We will always remember how Bobby Petrino’s tenure at Arkansas ended: wreck on a motorcycle with a mistress who he had hired in the athletic department and a press conference with a beat-up Petrino in a neck brace.

The coach returned to the Natural State on Monday to speak to the Little Rock TD Club where, despite the way things went, received a standing ovation from the crowd.

The cause for the welcome reception? Petrino, maybe for the first time since his dismissal in 2012, apologized for how everything went down.

“I’ve had a lot of people ask me about it and I wanted to be able to come here and to apologize to everybody, the fans, the players, and truly tell you how sorry I am for the way it ended,” Petrino said while getting choked up. “But I also wanted to come here to thank you for everything people in this room, in this state, did for me and my family. You were great to us. You are a special, special group. Special crowd. You don’t really understand how much of an effect you have on players and their families.”

You can view the full video below:

https://twitter.com/Ben_CreightonTV/status/1171128159300923393?s=20