Brandon Lawson, a former U.S. Marine who helped guard President George W. Bush as part of the HMX-1 helicopter squadron during the 43rd president’s term, found himself in an abandoned janitor’s closet, tucked deep in the second-floor catacombs of the University of Tennessee’s Neyland-Thompson Sports Center.
Matt Transue, years later, would be selling season baseball tickets for St. Louis Cardinals Triple-A affiliate Memphis Redbirds.
“Yeah, you know what, I would say just about every day I do pinch myself; it’s pretty surreal,” said Transue, who owns previous stints at both Tennessee and Memphis in their personnel departments.