'It gives you a real rush; you feel it from your head to your feet'

The following is a collection of Kansas wide receiver Lawrence Arnold’s own words about the emotions, senses and experiences that led up to the start of a new Kansas football season.

The night started with The Hawk Walk down Campanile hill and into the locker room and ended with a Kansas victory.

My Gameday Experience, by Lawrence Arnold

At first, when we got there, I was like, man, it’s 90 degrees, we’ve got suits on, we’re fittin’ to walk down a big old hill. But just seeing all the fans out there supporting and the band right there playing and just all the love that we got, all the way from the top of the hill into the facility, it was like a dream.

It was something that a lot of people wish they could be in this position to do that and something we’re very appreciative of.

I think you have to pace yourself. You’ve got to kind of walk but like lean back because you’re going down a hill. So, you try to walk at a fast pace, but I don’t want to walk too fast and everybody’s watching and they get to see me stumbling forward. Coming down that hill, that was something I was worried about at first.

When I got to my locker, my first thought was, ‘It’s go time. This is what I’ve been waiting on.’

We’ve been banging heads with our teammates for so long and being able to get after somebody else and have this actually go in the books, that was something that was big for me. Just seeing the new jerseys and new uniforms and you’re walking into a brand new locker room, it was like, ‘This is somewhere we laid our brick,’ and being able to come into all of that, that was something I was very appreciative of.

Words can’t even describe it. When you’re putting the pads on, it gives you an adrenaline rush. You’re like, all right; this is for real. We’re in game jerseys and we’re game ready. It gives you a real rush. You feel it from your head to your feet.

Even on the field, with the whole stadium screaming and everything and after our defense gets a stop, when we run out on the field and snap that helmet in, you hear it. And those snaps, to me, are like, ‘All right, you’re locked and loaded and ready to go.’”

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