Sept. 12, 2012
In the coming weeks, VUcommodores.com will be unveiling videos that highlight many of Vanderbilt’s gameday traditions. Up next, we look at Star Walk.
Star Walk | Six Seconds | Dore Alley | Victory Flag
Alma Mater | Anchor | The Admiral
Approximately one hour before each home game, a mass of fans converge on Jess Neely Drive for Star Walk. Met by the Spirit of Gold Marching Band and Vanderbilt’s cheerleaders and dance squad, the fans cheer wildly in anticipation of the football team’s entrance into Vanderbilt Stadium.
Led by two players selected to carry Vanderbilt’s anchor, the team files down the ramp from McGugin Center, across Jess Neely Drive and into the football stadium tunnel. The path the players walk into the stadium is marked by Star V logos that are painted on the ground, and on gamedays the walkway is surrounded by screaming fans hoping to get an up-close look at the team.
“It is an experience like nothing else,” senior quarterback Jordan Rodgers said. “I’m kind of a player that likes to be relaxed before a game, but once that Star Walk hits, it is time to get focused, it is time to get amped up.”
The tradition began in the 1990s and has grown in interest each year.
“I even get chills at (Star Walk),” senior running back Zac Stacy said. “I swear, every time I go down I have to put my head down because if I look up I might go crazy.”
