University of Tennessee Athletics
Vols Visit Children's Hospital in Dallas
December 29, 2000 | Football
DALLAS - The Tennessee Volunteers took time away from of their preparation for the Southwestern Bell Cotton Bowl to visit Children's Medical Center of Dallas Thursday afternoon.
Head coach Phillip Fulmer and his players spent an hour touring the hospital's main building while visiting every inpatient room. "I think this is a great gesture on the Cotton Bowl's part," Fulmer said. "We're delighted to be apart of helping make a young person's day a little bit better.
"This gives the youngsters a chance to look up to a group of athletes that are obviously recognized around the country. It gives our athletes a chance to feel good about giving back to the community and raises their awareness of just how fortunate they are."
The Volunteer players were split into eight groups and went from room-to-room signing autographs and giving Tennessee hats and posters to the children.
"This is a great opportunity to get your mind off of football," senior wide receiver Cedrick Wilson said. "It's a very important time to give back. You see little children who are less fortunate than you are, and you just want to show them how important they are to you."
Tennessee follows in a long line of Cotton Bowl invitees that have visited Children's Medical Center.
"It's just great to see college athletes involved in the community and really gives the kids something to aspire to," Children's Medical Center Child Life Specialist Seana Zientek said. "It gives them hope for what is possible both academically and athletically."
The Volunteers had just completed their second day of practice at Southern Methodist University before heading over the Children's Medical Center.
"This is more important than practice or any of these other great events surrounding the game," senior punter David Leaverton said. "We play a game, and this game is called football. That's all it is - just a game. "People here are struggling for just another day to live. By us coming here, we just want to show them that we care about how they are doing and wish them the best and give them our prayers."
Tennessee will meet Kansas State in the Southwestern Bell Cotton Bowl on Monday at 10 a.m. The game will be televised by FOX Sports.
