I can't add any more adjectives to what every one has said. I was at work and took a break and saw this news dropped to my knees and wept. I haven't had a drink in 6 months. I'm on my 2nd beer and 3 shot of crown. This hurts that bad.
R.I.P. PhilipPosted by: bpenter Categories: Uncategorized No comments“A life is not important, except for the impact it has on others.â€That quote is attributed to Jackie Robinson. It is also the latest Twitter bio for Philip Lutzenkirchen.No one I knew impacted more lives than Philip.Today I lost my brother, my best friend, my roommate, and so much more. Just take a glance at Facebook or Twitter and it will be easy to see the vast impact Philip had on others. He made a bigger impact in 23 years than the average American does in the 70-80 they may get.I first met Philip when his family moved to our neighborhood when I was in second grade, he was in first. My brothers and I heard a new kid our age had moved in, and we were anxious at the potential of a new friend. We went down to introduce ourselves and within fifteen minutes we were playing tackle football with Philip.Philip and I grew very close and spent our childhoods together playing on different teams together (I’ll never forget our dads telling us to sandbag try-outs so our team could get better draft picks. We played to win), annoying lifeguards during the summer, playing video games, trying to figure out girls (still hasn’t happened), and everything else best friends do.By high school, it became clear that Philip was not just a good athlete, but a great one. His catch and throwback, in my mind, will never be topped when it comes to a play made on the football field.Philip quickly became one of the most sought-after tight end prospects in the country. My freshman year at Florida, Philip came down for a visit and I got to accompany him and meet Coach Urban Meyer (VERY serious guy. He told Philip, “You’ve got a nice frame. I think we could use you.â€) We enjoyed the game, but I knew Philip loved Auburn, and that despite the turmoil the program was going through after firing Tommy Tubberville, that that’s where he’d end up.I don’t need to talk about Philip’s college career. The highlight reel plays and accomplishments speak for themselves.Unfortunately, Philip’s college career was cut short by a hip injury, an injury that he would never recover from. He went undrafted in the NFL Draft for that reason, but was still given a chance with the St. Louis Rams. Having your best friend sign an NFL contract was so cool. Philip was excited at the prospect of playing at the next level.Celebratory dinner after Philip signed with the RamsOnce again, the injury bug bit Philip, as he broke his ankle in training camp. That, combined with never truly having his hip heal, meant his dreams of an NFL career had come to an end.As Philip came to a crossroads in his life, an opportunity presented itself for him to come work in Montgomery, thanks to his relationship with San Francisco Giants (and former long-time Brave) pitcher Tim Hudson. That’s the kind of life Philip had- he could just call up an all-time great pitcher when he needed some help. So, Tim hooked Philip up with his financial company, where Philip began his transition to a career in business.I had been working in Montgomery, covering sports for the CBS affiliate there. I didn’t possess Philip’s size and athleticism, and if I couldn’t be a pro, I wanted the next best thing- to cover them as a sports broadcaster. I’ve had some fun opportunities with my career, but hands-down, nothing topped when I taped an interview with Philip for our Iron Bowl special last year.So, as fate had it, Philip came to Montgomery and we became roommates. It was awesome. It’s just like we wound the clocks back 12 years and were back to hanging out every day, joking around, watching and playing sports (I beat him at golf, he destroyed me at apartment basketball), reminiscing, and still, trying to figure out girls (I can’t believe Philip left this problem for me to solve on my own).The last seven months together were memories I’ll treasure forever. When he left our apartment Thursday morning, I had no idea it would be the last time I would see him.What do I do now? Where do I go from here? I’m not really sure the answer to those questions. Philip would probably tell me in his Alfred from Batman voice, “Endure.†Right now, my brain still hasn’t really fully processed it. It is such an odd feeling for someone to just be a huge part of your life, then the next day, they’re gone.What made Philip special and why there’s been such an outpouring of love and support from friends, acquaintances, and virtually anyone he ever met has nothing to do with what he did on the football field. Football was an avenue for Philip, but it wasn’t who he was and why he touched so many lives.It is sad knowing he’s gone and that I’ll never be able to share another meal or round of golf with him. But I can take solace in knowing that he was a man of great faith, and I know Jesus’ team just got one heck of a tight end- one with a fully-functioning hip. If he can do this on Earth, I can’t imagine what he’s capable of in heaven.I’ll miss you Philip. I love you. See you soon.“So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.â€2 Corinthians 5: 6-8
Remembering Philip Lutzenkirchen: He danced like no one was watchingBy Kevin ScarbinskyJune 29, 2014 at 10:56 PMThey forgot about Philip Lutzenkirchen.Can you believe it? Four years later, it still seems impossible, but that’s exactly what happened on the biggest play of his life.How many times had people joked that Lutzenkirchen was German for touchdown? How many passes would he catch in the end zone or carry across the goal line?More than any tight end in Auburn history, that’s how many, but on the play everyone remembers, Alabama forgot about him. Cam Newton and almost everyone else in white rolled right, and almost everyone in red went with them.Alone to the left, there was No. 43, and there was the ball and the goal line and the touchdown to cap the greatest comeback in Iron Bowl history. The game was tied, awaiting the extra point that would end the scoring and give Auburn a 28-27 slice of history.Right after the touchdown, right there in the corner of the end zone in front of the largest crowd that had ever witnessed an Iron Bowl in person, Lutzenkirchen did something else that won’t soon be forgotten, something that captured the spirit of the man who endeared himself to so many people in so many ways.He danced like no one was watching at a moment when everyone was.It wasn’t a conventional touchdown dance, a look-at-me celebration. He didn’t spike the ball or pull a Sharpie out of his sock. It was more of an old soft shoe, a listing side-to-side shuffle that lasted for only an instant. Someone even gave that step a name. They called it the Lutzie, and no one would confuse it with the Dougie.If you blinked in the midst of your own emotional outburst at that moment, you might’ve missed it. Lest anyone think he was trying to draw attention to himself, he stopped and sprinted over to leap into the arms of his teammates.That was Philip Lutzenkirchen. Auburn needed him to win the biggest game in the school’s biggest season in the last half-century, and a lot of other games as well, but he didn’t need the spotlight or the credit.Lutz-Woody.jpgPhilip Lutzenkirchen dressed up as Sheriff Woody from Toy Story for Auburn's 2010 team Halloween party. He was more soft-spoken Sheriff Woody than bombastic Buzz Lightyear, and when the 2010 Auburn football team dressed up for a Halloween party, that was the costume he wore, complete with cowboy boots and foam cowboy hat.Just two weeks ago, he retweeted a picture of a kid's Toy Story bedroom from @NotSheriffWoody and said to friend and former Auburn teammate Neil Caudle, “Buy me this, dad!â€Did any former Auburn player in memory have more friends? Or have more Auburn fans stop him to pose for pictures? Has any former Auburn player in history broken the hearts of more Alabama fans and then transcended the petty hatred of the rivalry?Lutzenkirchen wrote a funny and touching piece for SB Nation last month about him and his younger sister, Abby, and her decision to play soccer for Alabama. He said that, when she told him where she was going, “I immediately hung up the phone and we haven’t spoken since. Kidding.â€Truth is, he shared his pride and joy in cheering for Abby, and it was that sense of humor and sense of family that drew people to him from both sides of the aisle. It’s also what has so many people in mourning since we learned of the early Sunday morning accident that took his life and that of the young man who was driving their car.The Auburn family is hurting right now, and the Alabama family shares that pain. It was sad when a hip injury ended Lutzenkirchen’s football career too soon, but this news is beyond sadness.Two days before he died, he tweeted something both simple and profound. The words were a snapshot of his faith and his spirit. They said, “I know God’s working so I smile.â€If you knew Philip Lutzenkirchen, if you knew him well, in passing or just by name, it’s hard to smile right now until you realize how many grins he put on so many faces. He may have been forgotten for a moment on the biggest play of his life, but he’ll be remembered for a long time to come for so much more.
Auburn football player, Bama soccer player share ultimate sibling rivalryBy Phil Lutzenkirchen on May 12 2014, 10:12a 12 Former Auburn football player Phil Lutzenkirchen and Alabama soccer player Abby LutzenkirchenIt might be the most intense feud in college sports, but for one family, it's just business. Mostly.I have a unique relationship with my youngest sister. Of course, I have the typical older brother tendencies. I think that no guy in this world is worthy of dating her (the same goes for my two older sisters), and I feel like my main duty is to be her bodyguard at all times. I try to protect her at all cost, like most older brothers do. We are extremely close.The reason I say that our relationship is unique is because of our athletic careers. My junior season at Auburn University, I remember getting a call from Abby. Over the past year, she had been going through the recruiting process and slowly narrowing down where she was going to play for the next four years.Being a big-time, national soccer recruit with the same unforgettably long last name as Auburn's starting tight end, it seemed as though Abby would never escape the unfortunate shadow that I had cast upon her ... until I answered that phone call.I answered the phone, and a shaky, nervous voice said, "Hey so, uhh, I committed to a school today ..." I responded all excited, because she could finally relax and get away from the stress of recruiting: "Where ya headed?!"Abby paused and nervously responded, "... Alabama ..." I immediately hung up the phone, and we have not spoken since. Just kidding.But seriously? I mean, Alabama? C'mon! How can you do that to your own brother, who has made a name for himself at Auburn? I brought you out to the national championship game! Most of your wardrobe is orange and navy! I have witnessed you roll Toomer's Corner! It's the biggest rivalry in all of sports. How can I ever forgive you for going to that school to the west?That is how I probably should have responded. But in all honesty -- and I might get some sighs from the Auburn family -- I was so freaking excited for her. I was hooting and hollering for her, and when I had finally calmed down, she asked, "So you are really not mad that I am going there?"Honestly, I was just so proud of her. I would have been proud of her wherever she decided to play. She is blood, and I knew I would have to root for her even though she was going to be wearing the dreaded crimson and gray. So I congratulated her, but made two things clear:I will never wear anything crimson.I will never say "R*** T***."I am in the process of searching for a plain red shirt that just says "SOCCER" on it.So the day came when she signed her letter of intent to attend Alabama, and there was no turning back. She had gone to the dark side. She was officially a red elephant.When the newspaper articles come out about her signing, that was when all hell breaks loose. My phone started ringing off the hook, and my Twitter was blowing up with notifications about her signing with ‘Bama."Lutzie, how can you let your own blood go play for the Crimson Turds!""No true Auburn man would ever let that happen!"Shots were being fired from all over the place. People were getting mad at me like I was Benedict Arnold. Like I had somehow stabbed them in the back, and now I had to fix it. Sorry people, but it was not my decision, and the LOI was faxed in. It honestly humored me how mad people were getting. It was not my decision. Just like my parents tried to not influence me during my own recruiting process, I wanted Abby to go where her heart was telling her.What the die-hard fans did not understand is that women's soccer typically does not give out full rides. Most players look to go to the school where they are awarded the best scholarship, which is a very smart move, given our country's current economic situation. The higher percentage the ride, the less you have to pay out of pocket or via loans. This plays a big factor in not only soccer, but most other sports that are not allotted full scholarships to all players.See, my little sister is a freak athlete. People that know me best give me such a hard time, because they know that she is the best athlete in the family. They think I will get mad at them saying that to me, but I agree with them 100 percent. I always knew she was a good player, but then she started high school and was playing with U.S. Olympic development teams and traveling outside of the country to play. As a high school senior, she was listed as ESPN's No. 37 national prospect and nominated for Georgia player of the year.Powerhouse schools from all over the country wanted her to play for them. She could have played just about wherever she wanted, but also understood the benefit of taking a higher percentage scholarship closer to home vs. having to pay for most of her schooling out of pocket.So she thought about the future and decided to stay close to home in the Southeast, where she was recruited by many schools who were offering higher percentage scholarships then the schools out west and up north. Staying close to home was the most important factor in both of us choosing a school, because we wanted the support of our family at every game.So she chose Alabama for many reasons, not just to spite her older brother.A lot of people ask if my teammates gave me a hard time about her choosing our biggest rival, and the answer is no. Sure, I got teased a little bit in the locker room, but Division I athletes understand how hard it is to even receive a scholarship and the work that it takes to get to that level. Plenty of teammates have siblings that go on to compete in college; mine just so happened to backstab me and go to a rival.It is awesome to get the chance to drive up the road and watch her destroy the competition on the soccer pitch (Abby, a midfielder and defender, has started all 37 games in her two-year career). I never thought that I would be a vocal fan, screaming at the referees' calls, but I actually get into it. The glares from fans when they recognize who I am and how mad they still are about the touchdown in the 2010 Iron Bowl are priceless.For Abby and I, it will always be fun and games. She just happens to be an Auburn football fan because I played there, and I just happen to root for the elephant soccer team.I might just have to paint up in all crimson and rock a "33" on my chest in support of Abby's team next fall. But I probably won't. Blood is thicker than water, but my blood runs orange and navy. War Tide.
Philip Lutzenkirchen’s parenting adviceWritten by Jeremy Henderson Featured Jun 30, 2014In 2011, I edited what is arguably the greatest preseason Auburn football magazine the world has ever seen, which thankfully allowed me to meet Philip Lutzenkirchen.I took my daughter Sadie with me to the Athletic Complex. Halfway through the interview, she had to go to the bathroom. I told her to hold it. I couldn’t take up any more an Auburn football star’s time to take her to wherever the bathroom was, and because I was an overprotective parent and worried about everything I wasn’t going to let her go by herself.“OK, sorry, where were we…â€â€œHow old is she,†he asked.Six.“Don’t worry, man, I think she’s got this.†He pointed and told her where the bathroom was. “You can do it!â€She did it. She came back alive. And that was the moment I stopped being an overprotective parent, true story. Anytime I worry she can’t do something by herself, I think back to that moment—to Philip Lutzenkirchen’s parenting advice—and draw a little strength from it.Sadie found a pair of those 3D glasses that one of the beat writers brought back from the 2010 Ole Miss game. I took their picture. I don’t try to force Sadie into football—liking it, watching it, etc. When I was her age, I had Auburn’s roster memorized. Sadie, on the other hand, only knows the names of three football players.Cam, Bo, and Philip Lutzenkirchen. She pronounces it right and everything.We both cried.Here’s the story and interview. There’s some good stuff in there.…Capping, as it did, the greatest comeback (in the greatest rivalry and in the greatest season) in Auburn history, the last touchdown pass Philip Lutzenkirchen caught is the last and only pass he’d ever have to catch to stay forever golden in the Auburn mind.Here’s how Crimson Tide Sports Network color man Phil Savage dejectedly described it to the Bama fans still listening: “That’s that screen play they run. It’s a throwback to the tight end. I was just about going to say right before that snap ‘you’ve got to keep an eye on Lutzenkirchen.’ He’s the red zone threat down here. Newton rolls to his right, throws it back to the tight end across the field. Again, another staple play for this Gus Malzahn offense.â€Staple is almost an understatement. Throughout the 2010 season, if Auburn was near the goal line, and if the Lutzenkirchen kid was in the game, Auburn was going to score a touchdown, which is to say that Philip Lutzenkirchen was going to score a touchdown. Lutzenkirchen caught 15 passes last year. He caught five of them in the end zone. A running Auburn joke? Lutzenkirchen is German for “Touchdown Maker.â€What Savage didn’t capture—and what no one really has, or really can outside of YouTube tribute videos—is the manner in which Philip Lutzenkirchen celebrated that game-winning touchdown against Alabama: a spontaneous, uninhibited, non-excessive series of high steps and kicks that endeared him to Auburn fans almost as much as the points themselves. With a seven-yard reception and a two-yard buck dance, he became an instant Internet legend.It was just like high school.Lutzenkirchen was already an online star to recruitniks thanks his alley-oop touchdown-scoring push pass to a teammate after catching the ball in mid-air while falling out of bounds in the end zone during a game his senior year at Atlanta’s Lassiter High School. The play made YouTube. Then it made ESPN. The fourth Google search suggestion for “Philip Lutzenkirchen†(after “Philip Lutzenkirchen girlfriend†but before “Philip Lutzenkirchen Danceâ€)? “Philip Lutzenkirchen Miracle Play.†Later that year, similar attention was given to a video of him going Knowshon Moreno over a defender en route to a touchdown titled: “Philip Lutzenkirchen does it again.â€In 2011, Auburn is going to need Philip Lutzenkirchen to do it again.The junior tight end suddenly finds himself a veteran leader on an Auburn squad that will be defined by youth more than any other in recent memory, and more than pretty much any team in the nation (Phil Steele has us, you know, dead last in terms of experience). It’s an unprecedented lowering of expectations for a defending BCS National Champion. Some folks have us barely getting to six wins, let alone back to Atlanta.Philip Lutzenkirchen, thankfully, is not one of those people.Lutzenkirchen is determined to get back to Atlanta (and not just for birthday parties or Braves games). He’s determined to get back there to win the SEC (and you know what happens to team’s that win the SEC). He’s determined to compete, not just survive, during his two remaining seasons as an Auburn Tiger (and yes, that includes this season—why do you ask?). He’s determined to be more than the officially confirmed longest name in the history of Auburn football (“Right now, that’s the only record I have.â€) And he’s determined to be remembered for more than a Riverdance (even if it came after the go-ahead hallelujah in the greatest Iron Bowl in a generation).Philip Lutzenkirchen is determined.My six-year-old daughter Sadie and I sat down with the sweaty, determined, forever golden young Touchdown Maker at the Auburn Athletic Complex the day after his 20th birthday (June 1), right after a grueling summer session of Yoxercise, to talk about the glorious insanity of last season, the cautious optimism of this season, and, yes, the dance… Good God, the dance.==Me: So why Auburn?Lutzenkirchen: Well, I grew up Chicago, moved down to Atlanta when I was about 8. I really wasn’t a fan of any team, I really didn’t follow a team. Growing up I thought I’d play basketball in college. I started playing football and when I got to high school I realized most teams didn’t want a 6â€4 center on their basketball team, so I put my focus in football. I really didn’t have a favorite school so I just went around and visited. And I knew I wanted to stay local, somewhere close to Atlanta where I’m from, and Auburn was just perfect distance, two hours away, parents could come see me every weekend. That was a big thing, and just the comfort level. I wanted to find a school where if football were to be taken away from me —cause it can happen on any play —I wanted a school where I would enjoy just being a normal student. And I picked Auburn because it was the best pick for that. I had a couple of friends come here, and just the whole atmosphere — the school, the campus, the people, really. There are just good people here. It’s true what they say: it’s a family.Me: Recruiting-wise, who else was after you?Lutzenkirchen: My recruitment was kind of crazy. When I first committed to Auburn, it was under Tuberville. Tuberville and Coach (Tony) Franklin are the ones I committed to the spring of my junior year, going into my senior year. I liked the offense Coach Franklin brought in. And I guess I just really liked the school. And I think during that time it was between Clemson, Stanford, Auburn, Florida State… ACC and SEC schools, for the most part. I was committed probably for a good six months and then Coach Tuberville and Coach Franklin got fired. And I didn’t de-commit, but I kind of looked around at some of my other options and took some visits, just cause I felt I should in case they brought in a coach with a triple-option type team, where I wouldn’t have been playing anything from my natural position. So after that I looked at Florida, I looked at Tennessee, I looked at Georgia, Alabama, Florida State again and a couple of other schools outside ACC and SEC. I really liked Florida’s program. But I just couldn’t really see myself living in Gainesville. I just didn’t get the same feeling I got when I came to Auburn. And then Georgia was another great program. Everyone wanted me to go there. But I just didn’t get the same feeling as I had when I came to Auburn. I just didn’t feel that comfort level at any other school. All of them are great programs and everything, but it just didn’t click. So luckily they brought Coach Chizik in, and Coach Chizik made it a point to come visit me as the first person he saw. He got hired and then two days later he came to visit me.Me: You were the first?Lutz: Yeah, I was the first.Me: You sure he didn’t just tell everybody that?Lutz: I hope not! But yeah, it was cool for him to do that. He came to one of my basketball games and hung out. And Coach Lolley came. And he just said be patient with us. He encouraged me to go look at other schools but he said I’d really like the coordinator that they were going to name. He didn’t give me a name, but two weeks later we found out it was Coach Malzahn. So I came down here and met with Coach Malzahn and watched a bunch of film. I think we watched about an hour of two of film, me and him. He told me how they’d use me as the H-Back kind of, and just seeing his stats on offense alone, what they put up each year was big for me, and I just stuck with Auburn.Me: A lot of Auburn fans, or at least this Auburn fan, kind of grow up imagining that most Auburn players choose Auburn because they love Auburn, because they want to win for the glory of Auburn just because it’s Auburn, not because it’s the team of the school that happened to be closest to home or happened to have the best pizza in town or something like that. Obviously, that’s not really reality. But now that you’re here, do you have a sense of obligation to the history and tradition and importance that folks place on Auburn football?Lutz: Yeah, I mean, you come here, and you really don’t know much about the tradition, and all that. And then you start to meet the fans. First Fan Day, first fall I was here, you really kind of see how big this whole thing is. It’s way bigger than you individually. It’s a program with such a storied tradition. So many great players have come before. So it makes you want to work to keep that tradition going. It’s hard to describe, but you meet former players, you meet a Bo Jackson, you meet a…Sadie: … a Cam Newton.Lutz: Ha… right, and a Cam Newton. And it’s just players like that. That’s the level you want to get to. That’s what you want to be known as. And when you meet the fans for the first time, you realize how big this whole thing is. I mean, some people’s entire life revolves around Auburn football. And especially in a state where there are no professional sports, it’s either Auburn or it’s Alabama, so that’s another big thing. You come here and you want to get the win for the good side.Me: Speaking of, it’s it strange to learn how much that game means to people? Is there extra pressure to please, Dear God, win that game?Lutz: You go into that game, and coaches do their best to make sure you realize it’s just the next game. But at the same time there’s just so much riding on it for the state. Especially when we’re ranked No. 1 overall at the time and Alabama was No. 8 or No. 9 or something like that. So it was a huge game, but you really do have to kind of step back and try not to get too high emotionally and try not to get too low emotionally, because it really just is another game and was really just the next step for us to get to the SEC championship. But yeah, there’ a lot of emotion the whole week building up to it. We have former players coming in and former players calling us and giving us pep talks.Me: Just specifically for that game?Lutz: Yeah, the coaches do that, they make it a point to do that. I mean, it gets pretty heated during the week, but then it calms down a night or two before game day.Me: You know the whole thing about Bama playing Son of a Preacher Man and Take The Money and Run as Auburn ran out on the field for the first time? Were y’all actually aware of what was going on at the time?Lutz: Well, you come out of the tunnel and you expect some upbeat music, like some rap music or rock music. And that’s the one thing I remember. We were running out of the tunnel and I was kind of absorbing everything, because it was the first time I’d played at Bryant-Denny and probably the biggest Iron Bowl I’ve been in. And you run out on the field and I knew something wasn’t right because the music was weird. I didn’t think much of it, I didn’t really listen to the lyrics to see what song it was, but I was just like, ‘this is kind of bizarre, that they’re playing a slow-paced song right now.’Me: What about Cam? Did he know? You think he’d ever even heard those songs? Was he aware of what they were doing?Lutz: I’m sure he wasn’t. But if he was, he probably just laughed it off.Me: OK, so let’s talk Cam real quick. What were your first impressions?Lutz: He came in and everyone’s like, yeah, we signed a pretty good quarterback. And it was like, yeah, we’re having a quarterback race, let’s get another guy in there. And he comes in and he’s 6â€6, 255 lbs, bigger than me as tight end. And it’s like, I’m kinda worryin’ about this kid not having a job and taking my position. But no, we did workouts with him, and he’s winning every sprint and he’s just workin’ his tail off, and we’re all just like, all right. He gained a lot of respect from that.Me: So when did you know we — can I say we?Lutz: Yes.Me: OK, so when did you know we—you and I—were going to win it all?Lutz: When Wes kicked the field goal!Me: Well, was there some point during the season where you thought, yeah, we might do it… this season might be special?Lutz: We kind of took it game by game, but I knew we could be good that South Carolina game, when we went back and watched the film with Cam when he had that incredible run where he dove from like the 9-yard line or wherever. Going into the season, Cam had never done full-contact anything. If anybody came close to him, they called the play dead, so we didn’t know that Cam was going to rush for over 1,000 yards this year, we never really knew. We just kind of learned who our team was every game. I think that South Carolina run was huge. And just throughout the season, just being able to come back in the 4th quarter to win the game four or five times was huge. But I think our defining game was that LSU game, when they said LSU was going to stop our run the whole game. And we ended up putting 440 yards of rushing on them. And they were a tough defense, too. After that, we just got it in our mind that we weren’t going to be stopped.Me: So going into this season, it seems like it’d kind of be impossible to not have a feeling that last year, which was pretty much the greatest Auburn season ever, can’t really be topped. Is it going to be hard to go forward?Lutz: I mean, it’s a season that no one’s ever going to forget. It’s a magical season, but looking back on it, it’s great to learn what kind of work, what kind of effort it takes to do something like that. We have such a young team this year, but we have a lot of guys who saw what it took to win a championship, to win the SEC. It’s a tough thing to go undefeated in the SEC. It’s a grind every week, every day.Me: Was it true that last spring y’all felt y’all could be a special team?Lutz: Yeah, we knew we could be good. And this spring it’s the same thing. We know we can be good. We know we can get back to the Georgia Dome. We just have a lot of maturing to do. And we have to work a lot harder. And a lot of kids are going to have to step up on the O-Line. A lot of younger guys — some of the receivers, DBS… we’re going to be young all over the place. It’s not a lack of talent. We’ll have just as much talent as we did last year, just a lot less experience. So that’s why I say we’ll have to take it game by game and not get too high or too low. I don’t know if we’ll win or lose. Of course we’ll be disappointed with a loss. We’re working to win every single game again.Me: Why not repeat?Lutz: Exactly. That’s what we’re working for.Me: So… The Dance.Lutz: I can’t really go anywhere without that coming up.Me: I mean, did it feel like something at the time? I mean, surely it wasn’t a conscious thing. I mean, I guess it could have been a conscious thing…Lutz: No, no, no. You know, it’s funny you say that, because I come off the field… I mean, I made the catch. I got so excited. It’s at Alabama. It’s the game-winning touchdown. And I come off the field and everyone’s just kind of slapping me in the head and everything. And my best friend, Neil Caudle, who I roomed with, was like ‘that was awesome, that was awesome… but what did you just do?’ And I was like, what do you mean? And he was like, ‘you just did, like, a dance.’ And I was like, oh God. So I didn’t really know. And then the funny part is, is that we’re on the bus, and we’re waiting to bus out from the game, and it takes like an hour to get loaded and everything and the highlights start coming on. We’ve got like, four or five TV’s on there. And ESPN is playing it. And the highlights come on, and of course they show the game-winner, and from the back of the bus, just roars of laughter start coming up. And Neil leans forward and goes, ‘so… THAT’s what everyone is going to remember you for at Auburn. That dumb dance you just did.’Me: I was at the game and couldn’t really see. I didn’t even realize that it had become this big thing until, like, the next day.Lutz: It like, blew up on YouTube overnight, and I was like, oh my gosh, this is what I’m going to be remembered for. I mean, I’ll go out to a party or, pretty much everywhere, and someone will come up and go ‘do the Lutzie.’ And I’m just like, uh, never again.Me: Did the attention actually made you self-conscious about catching touchdowns? Was it a distraction? Like now you not only have to concentrate on not dropping the ball, you have to concentrate on not going viral again?Lutz: Ha! No, because I haven’t had a touchdown since. Hopefully I can get a couple of more, then we’ll see.
AUBURN MOURNS A LOCAL LEGENDBy Lars AndersonAUBURN, Ala. -- Buddy Davidson attended his first Auburn football game in 1957 when he was the team's water boy. Since then, he's been to 655 straight Tiger games, home and away, a fan record. He works as a sideline marshal and is a grandfather figure to the players. In all his years, Davidson never met anyone quite like Philip Lutzenkirchen."I have a 10-year-old grandson and Lutzenkirchen is his all-time favorite player, more so than even Cam Newton," says Davidson, 74, who lives in Auburn. "He had as good hands as anyone who has ever played for Auburn. But more importantly, he connected with people in a powerful way, in a way that few college players ever do. Heck, he got louder cheers than Cam in 2010. It's going to take me a long, long, long time to get over this."Davidson isn't alone. Early Sunday morning, outside of LaGrange, Ga., Lutzenkirchen was riding in a friend's 2006 Chevy Tahoe when the vehicle ran a stop sign. It traveled about 450 feet through a churchyard, flipping several times. Lutzenkirchen, 23, wasn't wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the back seat. He died on the scene. The driver, 22-year-old Joseph Davis, also was killed. Two other passengers were injured in the accident. Blood was drawn from Davis to determine if alcohol played a role in the crash.Buddy Davidson got the call from a friend on Sunday morning saying that Lutzenkirchen was gone. He didn't believe it. In January, Davidson was on the field at the Rose Bowl before the BCS national championship game. He got his picture taken with only one former Auburn player from the 2010 title team. Yes, Lutzenkirchen.* * *My, how they adored Lutzenkirchen on the Plains. He caught more touchdown passes (14) than any tight end in Auburn history, spawning the joke that Lutzenkirchen -- the player with the most letters in his first and last name (19) ever to don the Tiger jersey -- was really German for touchdown. But like all deep love affairs, the one between Lutzenkirchen and the Auburn fans was nuanced, not based merely on what happened on Saturdays.Some background: College football is different in Alabama from any other place in America, much in the way Paul Newman was different from every other actor. Put simply, no fans in the country are as hyper-obsessed with their teams as are those in Alabama, which has no professional teams in any sport. In 2003, a poll in the Mobile Register revealed that 90 percent of the state's population described themselves as college football fans. What's more, 86 percent of them rooted for either Auburn or Alabama, while four percent said they supported a team outside the state. This meant, in the God-fearing state of Alabama, there were more atheists than the number of college football fans who didn't back either the Tigers or the Tide."In the South, our youngsters learn early on that competition in sports is important to family, to towns, to regions. It becomes inculcated in the children," says SEC commissioner Mike Slive. "It's generational and so woven into the fabric of southern culture."In this culture Lutzenkirchen practically glowed in the dark, a hero to every Auburn fan who flew their Tiger flag on the back of their pickup or on their front porch. You see, Lutkenkirchen had it all: a model both on and off the field. He caught the most famous pass of the 2010 season -- a seven-yard scoring strike late in the fourth quarter of the Iron Bowl against Alabama on a drag route from Cam Newton -- and the score prompted a spontenous dance from Lutzenkirchen, a jig that Auburn fans quickly dubbed The Lutzie. He danced like no one was watching, and that really was the joy of watching it. Without The Lutzie, Cam Newton doesn't win the Heisman and Auburn doesn't capture the 2010 national championship.But that score alone didn't explain why, in 2012, Lutzenkirchen had more Twitter followers than any other player on the team. It was acts like him taking a young woman with Down syndrome to the prom at Lassiter High in Marietta, Ga., his alma mater. Acts like routinely visiting cancer patients in Auburn and Marietta. Acts like spending a summer interning at Youth for Christ and working with kids. Acts like always talking to kids like they were most precious things on earth.Lutzenkirchen twice had a chance to bail on Auburn -- and twice he stayed. Coming out of high school, where he made a legendary, mid-air lateral that led to a touchdown catch, he orginally comitted to Tommy Tuberville at Auburn. Then Tuberville was fired, and soon he was being seduced by Florida's Urban Meyer, Florida State's Bobby Bowden and Stanford's Jim Harbaugh. But Lutkenkirchen, a young man whose word meant something profound to him, didn't waver and remained a Tiger.He then had a chance to enter the 2011 NFL draft as a junior. He was projected to be a mid-round pick. It was a difficult decision -- he reported then he had many sleepless nights agonizing over it -- but ultimately the lure of playing at Jordan-Hare Stadium and college life in America's loveliest villiage was too strong. He came back. And when the starting lineup was inroduced to the crowd before the 2012 home opener against Louisania-Monroe, wouldn't you know that the starting tight end received the loudest roar, a rolling thunderclap of noise that rose high into the bluebird Southern sky and could be heard from blocks and blocks away.That moment, jogging onto the field at Jordan-Hare for the first home game of the season and hearing that rumble, was the high point of Lutzenkirchen's final year at Auburn. Midway through the 2012 season, Lutzenkirchen, who had been battling an injured left hip for months, finally opted for surgery to repair a damaged labrum and three bone spurs. The procedure essentially ended his football career. He signed as a free agent with the St. Louis Rams in 2013, but was cut in the preseason. He had been working at a wealth management company in Montogmery, Ala., while also volunteering as an assistant football coach at Saint James School in Montgomery. On the morning he died, life was spread out before Lutzenkirchen like an endless buffet of options, which only deepens the heartache in Dixie.I had my first extended conversation with Lutzenkirchen in 2010. I was working on a Cam Newton feature for Sports Illustrated and I talked to Philip for about 30 minutes in the Auburn football offices. Polite, articulate and flashing a smile that clearly made women weak in the knees, he could seemingly remember every pass he'd ever caught from Newton -- both in practices and in games. I often jot down a few words in my notebook to record quick impressions I have of the people I interiew, and after speaking with Philip, I wrote "serene" and "plain nice" by his name. After our chat, he always grinned or nodded at me in a welcoming way whenever I saw him in the Auburn locker room or in the football offices. I quickly got the feeling that no one was a stranger to Philip Lutzenkirchen.Early on Sunday evening, more than 50 fans and former players gathered at the corner of Magnolia Avenue and College Street to roll Toomer's Corner in honor of Lutzkenirchen. Streams of toilet paper swayed in the warm southern breeze. One roll sat on the ground. It was inscribed with the words from a tweet that Lutzenkenirchen had sent on June 26: "I know God's working, so I smile."In his living room five miles away, Buddy Davidson quietly wept. On this sunny day all throughout Auburn, the tears fell like rain. They fell with pain.
http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/82357396/philip-lutzenkirchen-auburn-tight-end-dies-in-car-accident
allergies...I gots em today.
Screw allergies. It's okay to cry sometimes, even my big strong X boys. I have been, for two days. And I ain't exactly a pansy girl myself.
I haven't read half the stuff out there about him. Every time I try I feel like throwing up. It's heart breaking.Some thing just hurt the soul.
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