OK, this is too much... Vandy has a 30-year-old walk-on on the roster who's also a military vet?

[BrentVU]

I was doing a deep dive on the online roster and noticed that Vandy has added (sometime in August) a guy named Thomas Smith, a 6-1, 226-pound "fifth-year senior" from South Windsor, Connecticut, wearing No. 93. Nothing too big about that; walk-ons from the student body typically try to join the roster all the time. Most of them don't last too long; a few end up playing on scout teams.

But I went on to read his bio... played two years in high school at East Manchester, Conn.; walked on as a safety at Notre Dame, was simultaneously in ROTC... went on to serve in the U.S. Navy as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal Officer :o ... that caught my eye.

https://vucommodores.com/sports/footbal ... mas-smith/

So I figured he must have had a connection with Clark Lea at Notre Dame... Nope! I Googled him... turns out he was on the roster at Notre Dame in the 2010-11 season... which means by now he has to be at least 30 or 31 years old! Unbelievable! :o Here's a photo of him doing the "Rudy" thing eleven years ago...

https://und.com/roster/thomas-smith/

Hey Aria Gerson, now there's a story for you! Playing college football at that age! And listed as a tight end to boot! I sure would like to know more.

And hey, Thomas Smith, all of us old guys are rooting for you to get a little playing time Saturday night.

[AuricGoldfinger]

So I figured he must have had a connection with Clark Lea at Notre Dame... Nope! I Googled him... turns out he was on the roster at Notre Dame in the 2010-11 season... which means by now he has to be at least 30 or 31 years old! Unbelievable! :o Here's a photo of him doing the "Rudy" thing eleven years ago...

As I was scanning this post, I initially thought I read that he played with Rudy...

That's an extraordinary find, Brent.

[historybill]

Also, he and his wife are expecting their second child. Must be good to have a guy so much older and mature in the locker room.

I would assume that he'll be carrying the flag when the team runs out onto the field Sat night, right?

Wonder why the athletic dept said anything about this... Isn't this a story?

[katmai]

Also, he and his wife are expecting their second child. Must be good to have a guy so much older and mature in the locker room.

I would assume that he'll be carrying the flag when the team runs out onto the field Sat night, right?

Wonder why the athletic dept said anything about this... Isn't this a story?

I assume that he is in graduate school. His wife graduated from the Naval Academy in 2011. One reason they may not be promoting it is that there is no guarantee that he will dress for any game with the roster limitations.

[VUadmiral]

For non conference games, there has not been a limit on dressing players. This is for conference games where the limitations start. I think someone with military experience and the discipline which comes with it will be helpful to the team and the coaching staff, even if he is just a practice player. I believe that we will see quite a bit of him on special teams.

The Admiral,
ANCHOR DOWN and lets get this thing started!!!!!
I'm ready for football!

[Seadog73]

And there's this, look at the family history in swimming - wife, mother. Who else in Vandy football lore had a background in swimming? There are two that I can think of. Kyle Shurmer, who gave swimming up after high school. And former WR Doug Martin, who didn't give it, and was a dual sport star at VU in the early to mid- 70's, starting at WR in football and placing in the SEC swimming championships in the sprint freestyle events and competing on relays.

[historybill]

You may remember that South Carolina had a 39 year old veteran named Tim Frisby on its football team back in 2004.

[VU1970]

If it’s old guys they want, I’m ready if they need me.

[JWCommodore]

And there's this, look at the family history in swimming - wife, mother. Who else in Vandy football lore had a background in swimming? There are two that I can think of. Kyle Shurmer, who gave swimming up after high school. And former WR Doug Martin, who didn't give it, and was a dual sport star at VU in the early to mid- 70's, starting at WR in football and placing in the SEC swimming championships in the sprint freestyle events and competing on relays.

Yes, what caught my attention was that his wife was a 4 year letter winning swimmer at the Naval Academy. Pretty awesome.....

[dore74]

very inspiring young man (life is a relative sport). pulling for him to get some playing time and not get hurt.