Open letter to Joe Tereshinski

On Saturday you will lead your team onto a field of battle I'm sure you have dreamed of since an early age. You probably dreamed of this moment earlier than most of us because of your family ties to the team.

Your Grandfather fought on this battlefield as did your father, and now it is your time. We know you didn't expect it to be like this, but you have prepared for this moment for most of your life.

This is what you have been laboring for during these past few springs and long hot summers as well as fall practices. You have paid your dues in the not always appreciated assignments on special teams and mopup duties; but we have never heard you complain.

In the heat of battle on Saturday against one of our most hated foes, a time will come when things do not go as you planned. You may reach a time when you may be confused and are tempted to get a little down and are tempted to give up. It is then you must look deep inside yourself.

It is then you must feel the red and black running through your veins. It is then you must remember who you are... You are a Bulldawg. You must hear the voices and footsteps of the Bulldawg greats who have ran this field before you and always found a way to beat the hated orange lizards. They all found a way when it was said it couldn't be done... Appleby, Washington, Hoage, Goff, Lindsey and Buck.

We don't expect you to be perfect. We expect you to take a deep breath of Gator Bowl air and enjoy this moment in the sun. This is your birthright. Our beloved coach has chosen you to lead us, and that's all the credentials you will ever need.

This is your destiny, this is your moment. Enter the battle knowing that the entire Bulldawg Nation is behind you and you will not need to fight the battle alone.

We lift our barks as one and say - We are proud that you are a Dawg!
Now go kick the living S*#t out of em!!

With deepest respect,

The Bulldawg Nation