It Was One For The Ages: Mercer Football
Mercer University Football.
It’s happened, y’all. No longer a pipe dream of wishful alums and student trekkng up to Athens to get their tailgating and live football fix.
A sea of orange and black took over not just Mercer’s campus, but in fact the whole city. From umbrellas restaurants and store fronts in downtown Macon but even in other parts of the city- orange and black were the colors to wear.
Generally, our town is divided between the colors of UGA and maybe Tech, a little bit. With a few others sprinkled in. The flags flying on cars most generally show loyalty to Georgia. Not this time.
And it wasn’t just alums getting in on the action, flocking to town, although there were many.
In speaking with people before and during the game, what I generally heard was this:
“Wow- Macon has changed so much, I can’t believe all of this is happening. Campus has grown so much. I can’t even recognize anything.”- from fellow Mercerians.
“We didn’t go to Mercer, we live here, and we wanted to be a part of this.”- from the season ticket holders behind me.
I think we citizens of Macon owe Mercer a great deal. Businesses have been put in place to attract the students, and we benefit as well. Lofts are being built primarily for them, but anyone can live in them. And we have a universty president, Dr. Bill Underwood, bringing college football to our city.
Aside from all of that, for me, I am damn near bursting with pride. I’ve said before how much I love Mercer, and events like this only reinforce it. To be in the stands with over 12,000 people, 12,000 people who didn’t have to come- who surely have some other football allegiance- who came to see Mercer play anyway.
Mercer, and Macon by proxy, is not UGA- is not Auburn- and I don’t think we want to be. Don’t get me wrong, I lived in Athens for a year and that place is truly special but Mercer is home. There’s a sense of community here that you can’t get anywhere else.
I came to Mercer as a freshman in kind of an odd way. Senior year of high school I didn’t know where I wanted to go to college. I had poured over college mailers for years. When I went to Stratford, everyone pretty much went to UGA or some type of Ivy League type of school. At Westside, where I graduated from, it was more of a mix. I had computer class senior year with Sarah Moseley, whose father worked for Mercer. I will never forget her asking me had I considered Mercer? Oh of course not- I wanted to get OUT of my parents house. And she pointed out that I could live on campus.
Myself, Sarah, Farrah, and some others from Westside- we each participated in the overnight visitation program that Mercer ran. I can’t remember if I had already decided to go there or not by that point in time, but I do remember falling in love with the campus. Even though I had attended church just down the street my entire life, and had attended a summer school program here as a child, I had no memory of spending much time on the North Campus. I fell in love. The older, historic buildings spoke to me. It had that Ivy League feel that I thought college should have.
After freshman year I left- overwhelmed by staying in my hometown and needing to get away. Two years I spent away from Mercer and Macon before I was called back. My excuse was that a friend needed me to move in with her, because she couldn’t afford her rent. But really, I just missed the community that was Mercer.
And now, I am finally finishing up, with a greater appreciation for this place than I ever had before. It’s not just because of football, but everything WE are doing as Mercerians. This is a place where you can make a difference, and it’s even encouraged. Tradition is embraced while moving forward toward our future. Seeing my fellow classmates return for football, along with people who live in Macon who may not have spent much time on campus before, just reinforces that.
The scoreboard still shows the results of last night’s game.
The game itself was amazing as well. People pretty much stayed the whole time (I had to go ahead and leave just before the final score- which I HATE). They cheered and got in to it. There was a sense of fellowship and community that I haven’t seen since the Mercer Basketball playoffs. And even then, this was different.
Let’s face it, football is something that brings us together in a way that nothing else can. It is fellowship. We tailgate, partake of food and beverage together, laugh and commune with friends as well as reunite with old ones. It’s as if the years had never passed us by. We are family. This Mercer family is one that I am proud of, and one that I hope my children will be a part of- to be the 4th generation in our family to attend Mercer. I know I am planning early, but this place is so special to me. It has shaped so much of who I am, and who I am to become.
Love to all yall (and especially Mercer),
Molly
