It’s been a memorable and heartbreaking season for Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker. Hooker led the Vols to their best season in two decades and his play was the reason for it.
Hooker dazzled in program defining wins over Florida, LSU and Alabama and played himself into the Heisman Trophy race. Then, Hooker struggled in a loss at Georgia, tore his ACL in a loss at South Carolina and wasn’t even invited to New York for the Heisman ceremony.
It’s been an up-and-down season but Hooker leaves Knoxville a Tennessee football legend and proved himself a capable professional prospect.
Hooker wrote a farewell message to Tennessee fans in the Players Tribune that you can see here. In his piece, the North Carolina native discusses finding his football game at Tennessee and the sky-high ups and the heartbreaking downs in his senior season.
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The most notable high was Tennessee’s win over Alabama, where Hooker wrote about seeing what the victory meant to Vol nation.
“But the most satisfying part with Bama probably wasn’t even football,” Hooker wrote. “It was seeing our whole stadium rush the field, and seeing the happiness on everyone’s faces, you know what I mean?? And having it fully sink in what that win meant for us — I’m talking about us not just as a team but beyond that. Like, how it’s the kind of win we might look back on in 5, 10, 25 years and say, Alright … I can tell you the exact moment when everything changed for this program. The EXACT moment. “
“It was perfect.”
Hooker himself was nearly perfect that afternoon, throwing for 385 yards and five touchdowns while adding 56 rushing yards. That was just one game of many brilliant ones for Hooker this season, ending his final college season 3,135 passing yards, 27 passing touchdowns and two interceptions to go along with 430 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns.
The season capped off a legendary Tennessee career that won’t be soon forgotten. Before the Vols take the field in the Orange Bowl, read Hooker’s farewell address to Vol nation.
