Fort Worth resident Henry Adiletta and his friends witnessed something they never thought they would see: Their alma mater, Texas Christian University, beating the University of Michigan in the College Football Playoff semifinal, 51-45.
To remember that historic moment, Adiletta gathered his friends, hugged shoulders and turned their backs to the camera to show off their matching jerseys.
“That was definitely a once in a lifetime experience,” Adiletta said.
His photo of celebrating TCU’s victory in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl has scored its own win. Adiletta’s picture was the winner of the Fort Worth Report’s January photo contest.
The men with whom Adiletta watched the bowl game are more than friends, he said. They are brothers.
Connor Peterson, Spenser Drennan, Luke Newman and Colin Bowler all attended TCU with Adiletta, who graduated in May 2022. They were a part of the Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity. They lived off-campus housing on Kell Street during their final two years of college.
To represent their friendship, they each bought the same jersey. They picked the kicker’s jersey, Griffin Kell.
“We all got matching Kell jerseys just for fun because we lived on Kell Street for two years,” Adiletta said.
When the news broke out about TCU heading to the playoffs, Drennan came up with the idea to buy the jerseys, Adiletta said.
“I thought, ‘Oh, no one has a kicker jersey so we might as well have a little fun,’” Adiletta said.
Wearing the jerseys will not be a one-time thing for Adiletta. Even if the group of friends are apart, they plan to continue wearing them to any TCU event to keep their bond strong.
“We all went to the same school, but it was more significant just because we all lived on that street together,” he said.
Taylor Coit is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at taylor.coit@fortworthreport.org or on Twitter. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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