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By Jim Steele
steele@mckenziebanner.com |
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Knoxville's Neyland Stadium, home to the University of
Tennessee football team and countless memories for
fans...and countless boyhood dreams for many more budding
football players.The odds of playing a meager down on that turf are greater
perhaps than winning the lottery. Yet Huntingdon's Brian
Nellett can say, "been there, done that."
Nellett, the Class 2A Blue Cross Bowl defensive MVP,
represented Huntingdon at the Tennessee Athletic Coaches
Association Tennessee-Kentucky All Star Game last Friday
night. While Tennessee's high schoolers lost 28-23,
Nellett brought back teeming memories from his week in
Knoxville.
Nellett was used primarily as a tight end, which surprised
him, since he expected to play on the defensive front.
"I would have liked to play on the D line, but you can't
be too picky when you get to play at Neyland stadium,"
Nellett said. "I was out there with a lot of players who
are going to be in the NFL. It was an awesome experience."
The former Mustang, who recently signed a baseball
scholarship to Itawamba (Miss.), said that he was
impressed with the size of the players in the game.
"I played tight end, but felt more like a wideout as big
as those guys were," he said. "There were some big guys
there."
And he says when he was on the field, he was focused, but
when he wasn't, he felt himself get caught up in the
romance and history of Neyland Stadium.
"When you are playing, you are out there in your own
little world," Nellett said. "But then, when you look
around and think of all the people who played there, I was
star struck."
The experience humbled Nellett, as well.
"I'm not too good to realize the kind of athletes who
played there," he said.
But one of the fun things for him was realizing that he
was representing his school and town.
"A lot of the guys up there didn't have a (state
championship) ring," he said. "All the guys wanted to see
my ring. There were a bunch of nice guys up there; not too
many egos."
The team included a hodge podge of players from across the
state. But Nellett said that the West Tennessee players
hung out together and took pride in representing their
region.
"I don't think we get enough credit over here," he said.
Going from baseball to football was difficult at first, he
said, but once he got on the field, he said it all came
back to him pretty quickly. While there, he bumped elbows
with a couple of UT Vols football players, including
Cedric Houston. Nellett said he got Houston's autograph.
"Being there didn't feel realistic," said Nellett, "but it
was an awesome experience." |
