<BillNo> <Sponsor>
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 415
By Lamar
SJR0415
007233
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A RESOLUTION to honor the University of Memphis Tigers
football team on an outstanding season.
WHEREAS, the members of this General Assembly are pleased to recognize those
student athletes who represent this State with the greatest ability on the gridiron; and
WHEREAS, led by Coach Ryan Silverfield, the University of Memphis (UM) Tigers
posted the first successive double-digit win seasons in program history, and with eleven wins in
2024, marked just the second season with eleven or more victories; and
WHEREAS, with eleven wins, the UM Tigers compiled a record of 21-5 overall in the
past two seasons, the most wins in two years in Memphis's history; and
WHEREAS, the Tigers closed out the 2024 season ranked number twenty-three in the
Coaches Poll and number twenty-four in the AP Poll, a feat that marks the Tigers' first
appearance in either poll since 2019; the team was ranked or received votes in the AP Poll for
ten weeks and the Coaches Poll for fourteen weeks during the 2024 season; and
WHEREAS, UM currently holds the longest active streak in the nation of scoring twenty
or more points in forty consecutive games, dating back to a 33-28 victory over Tulane University
on November 27, 2021; and
WHEREAS, their 20-12 win over Florida State marked UM's first win over a power
conference opponent on the road since defeating the University of Kansas in 2015; and
WHEREAS, seven Tiger gridiron greats earned First Team All-American Athletic
Conference (AAC) honors, and three received Third Team All-AAC nods; the seven first-team
honorees are the most for Memphis since joining the AAC in 2013, while the ten total honorees
are the most for the Tigers since the 2019 season; and
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WHEREAS, UM quarterback Seth Henigan eclipsed 14,000 career passing yards in the
team's 42-37 win over West Virginia in the Scooter's Coffee Frisco Bowl; he finished his
collegiate career ranked thirteenth in NCAA history with 14,266 yards; and
WHEREAS, Seth Henigan broke a longstanding UM record in the team's 33-28 win over
Charlotte when he threw a twenty-four-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Roc Taylor with
thirty-one seconds left in the game to put the Tigers in the lead and seal the victory; his ninety-
first career passing touchdown surpassed Brady White's total for the most touchdown passes
ever by a Tiger; and
WHEREAS, Seth Henigan threw his 104
th
career touchdown pass to Clayton Tune
versus Houston to tie the AAC's career record; and
WHEREAS, Seth Henigan secured his rightful place in Memphis football history as the
program's all-time leader in passing yards, passing touchdowns, and completion percentage; all
four of his collegiate season performances fall in the top ten single-season passing yard totals in
Tiger history, ranking third with 3,883 in 2023, sixth with 3,571 in 2022, seventh with 3,502 in
2024, and ninth with 3,322 in 2021; and
WHEREAS, Seth Henigan was named the Offensive Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the
2024 Scooter's Coffee Frisco Bowl, while his teammate Chandler Martin was named Defensive
MVP; their selections marked the second consecutive year that both Mr. Henigan and Mr.
Martin were named bowl game MVPs, having received the same honors in the 2023 AutoZone
Liberty Bowl; and
WHEREAS, after receiving an invitation to the Reese's Senior Bowl, Seth Henigan
ended the game 12-of-14 for 132 yards and a touchdown and captured the MVP title of the
American Team; and
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WHEREAS, UM running back Mario Anderson, Jr., and linebacker Chandler Martin
earned All-America honors from Phil Steele and an honorable mention for their performance
during the season; and
WHEREAS, Mario Anderson, Jr., finished his season ranked eighth in the nation with
1,674 total scrimmage yards and twenty-one total touchdowns; he had one of the most
productive seasons for a Tiger running back, totaling 1,362 yards on the ground while rushing
for eighteen touchdowns; and
WHEREAS, with 111 tackles, Chandler Martin ranked twenty-ninth in the Football Bowl
Subdivision, and his sixteen tackles for loss ranked top fifteen nationally; and
WHEREAS, the members of the University of Memphis Tigers have truly distinguished
themselves as gridiron greats, and they are richly deserving of our approbation; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED F OURTEENTH
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING, that we honor and congratulate the coaches and players
of the University of Memphis Tigers football team on an outstanding season and wish them
much continued success and happiness.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that an appropriate copy of this resolution be prepared
for presentation with this final clause omitted from such copy and upon proper request made to
the appropriate clerk, the language appearing immediately following the State seal appear
without House or Senate designation.