University of Tennessee Athletics
Tennessee Visits Texas Scottish Rite Hospital
December 28, 2004 | Football
Dec. 28, 2004
Dallas - The University of Tennessee players and head coach Phillip Fulmer took time out of their hectic bowl schedule to visit children at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital on Monday.
Fulmer and over 40 Volunteer players spent more than an hour visiting patient rooms while signing hats and posters. The patients received gift bags provided by Dr Pepper Bottling Company of Texas and teddy bears donated by Bank of America. Sanford provided Sharpies for autographs.
In a week filled with SBC Cotton Bowl activities, Fulmer said visiting Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children is one of the highlights for his team.
"This event is one of our favorites as a team," said Fulmer. "We've brought a good portion of the team and all of the captains are here. To me, this event is the highlight of the whole week because you get a chance to put a smile on a young person's face. In the middle of the busy schedule that we have here trying to prepare for a game, it is great to also enjoy the hospitality of the SBC Cotton Bowl."
Senior linebacker and co-captain Kevin Burnett took the opportunity to say thank you by signing autographs and taking pictures with the children.
"You never loose track of what is important," said Burnett. "Although we play football for a living and we play football to have fun, you can't ever forget to give back to those who are less fortunate and those who are our fans, the people who cheer you on every Saturday. We have around 100,000 people in our stadium but around the country we have a lot more who are watching us so this is our way of saying thank you."
All-American junior offensive tackle Michael Munoz said the event helped to put things into perspective for his team.
"Being down here at the Cotton Bowl is a great opportunity for us," said Munoz. "We've been given so many things, and we're happy to spend just a little bit of our day to come down and spend time with these kids. It really puts everything into perspective about what's important."
