University of Tennessee Athletics
Here's Johnny! Majors Speaks To Media
September 15, 2012 | Football
Sept. 15, 2012
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - After having his No. 45 jersey retired by the Volunteers, Tennessee legend Johnny Majors held a halftime press conference with the media during Saturday's game between No. 23 Tennessee and No. 18 Florida at Neyland Stadium.
Majors said that Saturday was one of the greatest days of his life and he was truly moved by the retirement of his No. 45 after his long relationship with Tennessee as an All-American player in the 1950s and later its head coach from 1977-92.
"I really haven't had time to assess to how to compare it," Majors said. "I had an inkling, a good idea that it would occur, but it had not been officially secured until this morning. I was called by Dave Hart at about 9:30 and I was very excited. I've been pretty much on a high and I haven't been smoking anything or drinking anything. But I've seriously been pretty much on a high these last few days when I thought there was a chance this would happen."
For Majors, walking through the gates of Neyland Stadium brought back a rush of fond memories he had as a player and coach for the Orange and White.
" I'm thinking of my first two or three runs of my first scrimmage here," he said. "General Neyland was sitting in the stands and yelling, `Who's number 15?' He probably didn't think I could play big-time football. I wanted to since I could remember. My first memory was that I wanted to play big-time football."
Click on the video above and check out what Coach Majors had to say about being honored on Saturday!
