Re: What is it that makes you a Texas fan?
Like many of you, I was pretty much born into it. My grandmother got her degree from UT in the mid 40's, Dad was on the Track & Field team from 68-70, and met my mom at the Texas Relays a few years later. Mom was a freshman PE major at the time.
I pretty much grew up going to every home game from the time I was 5, we also went to the games in Houston when Texas was playing Rice or UH. I remember wanting to be Eric Metcalf, and going to the Letterman's round-up each year and getting to meet Earl Campbell and those guys was a dream come true. After each game, Milkman Dan and I would beg my parents to take us to Rooster Andrews so we could get a t-shirt or a hat. I wore #60 in high school, because I was a linebacker, and that's the number that any decent linebacker in Texas should want to wear.
Just like my dad, I spent a few years in the Navy before going to UT and trying out for a team. I didn't know what my chances were of getting on the squad, but I knew that if I didn't at least try out I would regret it for the rest of my life. I survived the 2 day try-out process and made the squad with about 18 other guys. Only myself and 3 others from that group finished with degrees, letters, and T-Rings.
While at school, I also met my wife Wendy. She was one of the first members of the UT crew team, and she is also a Letter winner at UT. There is a pretty unique story about how we met. Mom and Dad met at the shot-put ring one the eastern side of the south end-zone at the Texas Relays in the early 70's. The current location of the weight room is in the western corner of the south end zone. Wendy and I met about 75 feet from where my parents first met. That's pretty wild.
My son, Cole, is probably the only person that I know who has more Orange blood than I do. Both of his parents were UT jocks, and he is named after a UT football player. He went to his first UT game (the Texas/Michigan Rose Bowl) before his first birthday, and he loved it. I can't wait to take him to the letterman's round-ups when he gets a little older. If his mom has anything to say about it, he will keep the athletic tradition alive.
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