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2. Pig Howard
No need to go down the entire list here, for there are a lot of returning starters / players of impact on offense and defense (with the notable exception of both lines). But there are two players in particular that Team 118 should thank its lucky stars for.
The first is Pig Howard. His temporary departure from the team caught Vol Nation off guard. But that’s history now. Because his ability to earn his way back on this team proves that whatever the problem was has been corrected. After all, Butch doesn’t specialize in charity cases.
But you know what has never been a problem for Pig? Game day effort. He left his guts on the field each time out last year, once in heartbreaking fashion on the one-foot line. Let’s all hope this year, he’s one foot further along. Early reports suggest he is.
College football is beautiful for countless reasons. One of the biggest is that these talented athletes are but mere kids. And kids make mistakes. They take missteps along the way. And as much as I love rooting for all of them, I love nothing more than rooting for the ones who have righted previous wrongs, which is but one of a host of reasons why I’m pro Pig.
Granted, the Vols are suddenly loaded at receiver, but make no mistake about it — Team 118 is way better off with No. 2 on it. He wasn’t the team’s leading pass catcher last year on accident.
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