Duff recalls the stop and reflects on being a Vol

The atmosphere was electric. The celebration still resonates with Tennessee fans to this day. Defensive tackle Bill Duff had swallowed up Heisman trophy running back Eddie George on 4th down in the 1996 Citrus Bowl in a moment that many believe helped spring-board Tennessee to the 1997 SEC Championship. And in that moment maybe only "The Mouse" was more important than the fiery junior in Orlando that day.

"For me I was still a backup," Duff said. "We rotated the line pretty heavy. Coach Chavis was really big on keeping the rotation fresh. I lined up against Orlando Pace and another guy. I squirted through the hole and hit Eddie in the knees. If I hadn't hit him, then we had two or three guys ready to do so."

A captain that next season, Duff cherished every moment with his teammates on Rocky Top. More importantly, Duff made his last plays on the Shields-Watkins field turf count as the senior batted down a Vanderbilt pass on the final series to help the Volunteers prevail and send them to Atlanta for the first time.

"As you look back on it, you don't remember individual plays as much as you remember the group," Duff said. "Defensively I remember when we were on and off. At the end of that season, we started playing as a pack of animals. It was hard to hold us back when we knew were going in (the game)."

Duff loved the physicality and said the play of the defense all started with defensive coordinator John Chavis.

"We were just nasty, mean and violent," Duff said. "I was one of the slower guys running like a 4.65 forty at 280 pounds. There was just something about how we played defense that made guys to play harder. That's the type of feeling that you want on defense. Coach Chavis really pushed us to play that way."

Duff loved coach Chavis and the two had a great respect for one another.

"There weren't a lot of words exchanged between the two of us," Duff said. "There were just looks. John didn't have to say a word. He would look at you and you knew he was on your ass. If he started yelling you knew practice was going to be hell from there on."

One story from a practice showed the competitive spirit of both.

"I got into it with a tough walk-on offensive lineman in practice," Duff said. "Leonard and Al grabbed a hold of me and the guy came back at me and we went at it. Then coach Chavis jumped into that pile and I think he got hit more than anyone but it said a lot about what we meant to coach Chavis. Some coaches say they wish they could be back out there playing with you and you know they are full of crap. He would have given anything to play one more game for Tennessee."

Tennessee's longtime defensive coordinator, Chavis saw a lot of himself in Duff. It was the blue-collar approach and Duff played the game with very little push from the Tennessee staff.

"There is no doubt that he was my type of player," Chavis said. "Tough as nails and it never got too tough for him. He loved to compete and he played football like there was no place to hide."

Duff left it all on the field. From his high school career in the Garden state all the way through his stints in the NFL, XFL, and NFL Europe, nobody brought it each and every day like Duff. Speaking of someone wishing, Duff wouldn't turn down another snap.

"I got three good plays left in me for sure," Duff said. "After that I'm taking to the Gatorade. I still stay in really good shape. I'll be that way till I die. I love training. Once it's in your soul, I still get chills up my spine when I see guys run through the T."

After his football career ended, Duff became a reality TV star on The History Channel. The show called the Human Weapon made Duff a world traveler as he ventured around the globe to different countries and cultures. In his travels he did happen to run into the Power T along the way.

"The oddest place to run into a Tennessee fan was in the middle of Manchester airport in England," Duff said. "I was throwing drinks back in the airport because everyone was in a fog delay. A guy came up with a British accent and had a Tennessee football pamphlet. He asked me sign it."

Duff plans on returning to campus this fall for a game and hopes to be here for VFL weekend.