Football is part of the McBride family's heritage, and with oldest son Will now a freshman quarterback for Tennessee, it's only natural the McBrides welcome guests to their suburban Houston home to watch college football each Saturday.
When the Volunteers hosted Southern Mississippi last week, the demographics of the football watching party just happened to be skewed in a particularly rowdy direction for a particularly memorable moment.
More than a dozen of Michael McBride's friends were over for his 14th birthday party. Michael, like his older brother, is a quarterback. Though he is only in eighth grade, father Jere McBride sees flashes of the ability in Michael that made Will a quarterback with multiple Division I scholarship offers.
But as the Vols kicked off, Michael and about 15 of his friends were outside swimming and enjoying the family hot tub while Jere and wife Stephanie watched the game on television inside, knowing Will was penciled in as the Volunteers' backup quarterback.
Jarrett Guarantano led Tennessee on a game-opening touchdown drive and was playing some of his best football of the season when the redshirt freshman suddenly struggled to get up from a hit in the second quarter and needed assistance from Tennessee's training staff.
Jere, realizing Will might soon be making his collegiate debut, ran outside to alert Michael and his friends.
A stampede ensued.
"Man, they all just ran in the house," Jere said in a phone interview. "About the time they came in, he was kind of trotting out on the field. They just went crazy. They were just so excited. As you can imagine, there was a lot of water in the house."
McBride, who enrolled at Tennessee in January as the fourth quarterback on the depth chart, played the entire second half of the Vols' 24-10 victory.
When Tennessee (4-5, 0-5 Southeastern Conference) plays at Missouri (4-5, 1-4) on Saturday night, McBride's number could be called again. Tennessee coach Butch Jones said on the "Vol Calls" radio program that Guarantano practiced Wednesday but his status will be a "game-time decision" against the Tigers.
If McBride plays at Missouri, or in any of Tennessee's final three regular-season games, he will take the field with his teammates behind him. The 19-year-old, known to some teammates as "Will the Thrill," has made an impression in his 10 months on campus.
A smirk spread across junior running back John Kelly's face when he was asked about McBride after last Saturday's victory.
"We've been able to see McBride make some plays all the way from the spring when he came in," Kelly said. "We knew he was confident once he got his chance to go in there. We was rocking with him as soon as he stepped in the huddle. It was good to hear his voice project a little bit more once he got in there and got some game action."
Jones described McBride as having the "it" factor, a steady temperament, a dry sense of humor and an ability to make people smile, including older teammates.
"We always joke around that he has ice in veins, so it was the same face you always see on Will 90 percent of the time," senior tight end Ethan Wolf said. "Straight face, ready to go. I don't think he was nervous at all, from my side of it."
Jere said Will's mother detected some nervousness in him during his first play against Southern Miss. It appeared to fade fast - on his third play, he launched a deep post to the end zone that narrowly missed receiver Josh Palmer's outstretched hands.
Will's parents were amused to see a tweet from Stephanie become a conversation topic on the SEC Network's telecast of the game. Stephanie posted she was "speechless" as her son made his unexpected collegiate debut. Some interpreted that to mean she was upset Will lost his redshirt for this season by entering the game.
Jere said it would have been great to see Will redshirt - which allows a year of practice and development without playing - but he made it clear Mom and Dad harbor no animosity about the way things worked out.
"Certainly, we were excited," Jere said. "How can you not be? Basically, it's really out of your control. The circumstances and where you are on the depth chart are really going to dictate these things. Basically, you're just kind of along for the ride. I think, obviously, they didn't have any choice but to use him. We weren't upset about it."
The McBrides debated traveling to Missouri but have decided not to, partially because they had already planned a trip to Knoxville for next week's game against LSU.
That one will hold particular significance for the family.
Will's maternal grandfather, Don Shows, coached West Monroe High School in Louisiana to eight state championships and was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame before his death in 2014. Jere received his undergraduate degree from LSU, which is where his parents met. Jere and Stephanie both did graduate work at LSU, too, before settling in Texas.
It will be a fun game for the family. But it will be hard to top the memory of Michael's 14th birthday party that was "upstaged in a good way."
"I wish you could have seen Michael's face," Jere said. "It was probably the best birthday present a younger brother could have in that regard. He was super excited for his older brother and obviously very proud of him."
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com.