Tennessee starting slot receiver Braylon Staley has a unique connection to his next opponent. When the Vols head to Starkville this weekend to face Mississippi State, he’ll be headed to the campus and stadium that his father, Brian Staley, played at. His dad played for the Bulldogs in 2004 after an illustrious junior college career.
Brian Staley was a junior college football All-American cornerback at Georgia Military College in 2001 and 2002. According to an article from GoUpstate in 2004, he had initially signed with Clemson after posting 19 interceptions and nine pick-sixes, but instead returned to GMC ‘to achieve the academic requirements for a Division I transfer.’
In 2004, he joined Sylvester Croom’s Mississippi State team with his eligibility cleared. The team went 3-8 (2-6 SEC) with wins over Tulane, Kentucky and a ranked Florida team at home.
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Braylon Staley has, of course, had conversations with his dad about what to expect in Starkville already. Brian Staley warned him about the MSU tradition of having cowbells at the stadium.
“He said be ready for them cowbells,” Braylon Staley said.
Braylon Staley did note that UT has played some cowbell sounds at practice this week to get ready for the distraction. There are certain rules in place to limit the effect the artificial noise can have on the game, though.
While Braylon Staley has given his dad a hard time already, he did make sure to add that his dad is fully in on rooting for Tennessee this week. He’s putting his former school to the side to cheer for his son .
“It is, but he’s rooting for the orange team,” Braylon Staley said. “It’s going to be cool, it’s going to be good.”
This year, the Vols’ standout redshirt freshman receiver has posted 281 yards and two touchdowns on 21 receptions. This included a 73-yard catch against Syracuse in the season opener and a late score against Georgia to put Tennessee in position to potentially knock off the Bulldogs.
