KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- It has been nearly 25 years, but J.R. Greene still has the faded orange top hat sitting in his office, the same one he frantically clutched on his head as he led Tennessee's football team onto the field for the national championship Fiesta Bowl game against Florida State, a magical night for the Volunteers and their fans.
The top hat was just part of his attire. A 24-year-old student working on his MBA at the time, Greene was also sporting an orange-and-white tuxedo with matching orange gloves and a Power T cummerbund.
The ultimate party crasher in the ultimate moment for his beloved Vols, Greene was the "Big Orange Tux Guy," a phrase he repeated over and over to finagle his way onto the stage to sing "Rocky Top" with a band playing before the game, onto the ESPN "College GameDay" set -- and most improbably -- onto the field in one of those Ferris Bueller-like odysseys that almost sounds like a fairy tale.