The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
One final championship reward
03.31.2006 | Football
The University of Texas football players, coaches and staff were surprised during their pre-Orange-White Scrimmage team meeting on Friday, when representatives from Jostens, Inc. arrived at the Moncrief-Neuhaus Athletic Center with sparkling National Championship rewards in tow.
Care of ring designer Jeff "Mad Dog" Madden, Mack Brown was the first to slide the silver BCS National Championship ring and the gold University of Texas ring on to his fingers, leading to an eruption of applause from the room full of 2005 Big 12 and NCAA Champions.
"There are a lot of rewards for winning, and one that you dream about is to get a National Championship ring," said Texas head coach Mack Brown, who has led the Horns to at least 11 wins and a top six national ranking in four of the last five years. "They've had trips to the White House, some have been on Oprah and the celebration was wonderful, but this pretty much puts closure to last year's team."
Each member of the 2005 National Championship team received two rings. One ring is provided by the NCAA to commemorate the BCS Championship victory over USC. The other ring is provided by The University of Texas.
Each year, the school is permitted to provide the team with a gift to recognize the season, and UT's players, as they have in each of Brown's eight years at UT, chose a ring. So, Madden, Texas' Assistant Athletics Director for Strength & Conditioning consulted with the Longhorn team and Jostens to design their own version of a National Championship ring.
"We appreciate Jostens getting this done before the spring scrimmage," added coach Brown, whose Longhorns enter 2006 riding a NCAA-leading 20-game winning streak, "because we wanted the guys to have their rings and understand that Saturday is the kickoff to next year's season."
During the team meeting, when it was announced that the rings had arrived, the surprise and excitement was obvious amongst the players.
"This is an indescribable feeling," explained Rimington Trophy (nation's top center) candidate Lyle Sendlein. "It's crazy how one large ring can symbolize a lot of hard work and a whole lot of effort."
"It was a long year, but when you see these rings, you know all that hard work paid off," said cornerback Aaron Ross. "I think this is why people come to The University of Texas, but I sure didn't think the prize was going to look like this."
"From a small town like mine, high school football is a big thing, just growing up, I always just wanted to play for my high school, I never even thought of playing in college, much less Texas," said wide receiver Billy Pittman. "Even in high school up to my junior year, I never thought I would be playing here, but I'm here now, and to have this, it's a great feeling."
The younger members of the team were especially gracious.
"I'm just so thankful to have had the opportunity to win a championship with these guys," said defensive tackle Roy Miller, who played as a true freshman on the 2005 squad. "Everything that has come our way this year has been a blessing."
The members of the 2005 team now have that symbol they'll be able to keep for the rest of their lives, but as coach Brown stated to the team during the meeting, this puts the finishing touches on a memorable 2005 season, one that will be celebrated for years to come. However, with the Spring Scrimmage on Saturday, the Texas Longhorns have their sights set on 2006 and defending the crown they worked so hard to achieve.
"They know what it takes to be champions," Brown said. "They've been committed all spring and now they have to work even harder in the off-season to go out there and have another great year in 2006."
