One for the Ages: A Scandurro Story

BY TIM SCANDURRO

One of the more interesting things about the human brain is what ends up getting stored in our memory banks, and what ends up getting deleted.  When I was a younger man, I remember one Christmas morning in particular.  My older daughter was probably about nine years old (she’ll be 30 next month).  That’s about the age when a lot of kids either stop believing in the existence of Santa Claus or are having serious doubts, and she was no exception.

I’ll remember to my last breath watching her come down the stairs that Christmas morning, and how big her eyes got when she saw unwrapped presents under the tree.  She kept saying over and over, “he came!  He really came!”  It was such a powerful representation of things we want to believe in and events we hope will take place, balanced against the nagging sense that they may only be dreams or fantasy.  It was the triumph of optimism and hope over pessimism and despair.

Like my daughter on that Christmas Eve so many years ago, many Tulane fans have been conditioned to worry about getting coal in their stockings. But Friday night at Yulman Stadium, Santa Claus came early.  Some of it felt like the stuff of fairy dust and Christmas miracles:  a punt hitting a North Texas player in the back to set up a touchdown (on fourth down) on the last play of the first half; a surefire interception and likely pick-six that would have trimmed our lead to a field goal with eight minutes to play going right through the hands of a UNT player and into the hands of Zycarl Lewis for a first down. 

The good fortune and luck were complemented by results that we earned.  “Empty the tank!” Coach Sumrall exhorted the team pregame.  It led to a relentless physical style that saw us   knock UNT’s star running back out of the game, sack its star quarterback five times, force five turnovers,  and run the ball on offense with authority and purpose.  We were plus-5 in turnover margin and (can you imagine) we finished with fewer penalties and penalty yards than they did.  All of it led to one of those magical rollicking nights in Yulman Stadium that ended with fireworks, confetti, a conference championship trophy and a trip to the College Football Playoff.  Many of us will remember this game for a long time, but I’ll also remember some special people associated with it.  Here’s what they said after the game.

1. “This family, this program and this team will live forever.  And I thank God for it.”—Sam Howard

Number 15 had a sack, he orchestrated all of our defensive alignments pre-snap, and he exhorted and encouraged and celebrated with every other defender all night long.  I am not sure I ever saw a player who finished with only three tackles have such a profound impact on a team’s defensive performance.  I wrote pre-season that Sam was the Nick Anderson of this team, a physical, spiritual and emotional leader and galvanizer.  Sam’s leadership, effort and vision for what this team could achieve has earned him a place in Tulane linebacker lore alongside Nick.  Good teams are coach-led but great teams are player-led, as Coach Sumrall told the team in the locker room after the game.  They don’t make many leaders like Sam Howard.

2.             “What a time to be alive.”—Bryce Bohanon

Bryce is often described as the ultimate teammate—reliable, dependable, a great example to others, and willing to play any role to help the team.  When he sustained a knee injury in practice before the Temple game after he volunteered to serve on special teams, the team was crestfallen.  But they used it as fuel, dedicating the Temple game to Bryce.  He was in uniform last night although not physically capable of playing, and was given the honor of taking the final kneeldown that ended the game and set off a wild celebration.  His uncontrolled tears afterwards were a deeply moving testament to the sacrifice these players make and the indescribable joy that moments like Friday night bring to them.  And to us. What a time to be alive, indeed.

3. “Thank you from the bottom of my heart for letting me be here tonight.”—Jon Sumrall

It was the first thing he said to the team upon entering the victorious, cigar smoke-filled locker room, after the customary “RMFW!” signature yell.  The team responded immediately.  “We love you coach!” was roared out of every corner of the room.  Pastors and coaches often have a call-and-response exercise in which the leader starts a sentence and the congregation or team finishes it.  Twice in the pregame locker room and again afterwards, Coach said “Finish the…”  and the team responded “JOB.”  The bond these young men have with our coaching staff and the outgoing head man is unbreakable and mutual. 

I thanked him afterwards for staying on and giving us all that moment Friday night.  “I told Florida, I’m not coming unless you give me the chance to finish the job the right way with my team,” he said.  When he says it, you believe it.  The team believes it.  It was hard to watch him being introduced at Florida, but he has made this feel like one of those old westerns where the gang gets back together again for one last ride, and both players and coaches are enjoying every second of it.  He does not take for granted the university’s decision to grant him that privilege, nor every minute of every day that he gets to spend around this special team. 

My daughter and everyone else eventually learn that there is no ‘real’ Santa Claus.  But there are real Sam Howards and Bryce Bohanons and Jon Sumralls in this world.   When you have people like that in your life you will always remember them fondly and with gratitude long after they’re gone. Like Santa Claus they’re never with us as long as we’d like but we will always remember that we knew them once, and they were real then, and they gave us every ounce of what they had, and they made a certain season in our lives so memorable that they will never be forgotten.

So alongside that long-ago Christmas morning, I think I’ll save this team, Friday night’s game and the rest of this crazy season in my memory bank.  Right next to that Darwin Willie catch, that Vince Manalla fake field goal, that Reggie Reginelli swing pass and run in the rain, that Michael Jordan interception return in the Liberty Bowl, that Tyjae Spears run against UCF, and that Alex Bauman catch.  What I had for breakfast yesterday and where I left my car keys this morning will just have to make room.

And we ain’t done yet.  We’re going to the Playoff.  Let your eyes get wide because we hoped it would come and we dreamed about it coming and it came; it really came.

Roll Wave.