University of Tennessee Athletics
A Tip Of The Cap . . . And Gown
September 21, 2007 | Football
It???s probably the one thing the average fan hears about the least during a football player???s career at Tennessee. But it is the reason they are on campus and the key to a successful future for most of them.
It???s not helmets and shoulder pads, but textbooks and term papers.
Ten current and former Tennessee football players achieved something in the spring and summer of 2007 that is often forgotten in today???s college football world. They earned a degree.
Brad Cottam, Ben Greene, Antwan Stewart, Ian Vinson, David Yancey, Omari Hand and Eddie Moore all received their diplomas in May. Stephen Darville, Bill Grimes and Jesse Turnbow received theirs in August.
???I'm very proud of the students that are graduating," said Fernandez West, interim director of the Thornton Center. "They have worked hard off the field to earn their degrees and now have earned the distinction of being University of Tennessee Alumni. They should be very proud of their accomplishments."
These alumni???s academic profiles are as varied as the men themselves. The 10 players left the undergraduate classroom with degrees in eight different disciplines, including majors such as legal studies, world business and nuclear engineering.
Six of the graduates played their last season of college football in 2006, and then stayed on campus and finished school.
???I stayed because I felt like I would be leaving loose ends if I didn???t,??? said Stewart, who now works in sports training in Nashville. ???I went to Tennessee to play football and get my degree. When football was over, I didn???t have my degree, so it was an easy decision for me to stay through the spring semester and finish.???
There are also two graduates on the 2007 playing squad, Cottam and holder Casey Woods, who graduated in 2006 and receives his master???s degree in December.
The other members of the class are former players who returned to campus to obtain their degrees long after completing their athletic eligibility. Eddie Moore, who was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in 2003, came back to Knoxville to complete his sociology degree after an injury left him on the sidelines for the 2007 NFL season. Omari Hand, who left Tennessee for the NFL after the 2002 season, returned for his civil engineering degree. Jesse Turnbow, a defensive tackle for the Vols from 1975-77, returned to UT and earned a degree in Africana studies.
Moore, Hand and Turnbow returned through Tennessee???s Renewing Academic Commitment (RAC) program, which allows former athletes to re-enroll at UT and use all of the resources available to current athletes in an effort to obtain their degree.
???It is a great program that they have,??? Moore said. ???They offer to facilitate you coming back and getting your degree. I know with the NCAA and the APR thing now that it is more common for schools to do this, but Tennessee was helping guys before all of that. In most cases, if an athlete came back to school, they would just be a student. I felt privileged to have all of the things the current athletes have.???
The motivations for the guys returning through the RAC program are likely varied, but Moore returned because obtaining a degree was the reason he came to college in the first place.
???It was a goal I set for myself when I first signed to play football at Tennessee,??? Moore said. ???I wish I could have graduated when I was there the first time, but it didn???t work out. I wanted to keep the promise to myself and achieve the goal I had set, so I came back.???
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The football team alone has three advisors who work with each player to make sure his academic studies do not take a back seat to football.?? Woods, who soon will have two degrees in five years on campus, knows exactly how important the academic support is for football players.
???It is an incredible tool,??? Woods said, ???It is a great place for us to go. They have really tried to make it as convenient as possible for us to get our school work done. The resources there are a help around the clock.???
In addition to the 10 graduates mentioned, 17 more current and former football players are scheduled to graduate in December. Among them are Erik Ainge, Jerod Mayo, Jarod Parrish and Inky Johnson. Two of them are RAC program enrollees -- Cody Douglas and Maurice Stayley.
???I am excited to graduate,??? Parrish said. ???It is an accomplishment I will be very proud of. Being from a small town, it???s nice for me to be able go back there with a degree. I???ll finish my exercise science degree in December, and then if football doesn???t work out, I will work on going to pharmacy school.???
Parrish is a prime example of what makes graduation an accomplishment worth celebrating for Tennessee football players. Whether they were academic-minded when they arrived on campus or not, they will conclude their playing careers prepared for success in life after football.
???When you win a big football game, you have to turn around next week and do it again,??? Stewart said. ???When you earn your degree, that is it. You have it forever. We played 12 or 13 football games a year and you graduate once or twice in a lifetime. Unlike when you win a big game, that sense of accomplishment doesn???t go away the next day.???
As 10 players found out this year, the sense of pride they felt for graduating rivals any feeling they could attain in helmets and shoulder pads.??????
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