It’s been a long, long time since I slipped on shoulder pads. Eleven years, to be exact.
That changed last week.
I spent Thursday through Saturday down in Lubbock, Texas, for Patrick Mahomes’ visit to his alma mater in the wake of Texas Tech’s new deal with Adidas -- which counts the Chiefs QB among its clients. But before Mahomes arrived on Friday to announce the signing of six Red Raider athletes to NIL deals, a handful of media members and I were put through a mock recruiting visit.
Admittedly, I arrived a bit after the guided tour around campus due to some scheduling conflicts. Once I did get to town, the group was taken through the vast concourses and club levels of Jones AT&T Stadium into the Red Raiders’ game-day locker room. A locker was set up for each of us, complete with a jersey, helmet, shoulder pads, pants, arm bands, an arm sleeve, socks and cleats.
Listen, the whole Road to Glory thing in EA Sports College Football 25 is cool, but getting your own locker in a Power Four stadium took the cake.
I’ll concede it took me a few minutes to remember how tight the jersey/shoulder pad combo was. After a few minutes wiggling around like a crazy person, I finally got those on.
Also, no one told me I needed to be in shape for this visit. Tough scene. My running regimen starts today on account of this discovery.
After squeezing my way into the uniform, we made our way over to another room tucked underneath the stadium where a pair of Texas Tech’s in-house photographers greeted us, complete with a Texas Tech/Adidas/Mahomes-themed backdrop.
Whether because I volunteered or drew the short straw is neither here nor there. I stepped in front of the backdrop first out of the group. There I was directed through a few of the most popular poses recruits flash during their time visiting with coach Joey McGuire and his staff -- and, yes, I did flash the Heisman for good measure.
After about 45 minutes cycling through the media members on site, we ventured out onto the field where the West Texas heat blasted our faces. With temperatures reaching well over 100 degrees, let’s just say I’m glad we weren’t getting ready to run any Oklahoma drills or kick off three-a-days (although I think I saw a few ghosts from my high school football days flash before my eyes).
There on the turf we posed for a few more photos and tossed the footballs that had been dug up during our initial photoshoot around the field before heading back to the locker room to cool off.
As I ditched the jersey and slipped my shoulder pads off for the day, I had one last thought: “When do walk-on tryouts start?”
