You might say I was lucky or destined to lead the University of Tennessee’s football team onto the field before kickoff of the 1999 Fiesta Bowl, wearing a hand-colored tuxedo and a dyed orange hat, known as The Big Orange Tux. Here’s a fun look back at my Tennessee roots, and volunteer passion that stretches across four generations. John T. O’Connor, my maternal great-grandfather served as mayor of Knoxville from 1932 to 1935. He picked up the nickname “Punch” over a boxing career that started in the 1890s and fought many rounds in Knoxville’s Irish Town. The nickname stuck with him as a politician, signifying Punch was a man who got things done. The John T. O’Connor Senior Center, which is located in the northeastern corner of old Irish Town, was named after him. While Punch was winning boxing matches, University of Tennessee’s  football program was just getting started. By the time he was elected mayor, General Robert Neyland had shaped the Vols into one of the best teams in the country. I found a picture of my grandfather, John A. O’Connor, the son of Punch, and my grandmother at a game in 1938, the year Tennessee won its first national championship. I don’t believe it’s a coincidence that DeeDee (my childhood name for him) was wearing the same type of hat in the picture that I wore for the 1998 championship game, though his hat probably wasn’t dyed orange.

Almost every grandparent, uncle, aunt, and cousin on my father’s side of the family attended the University of Tennessee. My dad, James Allen Greene, MD, had a passion for the Volunteers that started when he was a baby and fueled him all the way to becoming chairman of psychiatry at the University of Tennessee in 2008. Throughout my childhood, I heard stories of Dad attending marquee games. He enrolled at the University of Tennessee in 1956, and to help pay for his education he delivered the morning paper. His route included the college homes of several football players, including Johnny Majors. Dad said many of the football players lived in the stadium, as they didn’t have separate athletic dorms at the time. My family’s enthusiasm for the University of Tennessee was contagious and naturally I caught it. I still remember the day when Tennessee beat Mississippi State in the Southeast Conference title game, and I asked my dad if I should attend the national title game in Tempe, Arizona. “Son, it has been 50 years since the Vols were on this stage, so you need to go and enjoy every minute of it,” he said. Well, I did, and without question I enjoyed every minute of wearing The Big Orange Tux. Walking onto the field with the College GameDay crew, and holding onto my orange hat as I ran beside Smokey in the Big Orange Tux and witnessed thousands of fans cheer as the Vols took the field was an unforgettable memory.