Tulane Football Veteran’s Powerful Impact From Sidelines at Heart of Team Values

Tulane football defensive star Bailey Despanie had a surprising impact from the sidelines with his leadership that translated to his team’s fight at Oklahoma.

Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Tulane football aims to be a player-led team, and the one who stepped up to keep their heads in the game against the Oklahoma Sooners did so from the sidelines. 

Less than five minutes into the second quarter, veteran safety Bailey Despanie received an ejection for targeting. For a game of milliseconds and inches played at the speed it is, it's difficult to imagine what Despanie could have done with his elbow as he made a relatively clear attempt to avoid contact with a sliding Jackson Arnold. 

It's difficult to imagine a response more impressive than Despanie's following that call. On a team with core values of attitude, toughness, discipline, and love, he hit on all marks. His discipline was evident in his complete lack of reaction and temperament to remain on the sidelines. Only his physical toughness, with nine tackles tied for second-team highest, rivaled his mental toughness.

Heach coach Jon Sumrall has said that life is 10 percent of what happens and 90 percent how you react to it. He believes the only true disability in life is a bad attitude. 

Despanie was the best player in the game prior to being ejected; he was even better once he was out. He received the spirit award of the week, named after Devon Walker, for his attitude in their team meeting. Sumrall told reporters Tuesday that Despanie kept his GPS tracker on his uniform and, by the end of the game, had recorded 7,000 yards. He played less than two quarters.

"It was his demeanor and energy and emotion and positivity on the sidelines," Sumrall explained. "It was seeing Slim (Despanie) positively impact the guy that's coming in for him, Kevin Adams, a young player who came in in his absence, and how he engaged with his teammates."

Throughout the game, I watched Despanie trek up and down the sidelines. Before that, I observed him embrace sophomore Kevin Adams before he entered in his place. Adams was the player who tied Despanie with seven solo each for nine tackles. 

I asked Bailey Despanie on Tuesday about the advice he gave to Adams, which clearly prepared a young player for a significant moment.

"I told him he had to grow up in that moment. We were in a big game, a big situation. I just told him he had to grow up and be the player I knew he could be."

"It was frustrating that I couldn't be out there with the guys," he admitted. "I felt like it was an important role to be able to encourage them on the sidelines and help the coaches correct stuff that they're seeing on the field."

Despanie, a Lafayette, La., native, gets to return and make an impact on the field this Saturday in his hometown against the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns. His influence from the Oklahoma sidelines was even more powerful.