Working on a story about Cheyenne Labruzza and I talked with his mentor for a while: Former Tennessee cornerback and current Louisiana coach/trainer J.J. McCleskey.
McCleskey offered up a lot of great nuggets, but I thought y'all would particularly enjoy this one extended quote.
"The traditions at Tennessee. The fans, it’s football heaven there. I’m going to be honest with you, I tell Cheyenne this all the time, the NFL will never take the place of Tennessee — as far as for me. I played in different venues all over, but just playing at Neyland Stadium, it comes second to none. I told him that. Everyday you have to embrace that you’re at Tennessee and you have to buy in.
"Just believing is not enough. A lot of people believe they can play at Tennessee. Ok, the devil believed in trouble. You’ve got to buy in. You’ve got to invest and say, ‘I’m going to Tennessee to play this year.’ And that’s what we’ve been focusing on this whole offseason."
McCleskey offered up a lot of great nuggets, but I thought y'all would particularly enjoy this one extended quote.
"The traditions at Tennessee. The fans, it’s football heaven there. I’m going to be honest with you, I tell Cheyenne this all the time, the NFL will never take the place of Tennessee — as far as for me. I played in different venues all over, but just playing at Neyland Stadium, it comes second to none. I told him that. Everyday you have to embrace that you’re at Tennessee and you have to buy in.
"Just believing is not enough. A lot of people believe they can play at Tennessee. Ok, the devil believed in trouble. You’ve got to buy in. You’ve got to invest and say, ‘I’m going to Tennessee to play this year.’ And that’s what we’ve been focusing on this whole offseason."
