Thoughts After My Last Game at DKR (as a student)

During the last minutes of the Kansas game, my friend and I snuck down to the railing, and congratulated my fellow seniors walking the field afterward. As I left, I turned to look at the field. I had watched so many incredible things happen there over the past four years. It was really hard to leave.

I will remember the bright lights of DKR during night games, how uncomfortable it is to wear body paint in 100 degree weather (and how I didn't care), the roar of the crowd in the pouring rain, the smell of the grass, the uncontrollable rocking of the bleachers, finally getting on the Godzillatron, the Texas sun scorching my face, screaming Texas Fight at the top of my lungs, and watching the tower light up after a win.

I will remember the uncontainable joy of victory, and the painful humility of defeat.

I will remember my fellow EMTs, including my fellow students, who volunteer and staff every game, rain or shine. They are a fantastic group of people, and if you see one in the bleachers next year, be sure to thank them.

Most of all - I will remember the friends that I have made. Texas football is not something you experience alone, ever. Every time you set foot into the stadium, there will always remain the legacy of those before you, and as students it has been our responsibility since our first game as freshmen at the University of Texas to honor that legacy and to add our own to it. I'm proud of the legacy I have left here, and I hope all the incoming freshmen will pick up where we, the seniors, have left off – spilling over with the raw, uncontrollable emotion that comes with undying love for Texas football.

I have taken my last steps into and out of DKR as a student. I have been privileged enough to watch a team rife with inexperience develop into what I believe is the best football team in the country. I feel fortunate to have watched one of the greatest quarterbacks in college football exhaust his four years of eligibility and pour every fiber of his being into the game he loves. As a graduating senior, I feel connected to this team in a large way. Maybe that’s intertwined into nature of college football – I don’t know how seniors from other schools feel. However – despite the fact that I’m leaving Austin just a few months like many of my friends, whether I’m sitting with the hordes of alumni and fans on the west side or watching on TV from a fold up chair, a piece of me will always be in Section 27, Row 18, Seat 34. And home is where the heart is, right?

I am damn proud to be a Texas Longhorn, and that will never change.

Hook ‘em, Class of 2009 and 2010.