Ten Years Later, It’s Still the K-State Way
Dec 01, 2022 | Football, Sports Extra
By BJ Finney as told to D. Scott Fritchen
What strikes me has been how much fun this Kansas State team is having during the 2022 season. When a team is having fun, when a team has the right mindset, and when a team executes, it becomes a dangerous team.
This 2022 K-State team is a dangerous team.
Although this team has been counted out — it was picked to finish fifth in the Big 12 Conference this season — that's the K-State way. That's the K-State story.
It's hard to believe that it's been 10 years since we won the Big 12 Championship. We were also a team that was counted out. We were picked sixth in the Big 12 preseason poll — behind Oklahoma, West Virginia, Texas, Oklahoma State and TCU — yet we carried a desire and a hunger throughout the season.
That's what I see in this 2022 K-State team.
You cans see how these guys conduct themselves and how they play and how it's coming from the top down, this desire and hunger to win. There's an embodiment of desire and belief.
We've been underdogs pretty much every year. You go back to the 2003 team and Oklahoma was undefeated was supposed to be the best football team ever to take the field. You go back to 2010 and we were .500 and nobody thought about us heading into the 2011 season. We were picked to finish eighth, and we finished second and had a 10-win season. Then we were picked sixth prior to the 2012 season and we had an 11-win season. We got a little bit more respect but it still wasn't the respect that we felt we deserved.
It's the K-State way.
It's just like this year, when you have belief across the board as a team that the guy next to you is going to get his job done, special things happen.
That was the case in 2012.
I remember it was a chilly night when we played Texas in the final game of the regular season for a chance to hoist the 2012 Big 12 Championship trophy. I remember all of us on the team being very agitated because of the loss at Baylor the previous week. One of the biggest memories, though, is seeing Willie on top of the press box. It felt like all the previous K-State teams that had a special piece of history all had the Willie-on-top-of-the-press-box moment. We had the game at hand in our 42-24 victory over the Longhorns and I remember Willie and the chills from everyone inside the stadium doing the K-S-U chant. I remember the postgame field rush and how everyone was so happy.
I also remember being terrified that I'd drop the Big 12 Championship trophy because my hands were so sweaty. I was the first one to hold it.
I turned to Arthur Brown on stage and said, "Hey, AB, take this."
He looked at me and said, "I don't want to hold it."
I said, "Dude, I'm going to drop it. It's slipping. Get it out of my hands."
I remember the sense of pride we had as a team and the accomplishment that we'd all worked so hard to fulfill this goal. That was the greatest feeling, too. Obviously, it's hard to achieve such a goal. It takes a while for the feeling of accomplishment to fully set in. Even when I was holding the trophy, it didn't feel real.
This K-State team had a Willie-on-top-of-the-press-box moment against KU last Saturday, as the team clinched a spot in the Big 12 title game. It was a special night.
Yet it all kind of goes back to the K-State way. It's the K-State story. K-State always seems to be in the underdog position and it doesn't matter what we do or who we beat or who's playing, people dismiss us, and that's fine. It doesn't matter what people think of us, it's internal and how we view ourselves.
If you have trust in yourself and truly believe something internally, that won't shake your belief.
I know this 2022 team is capable to achieve its goal against TCU on Saturday and bring home the first Big 12 Championship in 10 years.
This team has all the workings to do something truly special.
What strikes me has been how much fun this Kansas State team is having during the 2022 season. When a team is having fun, when a team has the right mindset, and when a team executes, it becomes a dangerous team.
This 2022 K-State team is a dangerous team.
Although this team has been counted out — it was picked to finish fifth in the Big 12 Conference this season — that's the K-State way. That's the K-State story.
It's hard to believe that it's been 10 years since we won the Big 12 Championship. We were also a team that was counted out. We were picked sixth in the Big 12 preseason poll — behind Oklahoma, West Virginia, Texas, Oklahoma State and TCU — yet we carried a desire and a hunger throughout the season.
That's what I see in this 2022 K-State team.
You cans see how these guys conduct themselves and how they play and how it's coming from the top down, this desire and hunger to win. There's an embodiment of desire and belief.
We've been underdogs pretty much every year. You go back to the 2003 team and Oklahoma was undefeated was supposed to be the best football team ever to take the field. You go back to 2010 and we were .500 and nobody thought about us heading into the 2011 season. We were picked to finish eighth, and we finished second and had a 10-win season. Then we were picked sixth prior to the 2012 season and we had an 11-win season. We got a little bit more respect but it still wasn't the respect that we felt we deserved.
It's the K-State way.
It's just like this year, when you have belief across the board as a team that the guy next to you is going to get his job done, special things happen.
That was the case in 2012.
I remember it was a chilly night when we played Texas in the final game of the regular season for a chance to hoist the 2012 Big 12 Championship trophy. I remember all of us on the team being very agitated because of the loss at Baylor the previous week. One of the biggest memories, though, is seeing Willie on top of the press box. It felt like all the previous K-State teams that had a special piece of history all had the Willie-on-top-of-the-press-box moment. We had the game at hand in our 42-24 victory over the Longhorns and I remember Willie and the chills from everyone inside the stadium doing the K-S-U chant. I remember the postgame field rush and how everyone was so happy.
I also remember being terrified that I'd drop the Big 12 Championship trophy because my hands were so sweaty. I was the first one to hold it.
I turned to Arthur Brown on stage and said, "Hey, AB, take this."
He looked at me and said, "I don't want to hold it."
I said, "Dude, I'm going to drop it. It's slipping. Get it out of my hands."
I remember the sense of pride we had as a team and the accomplishment that we'd all worked so hard to fulfill this goal. That was the greatest feeling, too. Obviously, it's hard to achieve such a goal. It takes a while for the feeling of accomplishment to fully set in. Even when I was holding the trophy, it didn't feel real.
This K-State team had a Willie-on-top-of-the-press-box moment against KU last Saturday, as the team clinched a spot in the Big 12 title game. It was a special night.
Yet it all kind of goes back to the K-State way. It's the K-State story. K-State always seems to be in the underdog position and it doesn't matter what we do or who we beat or who's playing, people dismiss us, and that's fine. It doesn't matter what people think of us, it's internal and how we view ourselves.
If you have trust in yourself and truly believe something internally, that won't shake your belief.
I know this 2022 team is capable to achieve its goal against TCU on Saturday and bring home the first Big 12 Championship in 10 years.
This team has all the workings to do something truly special.
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