's means I've not seen most of these guys play. I've heard of them all because of my father being a UT fan since the 50's, but never got to see any of them play really.
 
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