by design | Aug 15, 2022 | Columnist, Mattingly
By Tom Mattingly When Buddy Cruze, a University of Tennessee All-American wide receiver in 1956, died on March 10, 2018, many long-time fans could recall great moments from his time at Tennessee. Buddy was 84 when he died, but the memories of his days on...
by design | Aug 8, 2022 | Columnist, Mattingly
By Tom Mattingly Consider the impact of Sunday evening, Jan. 9, 1994, on Tennessee football history, as Vol quarterback Heath Shuler held a media conference that filled Vol fans with dread and all those other adjectives associated with bad things happening. Fans were...
by design | Aug 1, 2022 | Columnist, Mattingly
By Tom Mattingly There’s nothing better than reading a well-told story, particularly one about sports. Willie Morris, a prolific writer closely identified with the state of Mississippi, once penned the following well-turned sentence: “There is a tradition in the...
by design | Jul 25, 2022 | Columnist, Mattingly
By Tom Mattingly Two weeks ago, there was a brief mention in this column of Tennessee and Alabama earning a two-page color photo spread in Sports Illustrated after the teams fought to a 7-7 tie at Legion Field on Oct. 16, 1965. That was a big deal at the time and...
by design | Jul 18, 2022 | Columnist, Mattingly
By Tom Mattingly It’s not how you start. It’s how you finish. That was a capsule summary of the 1981 Tennessee football season, marked by a rocky start on Rocky Top. After losses at Georgia (44-0) and at Southern Cal (43-7), no one in Big Orange Country would have...
by design | Jul 11, 2022 | Columnist, Mattingly
By Tom Mattingly Here’s a question for all the armchair historians. Name an opposing quarterback who helped defeat Tennessee in a bowl game and became an assistant coach for the Vols less than 10 years later. The quarterback in question is Bob Jones, the Baylor...
