...and I've heard that some things are in the works to make it happen in some capacity, and IMO that would be great for the program.
I've listened to Inky give several motivational talks, but I had never gotten to actually meet him until this evening. He was in town for a fundraiser here and I was seated with him so I had the opportunity to chat with him for quite a while. I've been impressed in the past by his sincerity; he doesn't strike me as just a former player who is trying to capitalize on his injury because he has nowhere else to turn to. This is someone who (as evidenced by his impromptu narration of the freakin' awesome video the UT SID released a few weeks ago) is a great and well-spoken ambassador for the UT football program. His insight into the reason for Dooley's failures (said Dooley created a loser's mentality within the program), characters like Ed Orgeron (would never condone anyone allowing their son to play for Orgeron, with some pretty colorful behind-the-scenes stories of encounters with the Ogre) and the challenges faced by Butch Jones were fascinating, but not nearly as much as his speech. All of the other talks I heard him give were 30 minute chats. Tonight he got wound up and continued for 90 minutes. There were grown men (and women) openly crying and by the time he finished there weren't many dry eyes in the house. Tbh, I never realized how much he overcame to play D-I football. I'm pretty sure this guy, if placed in a capacity where he were able to do so, could be a tremendous asset in recruiting. It's hard to imagine that he wouldn't be able to connect to inner-city kids who are dreaming of having an opportunity to make it to the NFL.
If anyone is interested, this is a blog post I wrote about Inky's visit:
http://www.bengarrett.net/2013/11/former-vol-johnson-speaks-faith-perseverance/
