Happy Valentine’s Day To My Love, Football

Happy Valentine’s Day. I hope that your day is full of flowers, chocolates, and craftily written greeting cards that make you smile. How am I celebrating the holiday? Writing my love story with the game of football of course. 

I love football. I know, that may be shocking to some, but it’s true. I’ve always loved football. So, how did I develop this marriage with America’s sport that’s lasted for nearly fifty years? Let’s get into it. 

From the Coal Camp to Commonwealth

My earliest childhood memories of Kentucky Football are from the 1970s. My family lived in a trailer just outside of a coal mine that was located in Letcher County. My dad, Big Fred, would load us up in his coal-dust-covered Bronco along with the Creech family before embarking on the four-hour trek to Lexington to watch the Cats play the football game.

We’d leave super early, like four in the morning early. Back then, the vast majority of kickoffs were at one o’clock. The adults in the vehicle were adamant about being the first ones in the parking lot in order to watch the Cats depart the bus as they entered Commonwealth Stadium. A bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken always accompanied, regardless of the kickoff time. In ways, we started what’s developed into the modern-day Cat Walk. Or so we like to think and say to each other. 

I’d get Derrick Ramsey’s autograph before and after the game. He was my favorite player and I’d paint his No. 12 on my t-shirts when playing backyard football. There wasn’t UK-related merchandise in those days. Our journey back to the mountains always included a stop at Jerry’s where I’d get the J-Boy plate. Jerry’s slaw and crackers were delicious. 

My formative years in elementary and junior high were the same. My dad would haul me and Chris Hernandez, Ricky Craig, and Lance Jones to Commonwealth Stadium on Saturdays. We thought we were cooler then, and at times, got a little too big for our britches. I made the unforgivable sin of announcing that I was for Georgia when the Dawgs visited Commonwealth Stadium because I was a huge Hershel Walker fan. That proclamation was greeted with a screeching halt in the Bronco and a “verbal” correction by Big Fred. I never made that mistake again, trust me. But, we did sneak down by the visitor’s tunnel and saw Hershel wearing a half-shirt and his game pants. That was a thrill and a rare off-field glimpse at the bigger-than-life superstar. Jerry’s was still the go-to postgame meal. 

A Community Event That’s No More 

Playing the game was always fun for me. I loved the physicality, speed, and strategy. But, what I loved the most was winning and my teammates. Cumberland was good in those days. I’m often asked about my fondest athletic moment. Most expect me to say beating Georgia twice or LSU, or something to that effect. But, they’d be wrong. My favorite football moment came as an eighth grader in Harlan County, Kentucky. 

Cumberland Junior High was an absolute powerhouse. We dropped a rare regular season game to Wallins 38-8 that year. The loss was a shock and came with ramifications. I remember that score because Coach Gluck wrote “38-8” on a piece of tape and stuck it on our helmets for the remainder of the season. We just didn’t lose games, not in football. We met back up with Wallins in the Harlan County championship game at the season’s end. Cumberland rolled that night and we brought the big trophy back to the Tri-Cities after a celebratory meal at Druthers. The triumphant bus ride home with my dudes is my fondest athletic memory, ever. “Us” beat “Them.” In your face, Purple Devils. 

Playing high school football was awesome. We made it to the state title game a couple of times. Cumberland played against Heath in the championship in old Cardinal Stadium my senior season. We rode school buses to the Ville, every other team rode charter buses. We didn’t care nor did most of us have the proper shoes to play on turf. The planes flying over the field close to the airport were the coolest thing about that trip. That, and we stayed at a hotel. Most of us had never seen a plane that close. Most of us had never seen an airport, quite honestly. I regress, sorry. 

I broke my arm in the first quarter but I played the rest of the game. No way in hades that I’d let my team down. I did. Our running back Kevin Rhinehart was also dealing with concussion issues. We lost. That memory haunts me to this day. All I dreamed about growing up was bringing one of those state championship road signs to my hometown. That failure is a haunting, deep regret. 

Sadly, consolidation ate up my beloved alma mater. Kids from the Tri-Cities now attend Harlan County High School. Our small-town, community events that took place on magical Friday nights are no more. That’s incredibly sad to me. I can remember the smell of the coal-burning stoves scattered throughout the sky at Harold Schrout Memorial Stadium. Coal miners would attend our games either after work where their faces would be covered in coal dust or before going into mines on the third shift. I can remember the smell of the dirt, not grass, on our home field. Lines would be painted in the mud and quickly disappear because we practiced on the game field due to no other available flat ground. I loved that stadium, the sounds of Pee Wee Cornett on the loudspeaker, my teammates, coaches, you name it; I loved it. Nothing quite like that ever existed for me again. 

My love for high school football remains with me today. It’s just the best. There’s nothing quite like Friday nights in the Commonwealth. I’m blessed that Kroger and KSR allow me to cover a game on a weekly basis. High school football, or in its purest form, is the last time that football is truly an “Us vs. Them” occasion. The traditions and community uniqueness throughout the state make high school football games a wonderful experience for all that are involved. Stories that will be told for a lifetime are written on Fridays. Legends are made. Towns and counties come together for a couple of hours. I love it. 

College football is different. It just is. The “Us vs. Them” mentality can be missing in certain situations. Nike comes into play. Today, NIL and the Transfer Portal dominate the landscape. It can get tiring. But, I still love college football.  I always try to be honest with you and I’m doing so now. My adoration for college football is sadly and slowly dampening. I’m all for players getting paid and that they can freely move about, to a certain extent. Heck, I wish I could have gotten some of that cash too. But the combination of the Portal and NIL in such a condensed format is making the college game less of an obsession and more of a job to me if that makes sense. But, I still love it. I’ll remain doing my job on this website and do so with passion and dedication. Relationships have ups and downs. 

College football was fun to play but very stressful. My first start at Kentucky came against Indiana. The Hoosiers were ranked and had a Heisman Trophy candidate in running back Anthony Thompson. They’d beat us the year prior and anticipation of the rematch steadily built up over the summer. UK vs. IU was also a heated football rivalry back then. We wore t-shirts that read, “We are going to lock the gates and kick their —.” That was a quote from the IU coach the year prior. There was no love between the teams or fan bases. 

Game day was emotional for me. I can remember standing outside our team hotel watching the cars exit off I-75 onto Athens Road with the UK flags waving in the wind. Butterflies subsisted, but not for me. I was anxious to make sure that folks back home had something to be proud of on that day. One of “Us” was quarterbacking the Cats. I took that responsibility extremely seriously. I never looked at it from a “Me” perspective. 

After all that build-up and nostalgia, I threw two, first-half interceptions. Imagine that. I sat alone on the bench after the second pick and said to myself, “I’m not going out like this.” I played okay down the stretch but our defense saved the day by stopping Thompson on the one-yard line on a fourth-and-goal to seal the win. The victory formation play that occurred after is still poignant to think about today. We’d done it. “We” meaning all the folks from back home. We meaning my teammates. We meaning UK fans. That’s pure love. 

Back to the now. College football is a business. I get it.  I’m trying my best to sustain my love for today’s game. There’s still a great deal of pageantry and circumstance on Saturdays that give me chilly bumps (Hat tip to Ryan Lemond). The Cat Walk is one of my favorite happenings. The Toyota “Lift Them Up” push car that Luke Fortner and Chris Hernandez developed is the highlight of my game day experience. I also love the tunnel exits, music, and the sound of a happy home crowd resonating beyond the walls of Kroger Field. “My Old Kentucky Home” makes me cry every time. I love a well-designed play call that results in a Red Zone touchdown. I love it when my Wildcats win. I hurt with them when they lose. Love is tricky like that. 

Why do I love football so much? It’s the ultimate team sport. I’m a team guy. Always have been, always will be. Every play takes all eleven participants to be successful. There’s a chivalry aspect that fancies me as well. I greatly admire the romanticism of an offensive line moving grown men out of the way for a running back to gain a first down. Pads popping on a hard tackle is also a sound that gets me going every time. It’s just the greatest game. 

But mostly I love how football brings players together from differing backgrounds and stories. I love the huddle. Coach Bill Curry’s take on the Huddle is a must-watch on YouTube. I loved calling plays in the huddle while holding hands with Andy Murray and Kurt Johnson. Andy was from Louisville Trinity; Kurt was a Paducah Tilghman Blue Tornado. I loved handing the football off to Alfred Rawls from Pitts, Georgia, or Al Baker from Cadiz, Kentucky. My love for my teammates is a passion that I still carry today. I take my role as a team captain to heart and try to connect my teammates on the current state of Kentucky Football and other goings on. In my eyes, teammate is an ageless, eternal designation. 

Happy Valentine’s Day. I hope your day is filled with love and peace.

Football state.