Having to miss the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's last home football game was tough for Tae Davis.
But an unexpected yet familiar face in the crowd quickly altered the emotions of the senior linebacker.
Davis's sister Sierra - who is in the Army and stationed in Fort Hood, Texas - surprised him by showing up at the Oct. 7 game against Furman, which he had to miss with a head injury suffered in practice a couple of days prior.
"It was very special for me," Davis, who missed the past two weeks but is expected to play today, said Thursday. "It's something we talked about before she enlisted. I asked her when she was going to come home to see me and have a chance to see me play, and she had said the chances were pretty slim that she would see me my senior year.
"Seeing her made my day, even though I wasn't playing. I was down about that, but that definitely uplifted my spirits."
He recalled seeing his mom first during the Moc Walk - which he attended only with the urgings of head coach Tom Arth and his family, all of whom knew - before seeing his sister.
"I was just going to meet the guys (at the stadium)," Davis said. "I didn't have any speculation as to why they wanted me to do the walk - I just figured it was because it was my last homecoming - but from the moment I saw her, it all kind of hit me, like 'This is why.' "
"I'm glad I did it. I was blessed to see her and just want her to know I love her."
With today's 2 p.m. Southern Conference game against The Citadel (3-3, 1-3) also being Military Appreciation Day, it's extra special not only for Davis but also for Arth, whose father - also named Tom, who was at a practice this week - was a Marine who served in Vietnam. UTC's 36-year old coach wasn't born at the time, so the memories he has are those told to him by his father.
"There's some times when we're here in the United States and you're kind of going through your life, living your life," Coach Arth said, "you have your problems that you're worried about, different issues that come up all the time professionally. Sometimes there are some things that hit you and it becomes very real to you. Seeing Tae Davis, seeing their family together and the emotion tied to that, it hits home for you that this is really going on.
"Sometimes we get so caught up in our lives and all the freedoms we have here and everything we enjoy, the peace we have, and there's people out there sacrificing and risking their lives every day to make sure we have that, and I think it's fantastic that we're going to honor the military the way we are on Saturday - for them, but also for us as a reminder there are people serving this country and fighting every day.
"It's something you can't ever take for granted."
It's definitely something appreciated by Davis, but once the game starts, his focus will be on trying to help the Mocs end a three-game losing streak and benefit from the fruits of their labor so far.
"It would be a big confidence booster for the guys on the team, and the fans as well," Davis said. "It would show our hard work isn't going to waste. We are improving week to week. We just have to continue to do our jobs, execute and, most importantly, stay together and have fun."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.