FanPost

My First Game (as a student at Baylor)

I've been coming to Baylor games ever since I was young. I specifically have memories of Homecoming in 2005 against Texas Tech and my parents wanted a picture of me with Bruiser. As I crossed the rail to go on the field, Bruiser tried to help me land gracefully. I could hear Bruiser grunt and groan as he picked me, an 85 pound, 10-year old, up.

I also remember going to the SMU-Baylor game that same year and watching Shawn Bell air-mail a pass on third down that ended up ten rows back.

I thought to myself, "Can this team be any worse?

Why did my parents have to both go to Baylor?

I also remember going to the Wake Forest game in 2008 and watching a quarterback who I had heard about play pretty well. Even though we lost the game, he had a great arm, quick feet, and good decision-making skills.

This quarterback was Robert Griffin III.

My older brother was never a die-hard Baylor fan like I was growing up, but the story goes that my father(Chamber of Commerce member class of '83, Michael McBrayer)'s roommate was at the campus the day my dad, brother and his best friend were visiting and took my brother and my brother's best friend aside and told them, "Now boys, Baylor is 65% female."

My older brother graduated from Baylor in 2014.

Anyway, I always dreamed of being at Baylor and running the Line. That dream almost never came to fruition.

I won't go into the full story but I suffered an arterio-venous malformation rupture to the left frontal lobe of my brain on January 18th, 2012. I was immediately rushed to the hospital and my parents tell me that the doctors warned them that I may not make it through the night. Praise be to God for answering the hundreds of prayers that were said to Him that night, asking Him to help save my life.

My parents were very worried about college after I had been back home for three months, six months after the surgery. They thought at least there is a community college in the area and then he can transfer after a couple of years. But that wasn't the plan that God had.

It was between Dallas Baptist and Baylor. I only applied to Baylor.

I'm obviously alive and well, but I still wear an Ankle-Foot Orthosis on my right leg to prevent hyperextension.

At times, I am a little embarrassed about it, because the question always comes up

"What did you do to your leg?"

And my reply of AVM rupture in left frontal lobe draws a blank face.

"I had brain surgery."

That's what concerned my parents about running the Line. I cannot run with my brace on (heck, I can't run without it!) so I had no idea what to do. Thankfully, I've practiced jogging and so on a day where it felt like 100-105 degrees, I "Ran"(jogged) the Baylor Line.

I honestly was in awe at the stadium for much of the game. I went to the Traditions Rally, but this was the first game of football that I had watched in McLane Stadium. What felt at one point eight years ago to be impossible, finally came to fruition. A field that was spectacular and a Baylor football team that rewarded its fans for their loyalty.

A Baylor football team that showed last night that if the offense is not clicking, the defense can carry some slack.

A Baylor football team that showed last night that even without leaders like Ahmad Dixon, Tevin Reese, or Cyril Richardson still has the guts and the determination to win games.

RG3 being there at the opening of Baylor football in McLane Stadium was just icing on the cake. What other Heisman-winning professional football player comes back to his alma-mater as often as he can?

This could just be a terrible SMU team, who knows? But when our defense has more sacks(9) than SMU's offense has first downs(7), you know it's going to be a good year.

Running the Line was such a memorable experience, but I want more and I know Baylor can do more.

McLane Stadium may be beautiful aesthetically, but for opposing teams, it should look like a graveyard.

"Waco-where ranked teams come to lose"-Sports Illustrated, more like,

"Baylor-don't blink. You'll miss a touchdown."-Matt McBrayer

TL;DR: Baylor football showed last night that offense wins games but showed so much improvement on defense. I'm excited to see how this team will play for the rest of the season

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