Former Terps Speak Out

This was on Facebook. A former player posted a picture of the 2001 ACC Championship ring and a couple bowl championship rings from the 2002 season (Peach) and 2003 (Gator) bowls. Later a conversation among several former Terps from those years took place.  A lot of interesting thoughts about the past and some thoughts on the current Terps. I won't reveal who the players were but after reading this I got chills and a bit of a sense of pride being a lifetime Maryland Football fan.

Ahhh the good old days when MD was a national threat

Yeah, I miss it a little!

Bowl game days!!!!!!!!!!!

Talking bout giving Fat Man the curtain call

Isn't coach Franklin on deck

He should be. Remember the good old days of Taffe and Blackney...no one talked about them then, but I bet they wonder where they are now...

It’s not just him.....Franks offense sucks. But to give them the benefit of the doubt the whole damn team is young. But Middle Tennessee State though....unacceptable

It was a good run, but turn off the light and close the doors; the gig's up. Ralph kind of has himself to blame.

It’s just not the same, yet we were the recruiting rejects. We were starving they don’t even have an appetite. They ate too well from our success. I’ve worked out with them and they cheat themselves thinking they are getting over on the coaches but they just cheating their self and brothers. We all bought in, we all wanted it, we all believed we played our roles. Inside Gossett we were a Family on that field. We were DIRTY TERPS. No matter if it was a walk on or five star recruit, we were all the same and all focused and did what it took. We had an all star coaching staff, and great players! I’m still proud to be a Terp.

There was leadership. Times have changed, it’s not the same. [Players] led by example. They could talk the talk and walk the walk... not present anymore.

Maybe its just me but they don’t even seem to play as if they are having fun out there


Its hard to say. They graduated 30 seniors last year. 28 of them played in every game and about 16 started every game either d or o. They are young and have no experience....

I don't know the current players and what their motives are but our team was pretty damn good. We started at the bottom but we desired to be respected and we desired to win. We held each other accountable and we developed an indescribable bond with one another along the way.

I've been to majority of the practices during training camp up until now and when I tell you that these players just don't have that IT factor like we did. Its not an exaggeration. We were willing to do whatever it took to win. Also keep in mind we had one of the best coaching staffs in Maryland history. Blackney was a genius. Taffe always had us in the right position to win. Looking back on it WE WERE THE ****! Unbelievable talent. The best secondary... The OL and LBs, best in MD history. These guys lack the talent level we had. We built a winning foundation because we were not spoiled and we finally realized our potential.

Talent aside doesn’t really matter if Ralph believed in us or not we were tired of losing. What he did do was give us all hope and everyone a purpose with a plan. They put us in position to be successful. We won together, we bleed together. It started with chemistry. Didn’t matter if it was in the dorms or weight room we were growing together. Folks may not have liked one another but they respected each other.

We believed in one another. On the field we trusted one another to do their job. We were all accountable. I believe you will not see another MD team as unique as we were. I wish we could do it all over again

What it really boils down to is believing in something that is bigger than yourself. We did it big because there was a point in time we all looked in each others' eyes and vowed to do it. The way we went from non-winning, to expecting double-digit wins per season. But, I bet if you asked anyone who was there as a player or coach if we were surprised, and the answer is no. It's cliché as anything, but believing is everything.


All they need is the general work ethic that our teams had.


We left the program better than it was when we got there but did we go wrong somewhere educating the younger guys about our beliefs, confidence, poise, will to win, and accountability?


Don't forget we actually decided as a team to fix it. Nobody told us to or had to give any speeches. All we did was believe and push on another. I can honestly say I would not have even graduated if it was not for the caliber of teammates I had around me. It basically comes down to being selfless.


Wow I can't believe how many Terps are on this post. The honest truth is that we did something that might never happen in College Park ever again. We had guys who gave a damn about the team and not just trying to get to the league [NFL]. And it showed on and off the field. Everyone chilled together and that made our bond on the field that much stronger. And it showed. That the main reason why we won games.

But how much do we really care? These are thoughts that shouldn't be shared just amongst us. That would be selfish. These words are words that should be shared with the ones who truly need it. The current Terps. We all take pride in being a Terp, that's undeniable. But if we really give a damn then we all...TOGETHER....need to have our voices heard as the team who built the winning foundation. Because honestly this is OUR legacy, just as it is theirs.


People forget that a head coach is only as good as the coaches and players he has around him.....which currently suck!!!! What happened to the team holding each other accountable and playing assignment football? I remember when everything was about execution and precision..... We didn't turn the ball over four times all season....This team does this game in and game out.......time has run it's course, time for a new coach.


My greatest moment on the field as a Terp was the moment the official put both his hands in the air to signal touchdown after Juilian made an unbelievable catch in the corner of the end zone against N.C. State on their home field. That play clinched a share of the ACC Title. For me that was the moment when every weight, every sprint, all the pain and toil, sweat and frustration had become valuable obstacles on the path to destiny.


1 2 3 ACC Champs!

That was my first ring.

This is the kind of dialogue that personifies everything that football means to true students of the game. Once the pads are hung up, degrees are earned, the real game begins, and that game is LIFE! Football has undeniably had an influence that shaped the paths of our development into the people we are today. Looking back on those times is healthy and necessary for many of us. Dirty Terps, forever brothers. We Still Ready! And with any luck the current Terps will get it going and be ready to, because if one more person talks **** to me about the Middle Tennesee loss ….

Crazy thing was we won and dominated every bowl game but that year [2001] yet who recalls the score, just memories of what it took to get there and experience down in South Beach [Orange Bowl] That season set the tone from then on. To lose a game felt like a losing season. 123 ACC champs once was a chant but slowly became a destiny!! We competed so hard every day against each other we felt our teammates were the best, so game time was all fun and games.

Our crew has a bond for a lifetime that only WE can truly understand. We made a promise to each other and showed up every single day to make good that promise. Rags to riches. Us against the world...even Ralph. Remember when we called him out at 5:45am, at winter work outs? "you in or you out?"


Nobody can touch the legacy we left on that campus!

What men can accomplish through sacrifice and hard work... we were hungry!

So much of it is about PRIDE. We all said it when we broke the huddles, just like we did with "ACC Champs" but it was the pride that we had in our TEAM and in OURSELVES that took us over the hump. We had a lot of talent on our teams, there's no denying that, but did we have the most talent in the league across the board?? Probably not. What we did have, and this has been said before on this board, is a bunch of guys with so much damn pride that we wouldn't accept mediocrity. You have to have enough guys on the team that just hate to lose more than anything - even more than they like to win.

Being given the chance to walk on at MD was the greatest thrill of my life. Having the opportunity to play with a group of guys who accepted me from day one, who cared about winning so much was something that I will cherish forever. There's something special about playing in your home town in front of your family and friends and representing the state of Maryland that one can't feel unless they've experienced it. All I can say is those were the best years of my life and nobody can take that way.


When I first got to MD all I wanted to do was to prove to myself and you guys as teammates and haters from home that I belonged. Playing Division-1 ACC football. When I put on my shoulder pads and helmet I felt as big as anyone out there. That mentality came from having a BIG HEART and great sense of PRIDE that all of you had as well. That’s what makes you great as an individual and as a team.


I was told that some of the key players of this year’s team were out at Bentley's after the overtime win over JMU acting like they just knocked off Miami. Now I would have stayed in my room all weekend and had been embarrassed to show my face if that happened to us. Last thing....I will always be a Terp and cherish all of you guys. I don’t think I have ever felt a since of loyalty towards a group of people in my life. In leaving MD I wanted to make an impression on the field, but most importantly in the locker room. I wanted my teammates to look at me and say, "I KNOW that cat got my back."

I just hope that some of the current Terps can see this, and feel the pride that used to be in MD football.