Liberty Bowl tops football experience
Stilley ends season on happy note
Editor’s note: This is the first installment of TCU diaries, a reoccurring feature on the Sports Page which will explore the insights into the lives of TCU’s athletes.

The Liberty Bowl was the best bowl our football team has been to in the five years that I’ve been at TCU. The hospitality, freedom and atmosphere took the cake over all the other bowls. The moment our team stepped off the bus in Memphis to the time we came home, we were treated with the utmost respect and hospitality. In the past, some bowls just left us on our own with no direction. The Liberty Bowl made sure we knew where to go and where not to go. Any time the team traveled together we had several Memphis police officers escorting us to our destination.

I have been to all the rodeos, hockey games and barbecues that come along with most bowls. I have learned that if our team attends all the events and also goes to entertain themselves with very little free time, we are exhausted and agitated with one another when it’s time to play the game. At the Liberty Bowl, we were given a lot of time to spend on our own. We only had two mandatory events, which were a dinner at Jillian’s, which is like a Dave and Busters, and a luncheon for the city. Both events were within the first two days we were there and were held with both teams present. This bowl was set up for us to work hard and then have a lot of time to just enjoy ourselves.

A typical day would have us up around 9:00 a.m., attend position meetings and then go straight to practice. Our four best practices of the year were probably at the bowl site. Usually by this time in the year everyone is sick and tired of each other and sick and tired of practicing, but this year we pushed on and worked hard when it was time to work. Again I believe this is because we weren’t worn out all week with events. After practice we would be given the rest of the day and night off to do whatever we wanted.

There was a tremendous atmosphere surrounding the bowl game. How could anyone argue with a five-night stay at the famous Peabody Hotel right off of Beale Street in Memphis? TCU friends, family, fans and the famous Peabody ducks could be found congregating throughout the lobby at all hours of the day making us feel right at home. There were an endless number of restaurants to eat at and a great dueling piano bar that housed two of the most passionate goats I have ever seen. Even if it was just a night with a couple buddies watching movies and playing games up in the room, we enjoyed ourselves.

To top the bowl trip off was a pep rally leading up to the game. As our band, cheerleaders and showgirls marched down Beale Street, our fans roared much louder than the Colorado State fans. The support for a TCU team was the best I have seen in all my life. When we got to the game and the whistle finally blew, we outdid them on the sidelines, in the stands and on the field. CSU was not ready for what was in store that day as we fought for the last time together. For myself, I couldn’t have made up an ending any better. Thanks TCU!

As a senior, the emotions I felt are hard to explain. I kept thinking this is the last for everything. This is my last practice, my last pre-game meal, my last time to run out onto the field as a Horned Frog and last time to play a game. “Forget all that,” I told myself. The wind was blowing as the temperature dropped. The rain was off and on, making conditions miserable for anyone except the seniors who were playing in their last game. I enjoyed and pressed on one last time with nothing to lose and nothing to fear. I told myself to lay it all out and in the end I’d be victorious no matter what.

It all came together so clear that my short career playing for TCU was coming to a close, and all I had within my control was to play as hard as I possibly could for one last game. I knew that on the long ride back to Fort Worth on New Year’s Day I would no longer be a TCU football player but rather a part of its great history. Failure was not an option for my teammates or me. We had worked too hard and were coached too well for that. The final horn sounded, and we were victorious. All the emotional ups and downs in my career were all worth it, for we were not just Conference USA champs but Liberty Bowl champs as well. All I had left was a horse voice, a pounding heart and a tear in my eye for I was going to take my pads off one last time as a Horned Frog and conclude yet another chapter in my life.

— Sean Stilley