Chris Weatherd Chronicles His Weekend Visit To Tennessee
Photo provided by Chris Weatherd
This past week, the Tennessee Football program played host to many recruits and current commits for Foundation Week. The week consisted of camps, recruiting visits, commitments, and the growth of the Volunteer family. Many of the current commits for the 2014 class were in Knoxville getting to know the program, the coaches, and each other better. One such commit was JUCO linebacker Chris Weatherd.
Chris is the number one JUCO linebacker in the country, from Trinity Valley Community College in Athens, TX. 247Sports rates him as a four-star recruit. Last week he was a victim of a cruel internet rumor claiming he had died in a car crash, but he is actually alive and well. He was kind enough to chronicle his visit to Tennessee for us. Here is what number 42 had to say:
Friday:
We left Athens, TX at 8:00 in the morning to take this 12 hour trip to Knoxville. I have been yearning for this trip for about 2 months now and it had finally came, I knew that I was going to be happy even before I got to Knoxville. My coach (Coach Pond) drove me 12 hours to Tennessee, I believe that he plays a big part in who I am today and why I chose to go to UT. On the trip we stopped plenty of times to get some grub because being on the road for a long time does that to you.
The drive was so amazing I mean just beautiful geography across the map. I took a couple of naps but they were really short because I didn’t want to miss anything. When we finally reached Memphis, Tennessee my heart just dropped because I felt that much closer to Knox which was unbelievable.. The long stretch to Knox was coming to an end, that’s when I knew the fun had begun!
I arrived at Hess Hall and met up with Coach Knight to get assigned to our dorms. At that point I didn’t know whether to be super happy or freaking excited! We got assigned our rooms and the first person I see walk up to me was Vic Wharton. We were both excited to see each other and it felt like we have been knowing each other since birth! After that I got settled, I met up with some more commits; Jalen Hurd, Rashaan Gaulden, Jerome Dews, Vic Wharton, and Neiko Creamer. I’ll tell you what, those guys are like my brothers. They are really funny and I know I am going to have a fun time with them. We went out had some fun and what not then I realized my big day was tomorrow so I had to get some rest.
Saturday:
Saturday started at 10 am when I got picked up by Coach Gibson and he took me to all the coaches. They all seemed really excited to see me and I felt like I had 12 dads that I have known all my life. The atmosphere just felt incredible. After that I viewed all of the facilities and I was blown away to actually see them in person. Such an honor to be able to be in those facilities and know that I am going to be in them come January.
Being around all the commits and being well known in Tennessee made me so happy because it felt like home. I also got to meet Jason Croom, Tiny Richardson, and AJ Johnson. Those are a great group of men. The whole trip was amazing and I am so glad that I committed to UT. I am so pumped. I know I will make an impact and be a big part of the team and I just cant wait until I get up there for good!
Chris Weatherd is a player Volunteer fans can be excited about. Not only is he super talented, but he is a humble kid who works hard and is very appreciative of the opportunity he has been given at Tennessee. Weatherd will enroll in January and will go through spring practice for the Vols.