Texas football player recalls being kicked out of the Cotton Bowl by stadium security

According to the participation reports, Texas football junior Michael Taaffe made his first appearance in the Red River Rivalry in 2022. Then a redshirt freshman, Taaffe recorded two fourth-quarter tackles in a 49-0 win for the Longhorns .

But to hear the Longhorns safety tell it, that was not the first time that he made it onto the field at the Cotton Bowl.

"I went to College GameDay when I was a sophomore in high school when Kyler (Murray) tried to come back and (Cameron) Dicker hit that field goal to win. I was there," Taaffe told reporters this week. "Me and my buddy snuck onto the field. We watched Sam (Ehlinger) and all them run out of the tunnel. I was trying to get in Sam's way and try to just get his acknowledgement, because we're really good family friends. And then I felt a grab on my neck and I got thrown out. So that's how it was growing up. I will never forget that."

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Taaffe was a student at Westlake High School at the time. He had a ticket to that Red River Rivalry game on Oct. 6 2018, so he eventually got to his seat and watched UT record a 48-45 win over Oklahoma . In the Texas triumph, Ehlinger accounted for five touchdowns and Dicker made a 40-yard field goal with 9 seconds remaining.

But about sneaking onto the field and getting kicked out of the stadium ...

Explained Taaffe: "So it was 11 a.m. kick. So Game Day, you show up (at) 4 a.m. to get front row of Game Day, and you're probably tired of standing after three hours. So 7 a.m. comes around, what are we going to do? Let's just go on the field and see what's going on. Let's watch warmups. We were playing high school football, so we wanted to see what they did to warm up and if it married up with how we do it at Westlake. We don't see anybody, let's just go on the field. So we went on, and it worked until about right before kickoff where I felt a grab on my neck."

Now allowed on the Cotton Bowl field, Taaffe will play in his third Red River Rivalry game this weekend. This season, Taaffe has started five times for No. 1 Texas (5-0, 1-0) . His 21 tackles rank fourth among the Longhorns, and he also broken up two passes.

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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas football player recalls being kicked out of the Cotton Bowl by stadium security