Being in the locker room at halftime can go one way or the complete opposite. It’s either a very joyous locker room or it’s very pissed off and silent.

As players, you always try to keep your emotions level no matter what happens, but sometimes (most of the time for me at least), emotions just come out.

As we entered the locker room at halftime during my career, I knew exactly how the atmosphere was going to be with Coach Spurrier and my teammates. I’ll never forget how amped and excited we were at halftime against Alabama in 2010, and at The Swamp that same year. It was like a damn nightclub in there.

That’s what football’s all about. It’s a game, and it’s supposed to be fun. Obviously, I know it’s a giant business, but I think people forget that it’s a game.

Now, on the flipside of that amped locker room. I can also remember (and it pisses me off every time I think about it) losing at Kentucky the week after beating Alabama. The locker room atmosphere was sort of quiet and we just kinda went through the motions. We had a giant lead and everyone was ready to just get back to Columbia and move on.

It haunts me to this day just thinking about it. As the quarterback, you have to make sure that everyone is amped at all times and ready to execute the game plan, no matter what the score is.

Another terrible locker room experience was 2008 at The Swamp. We were getting absolutely crushed by Tim Tebow and the Gators and the locker room was about to explode. Everyone was pointing fingers, blaming one another. It was just a real terrible deal.

Football is a very emotional sport with a hell of a lot of testosterone. The coach can try to manage that as much as possible, but sometimes it doesn’t work like that.

Coach Spurrier is a very competitive guy. In fact, he’s the most competitive guy I’ve ever been around. That said, he is also very emotional. Those locker room moments will forever be etched into my memory, as I’ve experienced both spectrums of it. The elation and the misery. But one thing’s for sure, I wouldn’t have traded it for the world.