What were your UT football beginnings?

[ClubWhatever 12087]

Where did it all start for you?  What got you hooked?  I'm interested to hear.

My story is boring.  I'm a third generation UT football fan and graduate.  Started with my maternal grandparents who both went here in the 1920s.  Basically everyone in my family has gone to UT since then (until it got hard to get admitted).  When everyone around you is all UT all the time, it's pretty well ingrained.  My earliest UT football memory is watching Earl run over A&M on TV in 1977.  We lived far from Austin so I was brought up listening to most games on the radio.  I loved the sounds from the field mic and the feeling of anticipation as each play unfolded and the crowd reacted before the announcer could say what happened.  My memories of UT football are littered with radio calls of individual plays accompanied by the eruption of fight songs (ours and theirs).  I knew all the other SWC teams' fight songs by heart.   I still love to listen to college football on the radio.  My first game in person was the 1984 Auburn game.   I'll never forget Jerry Gray running down Bo Jackson, but the highlight for me wasn't even from the game.  It was the first time I watched the Longhorn band march in from the North end zone playing all their stuff.  I got chills and knew I was hooked on UT football forever.  Cool story bro.  Where did that all go?

[CycleTex87 2954]

Earl & Fred Akers and the Heisman Trophy and heartbreak in 1977.  

My parents met at Texas in the 60's, my brother, sister and I all graduated from Texas, and my daughter (no pix) is a sr. at Texas this year.  The first Texas game I went to was in Dallas at Texas Stadium against SMU, a 9-7 Texas win in 1981.

The Eyes of Texas are upon you, all the live long day.

Edited September 17, 2021 by CycleTex87

[Zeus 5950]

Got accepted to Texas in 05. Watched VY win the title. Went to school though the Colt & Jamal Charles years so I got to go to a bunch of fun games.

Oh my Mom is an aggy and my Dad's side of the family is all in Gainesville or other areas in Florida and been lifetime Gator fans. 

Edited September 17, 2021 by Zeus

[JimmyTwoTimes 79]

Born in Endicott, NY. IBM town. My dad started making trips to Austin in the 70s, they were investigating a relocation to this strange place far away. He’d always bring Longhorn gear back with him. A kid wearing a Bevo T shirt was pretty rare in upstate NY. I was bleeding burnt orange when I was 12 and we moved to Austin in 1980. 

[jw4381 3063]

1974 ou game injected burnt Orange into my veins. 
 

BS in Geology August 1990. 

[Knoxtnhorn 5936]

Both my parents went to Tarleton but didn't graduate.  I don't think any of my grandparents attended college.  So, I had very little in the way of a college influence growing up other than sports.

1) The librarian at Heights Elem in Richardson always played the Texas and OU fight songs RR week.  She was a Sooner; I was a Texan, so Eyes for me.

2) I also recall my mom taking me downtown to watch Horns and Sooners yell at each other and fight (Commerce St?).  Again, I chose the Texas side more on state pride.

Got accepted to Syracuse, LSU, Tech, and Texas.  No way was I going anywhere but Texas.

My first fan memory was buying a college football mag with Eric Metcalf on the front.  I was about 6.

[TheBryMan81 2502]

Proud T-shirt fan here, but I'll tell you my story.

Some background first:

I'm from the RGV. Both of my parents went to Pan American University as it was known back then. My dad says he was a UT fan back then, but he was much more a Cowboys fan, so we grew up watching the Cowboys moreso than the Longhorns. My Mom's family however....puro Aggies. Yup, you read that right, all Maroon and White. My grandfather was a farmer and my uncle, wanting to follow in the family business, decided to go to A&M to pursue agriculture. While there, he walked onto the football team and was a member of that 12th man kickoff team of all walk-ons. He was on that cover of Sports Illustrated and everything. So, Mom's family, all Aggies. There are even baby pictures of me in A&M gear (vomit). I remember having a bumper sticker above my bedroom window that read "aTm Gig 'em Aggies!" and thinking every night as my elementary school self went to sleep: "What the fuck is Gig em and what in the everliving fuck is an Aggie?!" I was very confused.

Anyway, as I got a little bit older and more interested in sports, I started watching games on my own. Cowboys, Spurs, Astros, Braves, whatever I could find. Scrolling through the channels on New Year's Day, I happen to come across none other than the 2003 Cotton Bowl Classic. Texas vs LSU. I knew enough at this time to know that both teams were good and it would probably be a fun game to watch. Rooting for my home state Longhorns, I couldn't get enough. 4 catches, 142 yards, and 2 Roy Williams touchdowns later, the burgeoning WR in me had a new favorite player, a new favorite team, and Burnt Orange blood running through these veins. Haven't worn Maroon since. A few years later, my older brother was accepted to and attended our state flagship.

Went to my first game as a high school sophomore, where I begged my parents to get us tickets for the Alamo Bowl. Went to my first game at DKR as a high school senior on a school trip fully funded by UT (vs. Rice coincidentally) where, after the game, we had a "lock-in" in Gregory Gym.  

When it came my turn to go to college, although I was accepted to UT (and still have that acceptance letter), I stayed home to attend my parents alma mater, then known as UTPA (hey, I was still in the system and we didn't have a football team, so I could continue to root for whoever I damn well pleased). It was cheaper and I had a guaranteed path to a top Texas medical school through a pre-acceptance program at UTPA.  Needless to say, I continued to bear my "T-shirt fan" status with pride. Didn't get a chance to make it back for a game pretty much throughout all of college and med school. Finally got back to a game when I drove up to LA when I was living in San Diego to watch us take on USC a few years ago. To this day, I try to make it back to town for at least one game with my family each year (pre-COVID).

And now, my friends, now, you know the rest of the story.

Hook Em 🤘🏽

Edited September 17, 2021 by TheBryMan81

[927 E. 41st 1124]

My Dad was a Dr. in Austin. He was always busy, always had his beeper going off but he made time for us kids where he could. First home game of the magical '69 season he takes me watch us pound Tech 49-7.

It was great and I got to spend time with my dad, what's not to like! For the '70 season we were in section 6. We had those seats until 2018 and until Covid I think I had missed less than 5 home games since '69.

[CHIEF 5072]

I was born and raised in Cleburne, Tx. until 8th grade. My Dad was friends with David McWilliams and Pat Culpepper, Spike Owen was a God in my hometown. Everyone was a Longhorn fan. I was accepted into UT and that was my plan until oil prices collapsed in 1985 and I could live at home and commute to Tarleton. I saved up enough money to move to Colorado and went to Ft. Lewis in Durango and skied my ass off my freshman year, but the writing was on the wall. Came home, got a job as an aviation mechanic, and worked my way through Tarleton, but have always been a Texas fan.

CHIEF

[Helobious 9481]

My parents were both first gen college students that met at UT. Grew up a longhorn fan my entire life. I believe since about 2001, there’s been maybe 10 longhorn games that I didn’t watch any part of at all on TV or hear any part of on the radio. Been to 5 or 6 longhorn games in person as well. UT was always my dream school, and I was a top 10% student but by my senior year they had moved the cutoff to top 8%. Ended up at UTSA. Texas will always be special to my family, my parents were from poor immigrant families and UT helped open the door for them to get out of poverty and provide us a comfortable life. 
 

 

[billfromlaketravis 11363]

@Zeus I think we're the same age. Class of '09. 

My story is pretty boring as well OP. My maternal grandparents graduated from UT in the 40s. 

My mother went to UT's nursing school in Houston before they had one in Austin. My dad played ball at UH, but has UT season tickets. Go figure. My mother always pushed me to go to UT. To the point where I thought it was my only option. Well done mom. 

My grandfather would take all of his grandchildren to one game every year. Pretty damned expensive with 13 grandkids. I grew up watching every Texas game. A lot of heart ache, but some triumphant moments as well. My grandfather didn't live to see the Horns win the title in 2005. I was there, and I think he was there with me. 

[Texaspython 231]

Late 80’s in the midst of a horrible losing streak to aggy and terrible recruiting. Things seemed far more hopeless in those days than they do today. 

[joeycovers 385]

T-Shirt Fan - Dad liked em and I followed all of pops teams. First distinct memory was Stockton FG over UVA. Never was a guy that went to play school so I joined military instead. Hope to send my kids to UT one day. 

[LTtxfan 48980]

Picture says it best for me...

[wood 11166]

Moved to Austin from Tennessee in January of 1977, during Christmas break of my 6th grade year. My Dad worked for Texas International Airlines, the original no-frills, low fare, short hop carrier, which eventually bought out Continental. In the spring, my mom used to drop me & a neighbor kid off at the Disch. We could get in for a couple of bucks and hang out all day. Loved the doubleheaders back then, playing 'cup ball' behind the the 1st base stands, etc. That was my first real exposure to Texas sports.

In the fall, Earl was blowing people up. Didn't really get to go to football games until I started at UT in '83. Went to every game, of course, and Texas-ou. Many of you know Texas-ou was, eh, a little different back then. It wasn't quite what it had been a few years earlier, but it was much rowdier than it is now. That season completely hooked me on Texas Football.

I was already hooked on Texas Baseball, & got out to the Disch whenever I could. So many stories from the Disch, like being down 6 or 7 to Miami with 2 outs and nobody on in the ninth, then coming back to win. My buddies & I sitting on top of the RF fence, literally right next to the foul pole.  Dunno why it's called the foul pole. Should be called the fair pole. Watching a sold out Texas-ASU game from a tree next to the RF fence because I couldn't get in. The Texan had a pic of me in the tree on the front page the next day. Wish I had a copy of that. Shea Morenz hitting the bomb to Comal Street & hoping he hadn't hit my car, which was parked there. He did. Busted the windshield. Never parked there again.

That freshman year I also took UT Volleyball Asst Coach Glen Leitzke's volleyball class at Gregory. Learned to play & got hooked on Texas Volleyball as well. Had a massive crush on MB Dawn Davenport. Glen taught me how to play almost 40 years ago, and now he's teaching both of my boys to play at AJV. Crazy.

Oh, and hoops ... remember when Arkansas's Nolan Richardson got pissed off &  left the floor during a game against Texas at the FEC? Then the Hogs came back and tied it up, so he came back out to coach again? That got him the Strollin' Nolan nickname. And remember those two dumbasses that went down to the floor & yelled all kinds of shit at him for quitting on his team? Yeah, those two dumbasses were me & my buddy lol. Just about got tossed from the FEC. Kinda wish we had, now that I think about it.

 

/csb

Edited September 17, 2021 by wood

[Domedriver 655]

When I was 7, in 1967, my father retired from the Navy and moved the fam from DC to Austin to go to work at UT’s ARL as a scientist in underwater acoustics.  I didn’t even know what football was until I started playing sandlot with the kids in my neighborhood.  One of my friends down the streets older brother played for DKR and he indoctrinated me into all things UT.

having the magic of 1969 cemented my allegiance and having my Boy Scout Troop park and usher for home games , I got to go to every home game from 1971-1975.  Went to UT in 1978 and graduated and did grad stuff thru 1986.  Went to every home game with student tickets, but climbed into two games as my tickets were bared due to unpaid shite.  

I climbed the stadium and was arrested on UT’s 100 birthday.  Did a Texas Monthly photo shoot climbing DKR which lead them to fill in all the climbing cracks during various stadium upgrades.  Saw Ricky break the record.   Been to 14 OUSuxs games. Including 2005, and went to the Rose Bowl to see VY’s glory.  Have shook Big Earls Hand and bought Ricky beers.  I bleed Burnt Orange!🤘

[Mo Horn 8807]

I watched the 1969 Texas - Arkansas game and from that moment on, I knew I wanted to go to U.T.

[77horn 216]

Grew up in Wichita Falls.  Neither of my parents went to college, so there was not affiliation there.  First recollection was hearing about how Roger Staubach and Navy would kill Texas.  Being a Texan I was glad they didn't.  Next recollection was beating Joe Willie and 'Bama in the Orange Bowl.  By then I was hooked. 

My high school had a playoff game against Abilene Cooper the Saturday of the Game of the Century.  Riding all the way to Lubbock(?) on a cold, snowy day. Listening to the radio how Texas was down 14-0 . Got to the stadium, and they were playing the radio broadcast over the PA.  We all jumped for joy when Texas won.  Jumped for joy again when my high school advanced in the playoffs after a tie game.  We had more first downs than Cooper, so we advanced.  Won the state championship that year.

I enrolled in the fall of '73.  Sports Illustrated picked Texas to win the MNC.  That came crashing down in Miami, when the Hurricanes upset us in game 1.  I was at Earl Campbell's 1st home game.  I didn't know anything about him, but when he came in, one of the guys with us said, "He's supposed to be pretty good."

Edited September 17, 2021 by 77horn

[Guest]

Begins and ends with Earl Campbell.

BAMF who never had to run his mouth.  Momma's boy off the field. Individually made me want to be a pro football player...until I realized I was slow, small, and couldn't jump. high...

My first Tech game was actually Texas at Tech in 1988. Tech won 33-32, and honestly, UT is my favorite game of the season to this day, even if I root for the bad guys from y'all's perspective.

[JFKFC 4878]

[gmr548 16517]

Grew up in DFW, my dad took me to the Cotton Bowl vs LSU in 2003 or whatever it was where Roy Williams went off. I was like 10 years old. He wasn’t a UT fan or alum or anything, just wanted to take me to a game I guess. I think he wanted to make spark interest from me in playing football - I’d preferred basketball to that point because my brother was a pretty good basketball player, but I had more of a football build.

If we sat on the LSU side I’d probably be an LSU fan. But we didn’t, praise Tebow for that.

[Napoleon 8607]

Went to the Cotton Bowl against Alamara in Bear Bryant’s last game. Pulled for Texas, but still preferred SMU. (From Dallas.)

My freshman year at UT we sucked, went to TX/OU and we lost, went to A&M game for Thanksgiving, didn’t care that we lost, because I like A&M’s Carter High School running back.

FINALLY we beat OU, I’m in the stands, it was fun.

So I guess that my first sophomore year in college I became a fan. 
 

UT…

1) Taught me my Social Security number (school ID).

2) Taught me how to endure bureaucracies.

3) Gave me an athletic program to support. (Sometimes a blessing, sometimes a curse.)

Those three things were about all I got out of my many years at UT.

So my 2nd TX/OU game as a college student.

[YChang 3431]

Pre-attending Texas: Immigrant kid, didn't know anything about Texas football or its history. But while I was in the Boys Scouts, the scout master went to Texas during the DRK years. So heard a lot of football stories from him. And it captured my imagination and I decided I would be a TX fan then.

My freshman year at TX they won the first Big 12 title so that was super cool.

[TexasPride10 573]

Grew up in Nashville, TN as a diehard Vols fan. In the fall of 2005 (my senior year in high school), I took recruiting trips to 5 schools for swimming (Tennesse, Florida, Auburn, Michigan, and Texas). The minute I stepped onto the 40 acres for my (real)UT visit, I was absolutely hooked (pun intended). We played Tech that weekend, and VY put on an absolute show. I had obviously already heard the buzz about VY, but seeing him play in person that day was mind blowing. I signed with Texas a few weeks later and never put on that ugly orange ever again. Got to attend UT during the 4 Colt McCoy years which obviously didn't suck.  

[High Plains Drifter 10978]

 

Parents moved to Austin from N. Texas a year before I was born*. Dad was actually a sooner football fan as his brother played at OU in the sixties. However, dad was a sports nut and had Texas pride and except for the UT-OU football game was a devout UT sports fan. He would take me to Texas games (football, basketball, baseball) as soon as I was potty trained, so I grew up on UT sports.

Saw Earl play many times. Grew up on Arky hate, more so than OU hate. Went to UT undergrad and masters. Lived in Austin for the first 40 or so years of my life, probably went to 95% of the home football games from age ~3 to ~40. Saw many Texas-OU games sitting in the OU end as a youngster. 

 

* Coming out of college, dad had two major job offers-- one in Austin, and one in El Paso (same company). He chose Austin, but had to frequently travel to El Paso. He could have chosen El Paso and not have traveled to Austin, but he chose wisely, imo. He took me with him to El Paso a handful of times, and we'd drive over to Juarez and go the dog races. Fun times.

 

 

 

[wood 11166]

5 minutes ago, TexasPride10 said:

Grew up in Nashville, TN as a diehard Vols fan. In the fall of 2005 (my senior year in high school), I took recruiting trips to 5 schools for swimming (Tennesse, Florida, Auburn, Michigan, and Texas). The minute I stepped onto the 40 acres for my (real)UT visit, I was absolutely hooked (pun intended). We played Tech that weekend, and VY put on an absolute show. I had obviously already heard the buzz about VY, but seeing him play in person that day was mind blowing. I signed with Texas a few weeks later and never put on that ugly orange ever again. Got to attend UT during the 4 Colt McCoy years which obviously didn't suck.  

His last 20 games at Texas, VY always put on a show. GOAT. Damnedest thing I've ever seen.

[Foosters 17734]

Both my parents attended. 3 of 4 grandparents attended. My great-grandfather went through both UT undergrad and school of law in the 19-teens.

[Funk Doctor Spock 11923]

My first memory was Bryant Westbrook, but I was born a few years before Eric Metcalf scared kickoff teams. But yeah, Bryant Westbrook fucking people up. I was, and still am, enamored by that dude and his hit force. That lick on Leeland is etched into my brain forever. It'll probably be my last memory of all time. 

[BigHorn'13 3355]

Mom's aggy. Dad is a POS, also a sooner. I was fascinated with the color Burnt Orange and loved everything Texas (state wise.) Once I learned about the academics and prestige, I was hooked. 

[Funk Doctor Spock 11923]

1 hour ago, LTtxfan said:

Picture says it best for me...

Bro, I had a Texas helmet, too! 

[Funk Doctor Spock 11923]

32 minutes ago, Napoleon said:

Went to the Cotton Bowl against Alamara in Bear Bryant’s last game. Pulled for Texas, but still preferred SMU. (From Dallas.)

My freshman year at UT we sucked, went to TX/OU and we lost, went to A&M game for Thanksgiving, didn’t care that we lost, because I like A&M’s Carter High School running back.

FINALLY we beat OU, I’m in the stands, it was fun.

So I guess that my first sophomore year in college I became a fan. 
 

UT…

1) Taught me my Social Security number (school ID).

2) Taught me how to endure bureaucracies.

3) Gave me an athletic program to support. (Sometimes a blessing, sometimes a curse.)

Those three things were about all I got out of my many years at UT.

So my 2nd TX/OU game as a college student.

When I found out our school ID's were our SSN I kinda freaked out. Like, wtf? I lose shit all the time and now I have to keep this shit?!?

Edited September 17, 2021 by Spider2YBanana

[Horn Dogg 3808]

Grew up in Lubbock.  Was at a UT vs Tech game as a young kid and UT came to town and kicked Tech’s ass (1982 I think).  From then on I bled burnt orange and passed on the local option to go to UT.

Edited September 17, 2021 by Horn Dogg

[Blackcat00 759]

Grew up in Bay City and graduated with one of the Dennerd Boys. Former Nephew to Aggie All American and center for Marino with the Miami Dolphins.

Richard Walton was close to the family and we all jumped on the UT train when he enrolled and we were walking the halls in UT gear around 7th grade. (1994-1995)

I remember immediately falling in love with Shon Williams game and couldn't understand Ricky getting the carriers as he did in the 95 season. 

Dennerd nephew ended up at A&M and lived through a miserable early 2000's run while I watched UT win a Rose bowl my senior year. 

[wood 11166]

31 minutes ago, BigHorn'13 said:

Mom's aggy. Dad is a POS, also a sooner. I was fascinated with the color Burnt Orange and loved everything Texas (state wise.) Once I learned about the academics and prestige, I was hooked. 

You coulda just said "Dad is a Sooner". The POS is understood.

[El Squared 1793]

1977, Fred Akers Year 1, Freshman, Rice Game: the return of Earl for his Heisman season. Outland trophy winner Brad Shearer too. 3rd string qb driving the team for the rest of the season after a spectacular and unexpected OU win. 

Russell Erxleben kicks 67 yd field goal, (in the Rice game, just for shizz and gigggles) the start of an undefeated season until getting clobbered by the Domers in a freezing Cotton Bowl.

Edited September 17, 2021 by El Squared

[jeevsie 3722]

Soooo.....I rarely tell the story, but I've always thought it only adds to my Longhorn roots.

I grew up and aggy fan.  No real reason why, I had one aggy cousin who apparently got in my head.  My brother (7 yrs older) is a UT grad, for crissakes! Maybe I just wanted to be contrarian.

But I agreed to visit both UT and aggy.  I had overnight visits to both.  I remember vividly being excited going to collie station first.  But the cult vibe (I didn't realize at the time that's what it was) hit me right away.  Something just didn't feel right.  I came back saying I didn't really know what I wanted to do.  Not the feeling I got when I visited UT.  It was just night and day and I made the call to attend.  So I always get to say I made a conscious, informed decision and I did it for the right reason - I sniffed out that they're a bunch of weirdos.

Oh, my super senior year was getting to see Ricky win a Heisman and break the record vs aggy.  Good times.

[wood 11166]

2 minutes ago, jeevsie said:

Soooo.....I rarely tell the story, but I've always thought it only adds to my Longhorn roots.

I grew up and aggy fan.  No real reason why, I had one aggy cousin who apparently got in my head.  My brother (7 yrs older) is a UT grad, for crissakes! Maybe I just wanted to be contrarian.

But I agreed to visit both UT and aggy.  I had overnight visits to both.  I remember vividly being excited going to collie station first.  But the cult vibe (I didn't realize at the time that's what it was) hit me right away.  Something just didn't feel right.  I came back saying I didn't really know what I wanted to do.  Not the feeling I got when I visited UT.  It was just night and day and I made the call to attend.  So I always get to say I made a conscious, informed decision and I did it for the right reason - I sniffed out that they're a bunch of weirdos.

Oh, my super senior year was getting to see Ricky win a Heisman and break the record vs aggy.  Good times.

Fuck off, aggy.

[Hpara759 1777]

"T" shirt fan:

grew up in Dimmitt, basketball team made it to state tournament March 1967 I was 8. My dad was a fan and the first thing he did was take me to  DKR to show me where the horns played, biggest place I had ever seen and I was "hooked". Then the wishbone started and I though that was just about the coolest thing ever, Steve Worster was my first Texas hero.

Couple of other thing's I remember about that trip in 67' ....saw my first male with long hair (though my dad was going to take him down and cut it on the spot), the other was that was 7 months post Charles Whitman, all the mother's would not let us young un's out of their sight.

[bigcigar 1161]

When I entered full sports consciousness, I decided it was time to pick a college football team to watch. I chose Texas because I lived in Texas and my parents didn’t go to college. The first game I watched was October 7, 2000 and stuck with them throughout the 5 game skid. I ended up a school without a football team for undergrad and enjoyed the Vince and Colt years while there. Met my now wife’s family (okie state folks) for the first time and watched the Texas / Ohio State game in 2005 from her grandmothers living room. First Texas/OU game in 2006, first Austin game in 2009 and first road game in Stillwater in 2009.

I let my football fandom lead me to business school at Texas and got student tickets right in time for 2010. So there’s a pretty direct correlation to my direct affiliation with the university and where we’re at today. It was a pretty key career decision to pivot into a new space…so FUPM.

[Funk Doctor Spock 11923]

27 minutes ago, jeevsie said:

I grew up and aggy fan. 

Negged and reported 

[smuggs 9342]

My father was a relentlessly self-improving boulangerie owner from Belgium with low-grade narcolepsy and a penchant for buggery. My mother was a fifteen-year-old French prostitute named Chloe with webbed feet. My father would womanize, he would drink. He would make outrageous claims like he invented the question mark. Sometimes he would accuse chestnuts of being lazy. The sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and the insane lament.

My childhood was typical - summers in Rangoon, luge lessons... In the spring we'd make meat helmets. When I was insolent, I was placed in a burlap bag and beaten with reeds - pretty standard, really. At the age of twelve, I received my first scribe. At the age of fourteen, a Zoroastrian named Vilma ritualistically shaved my testicles.

There really is nothing like a shorn scrotum. It's breathtaking, I suggest you try it.

[4th&Five 41461]

My dad started taking us to games before I can remember. I know we went to some in ‘83 and ‘84. In ‘88 my folks won a package at some charity auction for like $100 that let us go to practice, meet all the players and eat with them at the dining hall. My brother and I were already pretty obsessed with Eric Metcalf so getting to meet him especially and getting autographs and pictures with the team sealed our obsessive fandom. I still have the signed balls and pictures. 
 

A few years ago my wife surprised me by taking the picture of my bro and I with Metcalf, blowing it up and sending it to him to sign. Probably the coolest thing she’s given me. 

[Not a cat 5620]

2 hours ago, joeycovers said:

T-Shirt Fan - Dad liked em and I followed all of pops teams. First distinct memory was Stockton FG over UVA. Never was a guy that went to play school so I joined military instead. Hope to send my kids to UT one day. 

Dawson, but yeah, great moment.

Parents met at UT in the 60s, so I always cheered for them growing up.  I have faint memories of watching Earl vs North Texas in 76, so I'm pretty sure that was my first game.  Also went to the Arkansas game later that year.  77 was a hell of a ride and I was hooked.

[GringoSalado 1651]

It wasn't my first season, but my first aggy game was the 28-24 home loss, I was already hooked but somehow that game really stands out, even though we lost. We were late for the game, and walking across campus heard the stadium erupt and thought we had missed kickoff, but it was just our fans yelling at the farmers' band. As I recall it was a complete ass kicking in the first half, maybe even all of their points, but we very improbably came back and almost won it. I also remember the UNT gift win from that same year. 

 

Some things never change.

[Pimphand 5597]

Grew up knowing that Earl Campbell was the greatest running back ever from my dad who was an Oilers season ticketholder.

When they traded Earl to the Saints he cancelled his season tickets (same thing happened with the Astros after the 1988 season when John McMullen let Nolan Ryan walk).  Shortly after that my old man and I did a trip around CenTex in the summer of 1986 hitting all the CenTex classics like Schlitterbahn, Natural Bridge Caverns, Aquarena Springs, Inner Space Caverns, Luling City Market, Blacks/Smitty's/Kreutz's etc. During that trip we made the first trip on to campus (that I have recollection of) and I saw Texas Memorial Stadium for the first time and my dad told me "That's where Earl used to play in college"

So he decided that fall that we would go to both a UT game and a Texas A&M game so I could see the disparity between the two schools.  He chose the Stanford game in Austin because he always wanted me to attend Stanford and we would go the following weekend to see then North Texas State (now UNT) visit College Station.  It was funny how he rationalized losing to Stanford as OK because they are a good school vs A&M beating NTSU who was Division I-AA at the time which was less impressive.

Mix in the pageantry of the cheerleaders and band vs the bozo yells, yell leaders, and "I want my mommy" sing alongs and it was pretty clear that if I was going to stay in TX it would be as a Longhorn or else I was leaving the state.  Obviously the mid 80's to mid 90's were a dark period similar to the current run but I always stayed true despite the odds.  That Earl Campbell won the Heisman shortly after I was born and Ricky Williams was tearing up A&M's home winning streak my senior year of HS and winning his own Heisman in my senior year of college were just icing on the cake.

[South Austin 52144]

I grew up part of my childhood in Quantico, so I remember my dad watching the Redskins every Sunday in the early 80s.  We worked his ass off in the Marine Corps, often six days a week, so Sundays were his day to lay on the couch and watch football.  I'd offer to get him another Miller Lite, and when I pulled the beer from the fridge I'd open it for him, but take a swig before bringing it out to him.  I recall loving that taste of cold beer.  That was my introduction to football.

 

Edit:  Shit, misread the thread. It was about UT football, not football in general.  Never really followed Texas football as a kid, having grown up on the East Coast when Texas wasn't really all that good.  I transferred to Texas after my first two years at N.C. State, and just fell in love with the Longhorns, which is pretty remarkable because that was in the middle of the Mackovic years, pre-Ricky.

Edited September 17, 2021 by South Austin
can't read thread titles

[TwiceHorn 31283]

Dad went to Hendrix College until WWII interrupted his schooling.  He finished up at SMU.  Mom went to Arkansas after two years at Third District Agricultural School, a/k/a Magnoila A&M, now Southern Arkansas University.   SAU at that time was a junior college and that was a common route to Fayetteville for many, and it is surprising how many of my parents' peers from Ouachita County and surrounding environs attended college during the depression, many to be assisted with finishing by the GI Bill.

I variously rooted for SMU and Arkansas through my youth.  Thus, having no connection, Texas never really entered my sphere of thinking.  By the early 80s, when SMU had their cheating-fueled run of success, I was thoroughly out on SMU, so rooted for Arkansas.

My Scout troop sold programs at the Texas-OU game as a money-raiser.  Scoutmaster was a Horn, a twice horn in fact.  We kind of alternated thinking whose fans were bigger dicks.

When it came down to colleges in high school, I had decided on engineering and learned that Texas was pretty good, as was aggy.  And of course the "application process," sending your SAT score automagically, was a no-brainer.  Other potential engineering schools were a lot farther away, a lot more expensive, and a lot harder to get into.  Rice and aggy were my backup schools, although I probably would have given Rice a harder look had I not been waitlisted. So the die was cast.

My first game with a rooting interest was Auburn in 1984.  It was quite an auspicious beginning considering what I would endure for the next seven years as a student, and another seven or so as an alum.

Edited September 17, 2021 by TwiceHorn

[LonghornSean 3942]

My mom and her siblings grew up in Austin. Their dad (my grandfather) was an influential professor at UT Law school as well as successful intramural flag-football coach and was also involved in various athletic department and NCAA affairs. Some of you Shaggy olds that went to UT law probably know of him. He has a namesake in the UT QB room currently (no relation).

Anyway, my mom's family had season tickets forever basically and after my immediate family moved to Austin I've been a Longhorn ever since.

I don't remember for sure which game was my first to see in-person, but my first memory of going to a game is the Notre Dame game at DKR in 1996 when I was in third grade. Although I did not get to attend UT, I've now probably been to around 200 football games. But my granddad did not let anyone attend a game without first knowing the words to the Star Spangled Banner and the Eyes of Texas. That love of Longhorn sports came from my grandfather, and my mom and her generation.

The season tickets have now been "grandfathered" to my name and I don't have any intention of letting them go.

Edited September 17, 2021 by LonghornSean

[TxEx84 375]

Dad graduated UT in '47 on GI bill.  I grew up in Dallas on Longhorn and Cowboys football since the earliest days I can remember.  I think my first game was the 1969 Cotton Bowl (Texas v Tennessee).  We kicked their ass which led to the 1969 season and seeing my first national championship in the 1970 Cotton Bowl. Never thought of going to school anywhere else.

[Rip76 4914]

My dad went to Texas in the mid 50's.  Played in the UT band as well.

UT football was always on when I was a kid, although I don't remember a lot of the games from the 70's.  I starting becoming a big time fan at our around 1986.