University of Tennessee Athletics
Local Seniors Make Remarkable Memories
November 19, 2014 | Football
Nov. 19, 2014
By Brian Rice
UTSports.com
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.
-- Derrick Brodus and Jacob Giliam came to Tennessee under similar circumstances. When they run through the T for the final time Saturday night, they will each take with them incredible memories, each with one of the more remarkable stories in Vol lore.Both players came from Knoxville-area schools to walk on for the program that they had cheered for their whole lives. Brodus famously came off his couch to hit a field goal and three extra points against MTSU in 2011, while Gilliam refused to let a torn ACL in his first start at Tennessee end his career.
Brodus, from Maryville, made headlines for his first ever action at Tennessee, a day that included a frantic phone call, a police escort and a standing ovation upon his arrival.
"It's pretty incredible, it's something that is going to live with me forever," Brodus said. "That's not something that happens very often and the fact that I was able to come out and perform and help the team win was pretty amazing."
Brodus entered the MTSU game as the third placekicker on the Tennessee depth chart, meaning he wasn't on the dress list. He was not even in the stadium. Michael Palardy, the starter, had been injured in practice on Thursday and was ruled out during warmups. Moments later, backup Chip Rhome pulled a muscle getting loose. The call went out to get Brodus, his uniform arrived from the complex about the same time he did with a police escort.
The only other time he had kicked on Shields-Watkins Field was the Orange and White game the previous spring, but there we was five minutes into the game to attempt an extra point after a Tauren Poole TD run. It was right down the middle, as were his other two PAT tries and a 21-yard field goal on the final play of the first half.
Broudus would start three games in 2012 and tied the Tennessee record for most kicking points in a game with 17 against Akron on 4-of-4 field goals and 5-of-5 on PATs. From his couch to the record book, quite the journey for a walk-on.
"Being a walk-on to being able to be the starting kicker, it's kind of hard to do that, especially here at the University of Tennessee," Brodus said. "It's been an honor and a privilege to be here."
Gilliam's rise from a walk-on to a starting job did not have the same dramatic flair. Instead, it was four years of grinding that landed him first a scholarship for his redshirt senior season, then a starting spot on Tennessee's rebuilt offensive line. The drama came next.
The Farragut native made the first start of his career in the season opener against Utah State. But less than three quarters later, he was down on the turf with a knee injury. He knew it was serious, that the dream was on the verge of being a nightmare.
A torn ACL was the diagnosis and the announcement was made that he would have surgery and be out for the season. Because of his prior redshirt year, a sixth season of eligibility was not an appeal he was likely to win. He put off the surgery, strapped on an extra brace and dove into rehab, including running three weeks after the injury. A week later, he was back in pads.
"Probably the day after the injury, he said, `Coach I will be back,' and he has kind of willed himself to being back. I said, `Let's take it one day at a time and we'll see.' He was adamant with our team doctors and our trainers, and has done a great job of really following their instructions of rehabilitation and working his way back."
He wanted to be back out there with his team, but he was also learning a lot about life from the football field.
"Every day is a blessing, first and foremost," Gilliam said. "Everything I'm able to do out here is something that God has allowed me to do. It's for a reason, I definitely believe that, whether it's to reach people, to affect my teammates or somebody else.
"What happened to me was unfortunate, but it's a good example of you just can't let stuff stop you. You can't let big events like that that get you down because, if you do, you'll never learn how to overcome those and that's part of life. I feel like I've learned a very important life lesson about how to just say no to failure and no to giving up."
He was back on the field at Ole Miss and back in the starting lineup when Tennessee hosted Alabama.
Jones had been skeptical that a player could come back to play at an SEC level with an injury that puts most players on the shelf, but ultimately, he was not surprised at what Gilliam was able to do.
"Knowing him, when he laid on that ground in Neyland Stadium, he was determined at that point in time to get back," Jones said. "It's a great illustration that when you're determined to do something, you put your mind to do something, you can usually accomplish it."
As a Tennessee man, wearing the orange meant so much, Gilliam could not imagine not fighting for every moment on the field. Moments he will carry for the rest of his life.
"It's very rewarding to come in here, I've grown up watching Tennessee football, I'm a player now and I'll be a fan in the future," he said. "It's really big for me because of how I grew up watching Tennessee football. My dad went to school here, I have a lot of family that went here and being able to represent that and all the great players. Phillip Fulmer wore my number, just to be able to represent that guy is amazing, what could be better?"
Brodus feels the same way about his time in orange.
"It's huge, especially growing up here and being around Tennessee," he said. "Everyone here bleeds orange and I was glad I've been able to represent the Power T."
