Homeless teen attends University of Tennessee (not football related..don't care)

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Eyebrow-less teen attends University of Tennessee

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FIFY










In all seriousness that's pretty cool

Truly a heart warming story. Good for Brown and good luck to the young man in the rest of his life.

Great story.


It reminded me of a story from many moons ago in much darker frantastic days where one of our non-scholarship players was found out to be living under a bridge on campus. (Though mainly by his choice it appears, so not quite the same. )

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A spat with roommates had led the Texas A&M walk-on defensive back to decide to live on the streets — hammock, sleeping bag and hiking backpack in tow — for more than 18 months beginning in January 2005.

Bitner's strategy was fairly well thought out, down to a game plan for the infamous spring downpours.

He built a fort out of pallets in a wooded area behind the George Bush Presidential Library for shelter on rainy nights. But on one particular spring night, he found himself in a torrential downpour.

"It was raining real hard that night, so I walked all the way out there and set up my stuff," Bitner said. "Everything was working great. Water wasn't getting on me. It was great.

"Then the downpour came, a deluge, and everything just collapsed on me. I was under four or five pallets, and I was soaking wet. It really backfired on me."

But Bitner was far from deterred. He'd chosen this dual lifestyle: student-athlete by day and a free-spirit wanderer by night.

And he had made it work.

"I would walk around at night, and wherever I was on campus when I got tired, I would seek out a dark spot and hang up my hammock," Bitner said. "If I didn't want to deal with that, then I would just lay down my sleeping bag, throwing my backpack at the top of it and use it as a pillow."

Most mornings, Bitner showered at the Bright Complex after early workouts with teammates. Then he would begin his day as a college student. He'd go to class, practice and then the library before seeking out a place to crash for the night.

It wasn't ideal, he admits. But, hey, he was saving $3,000, and he wasn't living off anyone. Initially, he thought he would only be outdoors for a couple of days until he got his plan together.

Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, and before long Bitner had been living outdoors more than a year.

"It wasn't bad at all," said Bitner, a junior from Round Rock. "I slept good. I'm not going to say I liked it.

"But to me, the only thing I didn't get that I had in a house is to watch TV any time I wanted. Other than that, I could go anywhere, do anything and wouldn't have to worry about cleaning up and I didn't have to worry about bills."

Eventually, his teammates and coaches found out. The first clue was the hammock that was often set up at the practice fields near the Bright Complex.

Several teammates offered Bitner shelter. His pride and need to pay his own way forced him to decline.

"He was really homeless, and no one knew it," senior safety Melvin Bullitt said. "It was like two or three months before someone noticed and was like, 'Hey, was you asleep outside?' "

His parents, Bobby and Colleen Bitner, had their concerns, as well. But because Bitner is paying his own way through school and he's an adult, they couldn't do much but suggest that he go live with his brother, also an A&M student.

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Houston Chronic

Great story and good luck to him!

How in the world did he get 30 AP credits?

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reminded me of a story from many moons ago in much darker frantastic days

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Nice. Way to make it about you, Aggie.

Best of everything for that young man.

Glad to see people do something with their gift.

Nice buttchin.

Guy will go far in life. Refreshing to see something positive that is given attention.

Great story, hope for success for him at UT.

Not your normal post. I'm impressed.