Jayhawk Football From Fort Worth - Day 1

Dec. 19, 2005

Photo Gallery

<?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>

FORT WORTH, Texas — The Kansas football team headed to Texas on Monday as the team began final preparations for Friday’s Fort Worth Bowl against Houston.

Jayhawk players, coaches, support staff and families began the day by loading six buses in Lawrence. After a team meeting, the travel party took a short ride to Forbes Field airport in Topeka, where the team took off at 10:30 a.m.

Thanks to smooth skies, the team landed about an hour later at Dallas-Fort Worth airport well ahead of schedule. Following the lead of a Texas-sized police escort, the team immediately departed for a nearby high school in Burleson for its first practice. The work out was spirited as the squad ran through drills in the chilly Texas air.

“It feels great to still be playing in December,” senior linebacker Kevin Kane, who also played in the 2003 Mazda Tangerine Bowl, said. “Two years ago I don’t think we really knew what to expect because nobody on the team had been to a bowl before. Now we have a group of hungry seniors who have done this before. This time around it is a business trip, and we are focused on winning the game.”

Following the two-hour practice, the Jayhawks went to the team hotel to check-in and were greeted by the Jayhawk faithful. The players received a goody bag containing an adidas Fort Worth Bowl sweatsuit, tennis shoes and polo.

After a team meeting, the players were released for the evening.