"I understand the tradition of the thing. Traditions are what make college football different from every other sport out there. My story that sunk home, with what the cowbell means — we had a young man on our team last year, Nick Bell, passed away after a short six-week fight with cancer. Very, very, very difficult situation to go through as a team. Even more so with his family. We were at the funeral, had the team at the funeral. Nick’s mom Linda, as they are getting ready to close the casket on her 20-year-old son, stood up and rang her cowbell. That really is where it sunk home to me. It’s not a silly gameday thing. It is a deep-rooted tradition in the hearts of our people. Those traditions are what make our sport so special. I’m just happy that the SEC understands that, what it does mean to our people."