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STEVE RAINS

RECRUITED BY FELLOW TENNESSEE TECH ALUM MARTY BRADLEY, STEVE RAINS SPENT A BIT OF TIME ON THE WING FOR KNOXVILLE

FULL NAME:
RUGBY NICKNAME:
POSSUM CAREER: 1990-1991
POSSUM NUMBER: 97
HEIGHT: 5-11
WEIGHT: 185
POSITIONS PLAYED: WING

BUBBA RALL

A RAIL-THIN, WHITE-HAIRED WINGER, BUBBA RALL WAS A POSSUM FIXTURE FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS, WHETHER GETTING IN THE OCCASIONAL MATCH, OR BRINGING BABY POSSUMS TO THE FORKS.

"YOU ALWAYS WORRIED ABOUT BUBBA GETTING BROKEN IN HALF BECAUSE HE WAAS SO SKINNY," SAID PAT DORWIN. "BUT HE WAS A TOUGH SUMBITCH."

FULL NAME:
RUGBY NICKNAME:
POSSUM CAREER: 1981-1989
POSSUM NUMBER: 32
HEIGHT: 6-1
WEIGHT: 160
POSITIONS PLAYED: WING

MEMORIES: RAISED "AWESOME THE POSSUM," ONE OF MANY ORPHANED MARSUPIALS BUBBA NURSED BACK TO HEALTH

OCCUPATION: POSSUM TRAINER

VAL REICH

SELECTED TO ALL-TIME POSSUM TEAM AS C SIDE SCRUMHalf

THE CONSUMATE SCRUMHALF, VAL REICH PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE DRAWN MORE VOTES FOR THE ALL-TIME POSSUM TEAMS, BUT THERE WERE NOT MANY VOTERS, PLUS NOT MANY OF THOSE PLAYED WITH HIM.

HE COULD BE ABRASIVE - BOTH ON AND OFF THE FIELD, BUT ON THE PITCH HE JUST WANTED TO GET UNDER YOUR SKIN AND TAKE YOU OUT OF YOUR GAME.

"I SAW VAL IN AND OUT OF VARYING DEGREES OF SHAPE, BUT THE TALENT WAS ALWAYS THERE," SAID PAT DORWIN. "I CAN IMAGINE HE WAS A FORCE AT NO. 9."

REICH TOLD DORWIN HE ONCE SCORED 50 TOTAL POINTS IN A LONG AFTERNOON AT FULTON BOTTOMS.

"HE MENTIONED THAT ONLY A SINGLE TIME, SO I BELIEVE HE DID IT."

POSSUM CAREER: 1980-1990

POSSUM NUMBER: 12

HEIGHT: 5-11

WEIGHT: 180-215

POSITION: SCRUMHALF

BARRY RICE

"WHAT COMES OUT OF A CHINAMAN'S ASS?"

"RICE, RICE, RICE," WAS THE QUESTION AND ANSWER ART REYNOLDS WOULD ASK - LOUDLY - AT LEAST ONCE EVERY MATCH BARRY RICE WAS INVOLVED IN.

RICE WAS A STOCKY, ATHLETIC CENTER WHO PLAYED A BIT FOR KNOXVILLE AFTER MOVING OVER FROM UT.

FULL NAME: BARRY QUENTIN RICE
RUGBY NICKNAME:
POSSUM CAREER: 1988-1991
POSSUM NUMBER: 70
HEIGHT: 5-9
WEIGHT: 205
POSITIONS PLAYED: CENTER

JIMMY RICHARDSON

POSSUM CAREER: 1980-1981

POSSUM NUMBER: 14

STEVE ROADS

SELECTED TO ALL-TIME POSSUM TEAM AS C SIDE LOCK

STUCK IN A CLEVELAND HOTEL ROOM, A GROUP OF DREARY KNOXVILLE 7s PLAYERS FOUND THEIR BOREDOM SOON DISAPPEAR AS VETERAN 15s LOCK AND 7s PROP STEVE ROADS DRANK MORE AND MORE TRUTH SERUM - BEER TO YOU AND ME.

IT SEEMS "SKYLAB" (STEVE WAS 6-FOOT-5) PLAYED HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL AGAINST FORMER NFL GREAT KEITH BYARS. AT FIRST, IT WAS MAN (BYARS) VS. BOY (STEVE).

BUT EACH BEER TURNED SKYLAB'S STORY AROUND AND AROUND UNTIL IT WAS THE CLASH OF THE TITANS EACH TIME THEY PLAYED EACH OTHER. WITH BRIAN NIEKERK EGGING ON THE SITUATION, SKYLAB WAS SOON THE MAN WHO GOT THE BEST OF BYARS EVERY TIME.

NIEKERK WAS ALSO BEHIND "APPLICATION-GATE," AS STEVE, A LAWYER FOR UT , WAS LOOKING TO CHANGE JOBS. BRIAN WOULD PICK UP AN APPLICATION EVERYWHERE HE STOPPED AND THE PAPERWORK WOULD MYSTERIOUSLY MAKE ITS WAY TO STEVE.

"I REMEMBER ONE TIME WE STOPPED AT A GROCERY STORE," SAID PAT DORWIN. "THEY ACTUALLY HAD HUGE APPLICATIONS ON THE BACK OF THE LARGE PAPER BAGS THEY PUT OUR GROCERIES IN. THERE'S NO TELLING HOW MANY OF THOSE BRIAN SENT STEVE OR EVEN FILLED OUT HIMSELF."

ALSO A STRONG 7s PLAYER AT LOCK FOR THE KARS.

ROADS LATER MOVED TO NASHVILLE WITH HIS WIFE KIM (OF 'LITTLE BIG TOWN' FAME).

STEVE TRAGICALLY PASSED AWAY A FEW YEARS AGO.

FULL NAME: STEVEN WILLIAM ROADS
RUGBY NICKNAME: SKYLAB
POSSUM CAREER: 1987-1993
POSSUM NUMBER: 59
HEIGHT: 6-5
WEIGHT: 240
POSITIONS PLAYED: LOCK

ART REYNOLDS

SELECTED TO ALL-TIME POSSUMS TEAM AS A SIDE FLANKER

ART REYNOLDS INFLUENCED MANY GENERATIONS OF POSSUMS - AND CONTINUES TO DO SO - BE IT FROM HIS HARD-NOSED PLAYING, PULLING HIS FINGER, COOKING TURKEYS, PASSING OUT "YARD BEERS," HIS EPIC BATTLES WITH KEITH JOHNSON OF CHATTANOOGA, HIS SINGING AND STORYTELLING, HIS TITANIC VOLUME FOR SILVER BULLETS AND BIG GULPS TO HIS WAY TO MAKE EVERYONE LAUGH ALONG WITH HIM.

"WITHOUT A DOUBT, ART IS MY FAVORITE POSSUM BECAUSE HE WAS THE FACE OF EARLY KNOXVILLE PLAYERS, " SAID LONGTIME TEAMMATE PAT DORWIN. "WE WANTED TO BEAT YOUR ASS ON THE PITCH, AND IF WE COULDN'T DO IT THERE, ART WAS DAMN SURE WE WERE GOING TO WIN THE PARTY."

A FORMER UT LINEBACKER AND WORLD FOOTBALL LEAGUE PLAYER, REYNOLDS WAS BUILDING UP HIS BUSINESS AS THE POSSUMS FORMED, SO IT WASN'T UNTIL 1981 HE RE-ENERGIZED HIS RUGBY CAREER.

ART MADE A SIDE FLANKER ON THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY ALL-TIME POSSUMS TEAM, DESPITE BEING NAMED ON JUST SIX OF 21 BALLOTS, BUT THAT WAS GOOD FOR 43 TOTAL POINTS.

HIS SON, GARRETT, A HIGH SCHOOL RUGBY PLAYER AT CARTER, WENT ON TO PLAY COLLEGE FOOTBALL AT NORTH CAROLINA, BEFORE BEING DRAFTED BY ATLANTA IN THE FIFTH ROUND IN 2009.

"IF GARRETT DOESN'T EVENTUALLY BECOME A STARTER ON AN OFFENSIVE LINE SOMEWHERE IN THE NFL, I LOOK FOR HIM TO PLAY ABOUT FIVE YEARS AND THEN SIGN AN OVERSEAS RUGBY CONTRACT," SAID PAT DORWIN. "GARRETT'S A LONG WAY FROM DRESSING UP IN CAMAFLOUGE, WEARING HIS WORLD WAR II HELMET AND SHOOTING AT US FROM THE TREES DURING POST-MATCH PARTIES AT ART'S. HE'S GOT THE SIZE AND NATURAL SKILLS TO BECOME AN EAGLE."

ART WAS GREATLY INFLUENTIAL IN LEADING A RATHER RAG-TAG GROUP OF POSSUMS TO A 7s CHAMPIONSHIP IN JOHNSON CITY IN THE MID-1990s, MEMBERS OF THE TEAM INCLUDED DORWIN, BRIAN NIEKERK, DOUG BROWN, GREGG GIDDISH, BUCK ROGERS, RICHARD HOLLAND AND OSCAR DOSTER, AMONG OTHERS.

"NO FRANK BENNETT, NO STEVE CUNNINGHAM, NO 'SKYLAB' AND NO MARTY BRADLEY," SAID DORWIN.

AND JUST A FEW TRIES SCORED AGAINST THE POSSUMS, ON THEIR WAY TO AN UNDEFEATED DAY.

"ART - AND HIS RED SHOES - HAD PLENTY TO DO WITH THAT," DORWIN SAID. "GUTS AND A STRONG WILL CAN CARRY A TEAM FURTHER THAN TALENT CAN SOME TIMES."

FULL NAME: ARTHUR McKINLEY REYNOLDS
RUGBY NICKNAME: ART THE FART; THE ARTINATOR
POSSUM CAREER: 1981-1996
POSSUM NUMBER: 27

HEIGHT: 6-2
WEIGHT: 220
POSITIONS PLAYED: FLANKER, CENTER

BUTCH ROBERTSON

LONG-TIME UT HEAD COACH.

POSSUM NUMBER: 24

MARTIN ROBINETTE

POSSUM CAREER: 1991
POSSUM NUMBER: 108

BUCK ROGERS

AN ALWAYS HUSTLING FORWARD (EVEN IF HE WAS AT A TROT), ROGERS WAS ANOTHER PLAYER WHO JUST SEEMED DESTINED TO BE A POSSUM.

A BIG LAD ALWAYS IN THE THICK OF THINGS, ROGERS WAS PROTECTED TO THE HILT. WITH HIS SOCKS PULLED UP HIGH AND SCRUM CAP, ABOUT THE ONLY FLESH YOU COULD SEE ON HIM WAS HIS KNEECAPS.

"THIS WAS, OF COURSE, LONG BEFORE BRIAN NIEKERK MADE GREEN KNEE PADS SO FASHIONABLE," SAID PAT DORWIN.

PLAYED A COUPLE OF STINTS WITH THE POSSUMS BEFORE A SERIOUS THROAT INJURY CURTAILED HIS PLAYING DAYS BUT NOT HIS SUPPORT.

FULL NAME: JOHN DAVID ROGERS
RUGBY NICKNAME: BUCK
POSSUM CAREER: 1984-1992; 1995-1998
POSSUM NUMBER: 45
HEIGHT: 6-2
WEIGHT: 234
POSITIONS PLAYED: LOCK

OFFICES HELD: CAPTAIN, SOCIAL CHAIR
MEMORIES: WORLD CUP TOUR, 1987; HONORARY OLD BOY, UT AND MTSU
PERSONAL QOUTATIONS: "TACKLE LOW."
BIRTHDATE: 10-14-61
BIRTHPLACE: EL CENTRO, CALIF.
RESIDES: KNOXVILLE

FAMILY: WIFE, SUZANNE; SON, CALEB; AND DAUGHTER, ANNA

OCCUPATION: SHIPPING AND RECEIVING, CARR REHAB

JOHN ROSE

A STOCKY PLAYER, JOHN ROSE PLAYED A NUMBER OF POSITIONS FOR THE POSSUMS, ALTHOUGH HE WAS PRIMAILY A CENTER.

"JOHN WAS THE POOR MAN'S TOM WILSON," SAID FORMER TEAMMATE PAT DORWIN. "HE WAS ALWAYS TRYING LONG, CUT-OUT PASSES, TRYING TO CREATE SPACE FOR THE OUTSIDE BACKS. "IT WAS STRANGE FOR ME TO GET THE BALL PASSED TO ME AT WING, SO I WAS GRATEFUL FOR JOHN TRYING TO OPEN OUR PLAY UP."

SO THE EARLY POSSUMS WERE BALLHOGS?

"EARLY. MIDDLE, LATE OR NOW, THE TEAM HAS ALWAYS BEEN PRETTY SELFISH WITH BALL IN HAND," DORWIN SAID. "SOMETIMES WE HAD THE ATHLETES TO MAKE IT WORK, SOMETIMES NOT.

"THE 'PASSING POSSUMS' WE ARE NOT."

POSSUM CAREER: 1983-1994
POSSUM NUMBER: 44
HEIGHT: 5-7
WEIGHT: 205
POSITIONS PLAYED: CENTER/WING

TIM RUSCH

COMING TO KNOXVILLE FOR PARTS UNKNOWN - AND LEAVING FOR PARTS FURTHER UNKNOWN - TIM RUSCH WAS A SMALLISH FLANKER THAT COULD BE FOUND MAKING PLAYS QUIETLY ALL OVER THE FIELD.

"I THINK TIM HAD AN INNER INTENSITY THAT HE KEPT UNDER WRAPS PRETTY WELL," SAID PAT DORWIN. "HE HAS TO HAVE ONE OF THE BEST ALL-TIME NICKNAMES (SHOPPER), BUT I HAVE NO IDEA HOW HE GOT. COULD BE A GREAT STORY - OR A BORING ONE - BUT EITHER WOULD FIT HIM PERFECTLY."

FULL NAME: TIMOTHY EGBERT RUSCH
RUGBY NICKNAME: SHOPPER
POSSUM CAREER: 1994-1997
POSSUM NUMBER: 155
HEIGHT: 5-10
WEIGHT: 166
POSITIONS PLAYED: FLANKER