Who is the biggest over-achieving Vol in history?

#153
#153
LWSVOL said:
JJ McCleskey. A walk-on who started at WR and CB for the Vols. A walk-on who spent 8 years in the NFL.
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Hands down JJ. I played intramural football against JJ and his floor team from Reese Hall. Never in a million years figured he'd play for the Vols and then spend 8 yrs in the NFL. Crazy.
 
#155
#155
jason3713 said:
Difference in White and Jones . Chris was a scholarship player straight out of High school . Dale didn't have many offers I'm aware of and had to go the juco route . Both great guys and I consider both good friends. Dale was the over achieve because he wasn't suppose to be a college football player . His whole career was an over achievement .
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People forget that Chris White was an all-state QB and an incredible athlete...and always was...He could throw it about 60-65 yds...but he told me that early on when Gault and Hancock were there that he'd take his drop and throw the ball as hard and as far as possible--but it didn't matter...Gault and Hancock still had to almost stop and wait on it...and it wasn't just him, it was the others, too. Majors would go off *****ing about it...

If I remember correctly, Jones spent 1 year at the now defunct Tenn. Military Institute (or academy)...He did have an offer from MTSU out of HS, but didn't take it--or that was the rumor back in the day at BCHS.

Can't remember where Dale went after that for sure, but I think Tennessee signed him out of TMI....didn't he burst a blood vessel in his thigh in his first year at UT and took another year to recover??...By the time he hit the field against Pitt and Bill Fralic in his first game in '83 he was 20 or 21 years old....I also think he made the first 3 tackles of that game...

Anyway--it was always fun watching him play the game. :salute:
 
#157
#157
Jeff Powell. Transferred from William & Mary as a track guy. Walked on the football team. Played behind the likes of Charles Wilson, Keith Davis, and William Howard. Became the star of the '86 Sugar Bowl. Made the San Diego Chargers roster after being drafted and traded by Chicago.
 
#160
#160
CroKev said:
Was Bill Bates that much sought after in HS?
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Yes, he was no unknown, he was a coveted recruit from Farragut. I was living in Knoxville at the time. I remember Joe Thompson who used to team with Tim Priest on the radio saying he hoped we'd get Bates just for his punt returning alone ... and he didn't even go on to be reknowned as a punt returner, but more a more a big-hitting db. So, "over-achiever" he was not, but a good athlete who had a good career, as expected.
 
#162
#162
Bill Duff...also Micky Allen comes to mind as he made under appreciated big plays during our NC year
 
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#165
#165
We are on page 11 of this thread. Why am I the first to nominate Andy Spiva? He still holds our records for most tackles.

I guess he's faded out of memory after dying in that car crash years ago 😢
 
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