Randy Smith
I ran into former Tennessee head coach Johnny Majors
on Sunday afternoon. He was in Chattanooga for an annual dinner appointment with his family. It seems that Majors' family gets together in Chattanooga the
Sunday after Thanksgiving each year at the Acropolis Grill. Coach was looking great for a man of 78 years of age, and coming off another heart procedure this past spring.
His wife Mary Lynn was by his side as always, and after we exchanged greetings and wished each other a merry Christmas, I sat down at my table and realized...Johnny Majors is the personification of "Vol For Life."
The "Vol For Life" program was started several years ago at Tennessee as a means of keeping former Vol student athletes in touch with the university. It's a great program and every time I read a post by a former Tennessee player or coach on Facebook, it usually always has the "VFL" tag. There are several former players who fit into Coach Majors category; Peyton Manning, Phillip Fulmer, and Al Wilson to name just a few.
On Saturday night in Nashville, as the Vols took on Vanderbilt, we were all reminded of another "Vol For Life." During time outs, the mostly Tennessee crowd at Vanderbilt Stadium would shout out, "Eric Berry, Eric Berry" over and over again. This was to honor and show support for the former Vols' safety and current all-pro safety with the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs, who announced a few days ago he was battling lymphoma. Berry had complained of pains in his chest area following the Chiefs game at Oakland almost two weeks ago. An MRI revealed a mass in his chest cavity.
Eric Berry is one of the all-time greats at Tennessee. His father played at Tennessee before him and his two younger brothers are both on team 118 now under Butch Jones. Every player who dressed for the game with Vandy, sported a tomahawk emblem with the number 29 on it to honor Eric Berry. When one of their own is hurting, Big Orange fans are just like the players and coaches themselves; they do what they can to show love and support.
In addition to Berry's Tennessee family, he can also count on his more recent family in Kansas City. Coach Andy Reid probably said it best when he said, "We know it's going to work out for Eric. He's a beast and right now, he needs to be a beast. He'll attack this along with Dr. Flowers. (Lymphoma specialist Dr. Christopher Flowers) I think this will be a very positive result when all is said and done."
Eric Berry's 2014 season is over as tests and diagnoses will continue. As soon as the tests are over, a plan for treatment and or surgery will be formulated. Several members of the media have also gotten in on the vast show of support for Eric Berry. One stated, "Eric Berry doesn't have cancer; cancer has Eric Berry. Another said, " Berry will take cancer to the woodshed," while yet another said, "cancer doesn't know who it has hold of." All these supportive comments are all very positive, yet very true. Eric Berry is a fighter, a tough competitor who was once called "The Legend" by his former head coach Phillip Fulmer. That was when he was just an 18 year old freshman, and before he ever played a down at Tennessee. This is the same young safety who picked off a Tim Tebow pass at the "Swamp" and returned it 90 yards for a touchdown.
A "Vol For Life" means a lot of different things, but for Eric Berry it means a tough competitive spirit; much the same as Johnny Majors possesses. It also means you won't have to fight the toughest battle of your life alone; your entire Big Orange family is right there with you.
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Randy Smith has been covering sports on radio, television and print for the past 45 years. After leaving WRCB-TV in 2009, he has written two books, and has continued to free-lance as a play-by-play announcer. He is currently teaching Broadcasting at Coahulla Creek High School near Dalton, Ga.
His career has included a 17-year stretch as host of the Kickoff Call In Show on the University of Tennessee’s prestigious Vol Network. He has been a member of the Vol Network staff for thirty years.
He has done play-by-play on ESPN, ESPN II, CSS, and Fox SportSouth, totaling more than 500 games, and served as a well-known sports anchor on Chattanooga Television for more than a quarter-century.
In 2003, he became the first television broadcaster to be inducted into the Greater Chattanooga Area Sports Hall of Fame. Randy and his wife Shelia reside in Hixson. They have two married children, (Christi and Chris Perry; Davey and Alison Smith.) They have four grandchildren, Coleman, Boone, DellaMae and CoraLee.
To contact Randy: rsmithsports@epbfi.com