2010 Playoffs Round 1 vs Daleville

When our football team plays on Friday nights, their jerseys have T.R. Miller on the back of them.  Most people would say that the team represents our school when they play so it is appropriate that the name is on the jersey.  But I believe that that the name T.R. Miller is more than just a school.  It is a spirit that lives in our community and the name represents much more than just our school.

For we are all T.R. Miller.

George Grover brings food by occasionally for me to give to our players.  His grandson played for us and he has painted locker rooms and fields for us down through the years. George Grover is T.R. Miller.

Herman Bradley is one of the pastors who has done devotions for our football team for many years.  They have always been very motivational for our players. He had two sons who played for us back in the 90's who were both great players.  Herman Bradley is T.R. Miller.

Tripp Floyd is in the 7th grade and plays on our middle school football team.  His sister is a senior and is one of our cheerleaders.  It won't be long before Tripp is playing for the T.R. Miller Tigers.  Tripp Floyd is T.R. Miller.

Ben Kelley Strain is a former Miller football player who came to Homecoming recently.  Class of 1935.  He once asked me about one of our players who was hunting on his land.  I told him that the young man had quit.  " I  believe he is going to need another place to hunt," he said.  Ben Kelley Strain is T.R. Miller.

Juan Johnson played three different sports at Miller and today is a social studies teacher and football and basketball coach at Stanhope Elmore High School. He coaches at another school but he still bleeds T.R. Miller red.  Juan Johnson is T.R. Miller.

Shelley Johnson has been a math teacher at T.R. Miller for a hundred years.  She hates lazy students, tells me about the football players who won't do their work and dances at the pep rallys.  Shelley Johnson is T.R. Miller.

Pat Byrne works for the Liberty Bowl in Memphis.  He was a great quarterback and kicker leading us to the state championship in 2000.  He played for the University of Memphis. His father Brad played for T.R. Miller also.  So did his grandfather Scotty.......and his brother Bradley.  And his uncle Chippy and Chippy's son Scott and so on. All the Byrnes are T.R. Miller.

Marc Edge is our assistant head coach.  He also teaches history and he is in charge of clean up and he coaches outside linebackers and he helps with the offensive line and his son Marc is on our team and his daughter Katie was a cheerleader the last three years and his wife Becky is our guidance counselor and he stays up late at night watching the video so he can help our team play better.  When times are tough you can always count on him.  Marc Edge is T.R. Miller.

We have many fans who will not be able to attend this week's game.  But they will be listening to every word on the radio.  Many of their children played for Miller or were cheerleaders or band members.  Some of them have cheered the team for years.  They are T.R. Miller.

We are all T.R. Miller.

Some of the most spectacular things in life are hard to explain or define.  Can you explain the beauty of the late afternoon orange colored sky?  "Class" is hard for me to put into words but easy for me to recognize when I see it in a person.  As I have gotten older I have come to understand that sometimes it is better to enjoy and celebrate these things rather than to always analyze them.

So I celebrate the T.R. Miller spirit.  It has inspired many great accomplishments for many years.  Once it touches us it seems to effect our actions and thoughts, and it seems to do it for many years.  It refuses to quit.  The Miller spirit allows for failures but rejoices in comebacks.  And it binds us all together but never more than when the football team charges on the field with that name on the back of its jersey.

Andrew "Zeke" Johnson has been my friend for 35 years.  He is our manger emeritus.  He always believes that we will win.  He does many things for our team and puts out the pants and jerseys for them before every game. He is generally recognized as a representative of the spirit of T.R. Miller.  Rightly so.

He is T.R. Miller.

We are all T.R. Miller.