For a few hours yesterday I got a short glimpse into what it's like to be a college football player playing in a big-time bowl game. I came from Kansas and took the field, not to play Virginia Tech, but to run a camera along the sidelines.
We arrived at the stadium early, got the anticipation and build up of waiting for the game to start and looked around an empty stadium that would soon be filled with almost 74,000 people.
While admittedly running a camera isn't quite as strenuous as two-a-days, it was hard work, it was tiring, but most of all it was exhilarating.
The weather in Miami was surprisingly chilly. One Miami resident said it was the coldest weather he could remember in the 40 years he's lived here. Because of this I'm still not sure whether the goosebumps I got during the opening kickoff were from the weather or just the thrill of the moment.
As the game went on I moved around the stadium constantly trying to get as close to the action as I could. I went from sideline to sideline, end zone to end zone probably covering more ground than any player in the game.
Then as the game ended and Todd Reesing hurled the ball into the air I sprinted onto the field like a bull released from the gates in Pamplona looking for anyone in a red Kansas jersey.
Players danced around me, they shouted messages into my camera, threw oranges and put on their Orange Bowl champion hats and shirts. Third-string quarterback and fellow Shawnee Mission West graduate Tyler Lawrence walked up to me shook my hand and said, "Mr. Mertel, I'm glad you could be here."
After the players cleared the field their accomplishments finally seemed to set in during the post-game press conferences.
"We won the Orange Bowl fellas!" Aqib Talib shouted across the room. "Hey Mute, we won the Orange Bowl!" He shouted to teammate Marcus Henry.
"To finally be at this point, at the top, finishing 12-1, it's awesome. It's ecstasy." Todd Reesing said.
"Words can't describe what it feels like right now," Joe Mortensen said, "I, I just can't describe it."
Well Joe, I'm doing my best to do it for you.
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