Tennessee football: Donte Stallworth joins Vols WR online meeting
A week after Peyton Manning met with Tennessee football quarterbacks, Donte Stallworth met with Volunteers wide receivers in an online meeting.
Former Vols continue to make their presence known amidst the coronavirus outbreak. Last week, Peyton Manning spoke to the quarterbacks. This week, Tennessee football wide receivers coach Tee Martin brought in a legend at that position.
Obviously, considering the fact that the Vols are known as Wide Receiver U, there are plenty of people Martin could have found. However, he turned to Donte Stallworth, who had an NFL career that lasted over a decade after his three years on Rocky Top.
Stallworth spoke to receivers on Tuesday about purpose and taking a little bit from other elite receivers who came before him, noting that he took a bit from Joey Kent, Marcus Nash and Peerless Price. Video of him was posted on Tennessee football’s Twitter account.
#VFL @DonteStallworth stopped by to drop some knowledge with the WR room!
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) April 8, 2020
"When you think about why you're doing it, have a purpose for everything you do."#PoweredByTheT pic.twitter.com/FOtENkvGLL
From 1999 to 2001, Stallworth grew into a go-to receiver for the Vols. In 2001, he missed three games due to a wrist injury, but when he returned, he had an incredible finish to the season. Stallworth, Kelley Washington and Jason Witten combined with Travis Stephens and an elite offensive line made for an array of amazing weapons Casey Clausen had to work with.
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By the end of the year, he had 821 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns along with a punt return for a touchdown despite missing those games. He finished his Tennessee football career with 99 receptions for 1,347 yards and 13 touchdowns.
After that, Stallworth was drafted by the New Orleans Saints, where he played for four years. He then spent time with the Philadelphia Eagles, New England Patriots, Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens and Washington Redskins.
Given that success, Stallworth was the perfect guy to talk to the receivers. UT is trying to go back to the era of Stallworth and other players with a wide range of options heading into 2020. They need to figure out what to do.
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Last year, the Vols had Marquez Callaway and Jauan Jennings as their primary receivers, but both are gone. Guys like Josh Palmer, Brandon Johnson, Ramel Keyton and numerous transfers and freshmen will be looked at in order to fill that void. Stallworth arrived having to fill a void left by Price and then one left by Cedrick Wilson, so he is familiar with that as well.