Irene Roddy: If you’re anything like me, you follow an Instagram account called Red Cup Texas and thought, man, who is that guy? Well, I’m here to answer that for you. My name is Irene Roddy with the Daily Texan. Here’s Blain Stockton.
Blain Stockton: I’m Blain Stockton. I am a sophomore journalism and sports media student. So journalism major, sports media minor. I am from Smithville, Texas.
Roddy: Explain for people who are not me, and have not been paying attention for over a year, what is Red Cup Texas?
Stockton: Red Cup Texas is a legitimate journalism outlet that I run. It’s an Instagram page that has over 20,000 followers now, so that’s cool. But basically I just cover campus happenings. I cover UT sports a lot. UT sports is my main focus, obviously. I get to post random things about Texas football, Texas basketball, Gunnar Helm, a lot of various areas that I’m passionate about. I get to interact with a lot of cool people. I can get a lot of cool opportunities as a result of it, you know. But I just get to build a fun community of people that all care about the same things that I do, and I think that’s really fun. So that’s what Red Cup Texas is. It’s a community of people who care about this university.
Roddy: What kind of things have come out of it? Like, what kind of opportunities are you talking about?
Stockton: I’m here interviewing with you because of it, for one thing, you know, like, I got to be on a podcast with The Drag as a result of it. This guy that I already knew, knew that I, like, know about Texas football and stuff, so I got to go on with that. I’m gonna get to go to spring break in Fort Lauderdale this year with the main Red Cup News is my parent organization. They partnered with Red Bull to send people to Fort Lauderdale for spring break, so I’m gonna get to go to that and hang out with people, so that’s gonna be a really fun experience.
I get to go to games, you know, random things. People recognize me for no reason, and it’s like, okay, I guess, yeah, that is me. , let’s think. But yeah, the coolest thing that has come as a result of it is just building new relationships with people, I feel like. Cause like, I have a lot more friends than I ever thought that I would as a result of running Red Cup Texas. You know, like, people feel like they know me as a result of me running this page. And that’s a cool feeling, you know? Even if it’s a random person I’ve never met before, they’re like, Red Cup, I love you! Dude, Gunnar Helm! And it’s like, oh yeah, that’s me. Love you, man. And then I never see them again, so.
Roddy: Yeah. You’re like, yeah, Gunnar Helm.
Stockton: Yeah, exactly. Like, yeah, no, you get it. I love Gunnar Helm. Thank you.
Roddy: That’s how it feels being in a sorority. Like you’ll walk down the Speedway. The speedway, you’ll walk down Speedway or like the street or something, and like you’ll be wearing letters and some random girl you’ve never seen before in your entire life will be like KD!! It’s like, who are you? Yeah, but like, yeah, like sister, twin.
Stockton: Oh yeah. The weirdest thing is. I’ve somehow gotten to a point where people ask me for pictures. It doesn’t happen very much, luckily. But, occasionally, I’ve had like two or three people ask me to take a picture. And it’s like, I’m very flattered, for one. Okay, don’t get me wrong, I’m very flattered. Cause like, it’s a crazy feeling that people are wanting pictures with you. But, at the same time, please Find a bigger star than me to look up to because like what I do is not something you should be Like striving for you know like all I do is post my random thoughts on social media That’s that’s not a good career goal, so please aim higher than Red Cup, Texas, but I’m flattered anyway. I’ve won.
Roddy: You’re like a celebrity.
Stockton: This is a tangent. Niche internet micro celebrity is what I call myself. I’m a niche internet micro celebrity. I’ve had some random interactions with Michael Taff’s mom. Like whenever, whenever we lost in the Cotton Bowl, I made this post about Michael Taaffe and how much I loved him and everything, you know, I wanted to come back for one more year. And she DM’d the Red Cup Texas account and she said, Thank you for being so nice to Michael. And I was like, wow. I, this is a very random thing that I’m getting right now. But I’m glad that Michael Taaffe’s mom likes what I’m doing. I still haven’t gotten used to people recognizing me and wanting pictures with me. It’s always just like People ask me if I run Red Cup Texas and I’m like, yeah, I do. Okay. What’s your name? What’s your how are you liking school and everything cuz like I’ve met like oddly I feel like a lot of I’ve met a lot of freshman guys I feel like don’t know how but it feels like every guy that I know is like, oh, yeah, it’s my first year here It’s like, okay, how you like what and then like I have a random 20 minute conversation with the guy, you know And it’s like that’s just a cool thing. I don’t know I really do just feel like I want to put off to everyone that You’ll see me, you can come up to me, yeah, we’ll have a conversation, we’ll talk ball, we’ll talk whatever you want to talk about, I’ll talk about life with some random kids, like that, that’s just how it goes, like you get to have a positive impact on people’s day, and that’s a really cool feeling that I get to have.
Roddy: Yeah, and like, it definitely shows on the account too, like every morning, like, they go kill it, or like every Monday morning, they go kill it, like I wake up to that, I don’t know how you are up so early, but I will wake up and it’s there, I’m like, Did you get up at 5am? Like, I’m so confused, but like, yeah, like, it’s definitely reflective, like, Like, when I was talking about this episode with my editor, he was like, He was like, ask about, like, the gratitude, like, it’s something that you’ve made, like, really sort of A part of your brand, right?
Roddy: And it’s obviously very genuine, right? And like why like what do you think this is like gonna sound so like weird does that mean like okay?
Stockton: Yeah, I got you.
Roddy: How like why do you think you’re like that which sounds okay? Duh, because why am I like, you know, like how have you been shaped? As a person, like your background, whatever, to like be so like positive and have like such a good uplifting platform.
Stockton: That’s a good question. That’s a, that’s a hard hitter. You did well with that one. , so first of all, random tangent, those like Monday morning things that I post, that started last semester in the fall, obviously. I did that like the first Monday, first day we had classes. I was like, I’ll do this, tell people to have a good semester. And then like a bunch of people liked it and it was like, please keep doing this. And so then it turned into. If I could send one positive message to people, like, throughout the course of a week, like, I don’t know what people are going through, you know? The crazy thing is, like, I try not to think about this, but I have, like, 20, 000 people that all have uniquely difficult lives that are following me, you know? That have unique personal issues. Like, things they’re working through at the same time, which is a very shocking feeling. Like, you’re ever in traffic and you’re like, wow, these people are living lives just like I am. It’s a really weird thought, but you never know what people are going through, you know? So you want to, if I can make a person smile, if I can make somebody laugh or like a stupid meme, like, that, that’s a, that’s a win in my book. , to answer your question, in reality, I feel like I just always try to stay positive because, hmm, I know there’s only so much that I can control, really. I feel like everything is about the mindset that you have, whenever you’re faced with an issue, you know? I’m a big fan of the Rocky movies, Rocky IV I feel like is the greatest cinematic experience of all time.
Roddy: Yeah, that’s a fair take.
Stockton: Ah, yeah, yeah, thank you. , But, so, I mean, every day is a unique opportunity to build on yesterday, you know, like, I played sports in high school, like, I’ve translated this to, to sports obviously, like in basketball, I play basketball, free throws, each free throw is independent of the previous one, you know, that’s something that a lot of people struggle with, is if you miss the first free throw, you’re much more likely to miss the second one, you know, because you’re thinking about missing the first one, but whenever you understand that each shot and then therefore each life opportunity each day in and of itself. It’s an opportunity to attack it, you know, get 1 percent better. Like, I’m never going to be perfect. No one’s ever going to be perfect, obviously, but we’re all given opportunities every day. We’re very lucky to live every day. I feel like I’m, I feel thankful just to be here. This is my dream to go to this university, you know. So I’m the luckiest guy in the world. But if you attack every day with wanting to Improve in some way understanding that you’re not going to be perfect. I feel like you have a much more positive Outlook on the world because it can be very easy to feel like oh, I’m not seeing progress in school I’m not seeing progress in my life or professionally or whatever it may be, you know, but once you understand that Incremental wins are what matters. I think you have a much brighter look on the future.
Roddy: Yeah, that’s like a really good take. Like, I really like that. What? I like the metaphor. Why Texas? Like, why come here? Why? Like, you said it was your dream to come here. Like, why? Like, explain. Tell me about that, and journalism. Why journalism?
Stockton: Oh, why journalism? Okay. Why journalism?
Roddy: Why Texas?
Stockton: So, why journalism? I loved sports growing up. , my dad was my youth league basketball coach, so we have a very fun bond with that. Like my dad’s my best friend, I feel like, uh, it’s a corny thing to say, but
Roddy: My dad’s my best friend. Yeah. , so I feel like that.
Stockton: I love my dad, obviously and therefore, as a young child, I wanted to play in the NBA as all young kids who grow up playing a particular sport do. I wanted to play in the professional league of said sport and then I, So I determined that I would not be playing in the NBA but whenever I would watch sports as a kid, which is like my entire life, my dad and I would sit and watch basketball or football or whatever it may be. Basically just those two. We didn’t watch baseball or anything else like that but I would pay unique attention to, like score graphics and stuff. Like the Super Bowl score graphic came out last night. Terrible. Hate it. Can’t stand it. It’s so minimalistic, why can’t we go back to having personality and things? Like, we reverted to 1996, and I don’t like that. , but I would pay attention to, like, broadcasters and what they would say. , like, Play By Play guys. I’m a big Keith Jackson guy. , so, the last game he ever did was the ‘06 Rose Bowl. , and you know, like, 4th and 5th National Championships on the line, the whole setting the scene and everything. Like, there’s a unique impact that those guys can have on watching a game, right? Like, those things developed my childhood, in my opinion. So, I wanted to do that. I wanna, I wanted to play by play for I want to do college games. I don’t like, I don’t like the NFL and NBA as much there’s a unique passion and pageantry, I feel like, the college game, whether it be more pure because players, players aren’t getting paid as much, I guess, technically. That’s a gray area, moving on but yeah, so I wanted to do play by play. , and so, why Texas? That’s a great question. I grew up 45 minutes away, so, that obviously helped, but my high school was an, was an A& M feeder school. Smithville typically sends most of their top 6 percent to A& M, you know. My class was a bit of an outlier. We sent five kids here, I think, which is really impressive by our standards in my grade of 122 students, so, that was something, but as a kid, I grew up, my mom went to Oklahoma State. I liked Oklahoma State. I went through a phase where I really liked Oklahoma State. Stillwater’s a really nice town. It’s like, yeah, I could, I could have seen myself going there. They actually had a sports media program, which would have fit what I wanted to do but, ultimately, whenever it came down to things, there is something about this place that I cannot identify, you know? There’s something about. Knowing that this place is representative of the entire state, I feel like, is certainly something. I’m a, I love the tradition that the school has of a variety of things, you know, like story athletic programs, whatever it may be. Top journalism school and in the country or in the in the in the top obviously not the top But up around there so that made it a very good choice But I talked about this. I think whenever I came on some other thing But there’s something special about how I feel like I can walk into DKR on a game day and I can get the same chills every time I go in there I did the first time I went in there, you know, like There’s something, something special I just love, you know, and I love the people. I love the place. I don’t love Austin. I don’t love the city personally, I’m a country guy. I’m from Smithville, like 4, 500 people. I want to raise my kids in a small town like that That’s just my personal thing campus is not Austin, in my opinion. It’s, it’s a vastly different thing. You cross MLK and it’s a vastly different landscape, but between MLK, Guad, and I 35, it’s a, it’s its own little world, so I love that. Love the people, love the place. It was only ever going to be Texas. I applied to Texas, North Texas and Oklahoma State for fun. I was like, I’ll apply to these three. I knew I was gonna get into Texas because I was in the top six percent, and I didn’t really have a whole lot of reaction. Some people post, like, screaming, like, Oh my gosh, I got in! For me, it was just like, yeah ok I’m doing what I want to do. And it’s like, yeah, yeah, so, I don’t know. To answer your question, why Texas, everything, I would say. There’s, there’s, I cannot find a thing to not like, and I love that.
Roddy: No, that’s how I feel, too. Like, this place is, like, completely indescribable. Okay, what’s your favorite? Texas athletics tradition, like, of all of them, like, if you had to pick one.
Stockton: Hmm, let’s think here. Well, personally, I’m a big March Grandioso guy. I dabble in March Grandioso religiously. I mean, Bevo’s obviously cool. Bevo’s a good option. I’m gonna, I’m gonna go with, the principle of staying eyes to eyes, I feel like, is something. Which has grown, I feel like it
grew throughout the year, maybe a little bit. I do feel like people got better, that’s one of my bigger gripes, obviously, you know. I mean, if you’ve been following me, you know my thoughts on that. But, like, Clemson game was special because everybody stayed after the game to sing. The eyes of Texas. Like that’s, now does the student section get off because of the speakers they put in front of us? So then we get like off paced. It’s terrible. Like quit with the speakers, please. So we can all be on the same, like I should not be having to listen to two different things. Try to sync up with the rest of the stadi.
Roddy: And, like, one half of the student section will be on one part and, like, will be on another, and then the rest of the stadi is doing something completely different.
Stockton: Exactly.
Roddy: It’s like a three part harmony. Like, what is going on here?
Stockton: Exactly, yeah I’m gonna, I’m gonna go with just, just being there and singing the Eyes of Texas. Yeah. That’s, that’s my personal, like, being, especially after a win, you know. But, but don’t get me wrong, don’t get me wrong, like, Post, Cotton Bowl, I was there. I was there in the 400 level. And damn it, I stayed there and I sang. And that’s, that’s what you do. Because like, you show pride in the people that have played out there on the field, court, or whatever it is, you know, because they’re representation of the university, you know. So, we should do the same as fans.
Roddy: Yeah, and it’s like, that’s just sort of the heart and the spirit of, like that’s the point, like you’re supposed to stay and sing the eyes. I’m personally really impartial to the 3rd Down Bevo graphic.
Stockton: Ah yeah, 3rd Down Bevo. I like 3rd Down Bevo. Solid.
Roddy: He’s just, he makes me so happy. Yeah. And I want a 3rd Down Bevo graphic to play every time I do something successful.
Stockton: Do you have the Chrome extension?
Roddy: Yeah, yes, of course I have the Chrome extension. And I will turn my vole up to make sure everybody can hear it when I’m with my friends. Ah, yes. On the 5th floor of the DMC at 2am, and I turn something in, you will be
hearing the 3rd Down Bevo graphic. Yeah, I just, It’s definitely a special place, and like, you really, like, hit on that really well.
Stockton: I do a lot of talking. I do a lot of, I did, I did a UIL. Event in high school.
Roddy: Did you do a debate or something?
Stockton: Well, I did debate. I did a cross examination debate. Okay. I hated that. Okay. Hated. I could not, I hated, I hated C.X, but I did this thing called extemporaneous informative speaking. So just, which is a fancy way of saying buster, like, similar. Similar. It was, it was, it was a fancy way of saying, draw a topic out of a hat and talk about it. Basically, so we would be put into a room, draw a topic, uh, formulate a speech in like 30 minutes, go give a 7 minute long speech to some judges. So that’s what I did. And when you do that, you learn to BS a lot of stuff, learn to fill time. I was pretty good at it. I got to nationals. Randomly. I got me and my friend a free trip to Arizona after we graduated, and then I didn’t care anymore. So then I just got to have a free trip and lose in the first round. So…
Roddy: Were you in a cool part of Arizona?
Stockton: No, no, we were in Phoenix.
Roddy: Well that’s cool.
Stockton: We were in Phoenix in early summer. That was, that was a great time. That was, and like, right after graduation, like, that was a peak experience, you know.
Roddy: That’s so funny. Arizona, just to like, lose in the first round, too.
Stockton: Yes. Oh, I hadn’t, I hadn’t practiced since. Early May. And this was in like, mid June. Yeah, mid June. So, I had just quit, because I cared about the state competition.
Stockton: That was my big deal. Cause like, that was the actual one that I competed in my entire time. Like, we just did the national circuit my last year. So I didn’t really care about it. It was cool to get the trip, I didn’t really care that I made it, you know. Yeah, exactly. I wanted to win a state championship, but I didn’t, but we moved, you know, like we went to, we went to a Diamondbacks game for fun. We went, we floated a river, spent like a whole day floating a river because they had to book the whole trip as though I would have made it to the finals. And so the first, the, the, the first round was just like the first two days. This is a five, five or six day long trip. So, had three or four days of just, let’s fill
time. So, we went, floated a river. What else did we do? That, that’s not, that’s not the main thing. Second thing, it was, it’s flowing the river and They watched Diamondbacks, Phillies, which ended up being the NLCS that year. It’s a very random, cool thing I get to talk about, I guess.
Roddy: Okay, as we were sitting here, I realized that I never asked you why Red Cup, Texas.
Stockton: Oh boy.
Roddy: If I don’t ask you that, I’m going to get
Stockton: What do you mean by why Red Cup Texas?
Roddy: Like, why make the Did you make the account or did you
Stockton: I did not. I took it over.
Roddy: Okay.
Stockton: I did not inherit it. I was given the position.
Roddy: You were given it. Who gave it to you?
Stockton: Okay, so.
Roddy: Tell me that.
Stockton: My timeline, this is the Red Cup story, how things came to be. So, in high school. You know, some high schools start, like, student section Instagram pages. So, I started a thing called Barstool Smithville. And I covered Smithville sports. That’s what I did. You know, we had fun. I talked crap about other teams. I talked crap about LaGrange a lot. We beat LaGrange my senior year in LaGrange. That was great. Loved that game. I wore shirts that said I hate whatever team we were playing. So that was a fun experience. I have
Roddy: So you had a game day uniform then the same way you do now.
Stockton: Well, yes. Technically. I don’t like change. I don’t like change. So that’s why I’m not superstitious, but I am a little stitious. So, I, yeah, I made shirts that said, I made, I originally just made them for LaGrange and Giddings. They had a really good recruit on their team, ended up going to A&M.
Roddy: Yeah, the A&M guy.
Stockton: Bravion Rogers. Yes, I’ve heard about him. And he played terribly against us. We were in, he acknowledged us in the student section. Couple times we were in his head that entire game. My friend played on a b ankle. He’d missed the past like three games. My friend played on a b ankle and he outplayed him a million times. Tiger pride. So then I went through my first semester last year. You know, I just go to games. I’m just, you know, doing what I do now, basically. And then I follow this account called Red Cup News, which is Ultimately, the parent company of what I do, and they were talking about Red Cup ambassadors needed at these schools. One of them was Texas, and I was like, Oh, sure, I’ll apply. Why not? I could do that. I ran Barstool Smithville. I can do this. You know, I’d actually been following Red Cup Texas for a while. Didn’t really know it because it didn’t really post a lot. It posts like once every two weeks or something. Be like, this kind of sucks. So then I took it over. I took over on January 12th, 2024 with 3, 283 followers, so. There was a little bit of a base there already, you know, nothing to the scale of partial Longhorn or anything like that, you know, but, so, I took over and I wanted to create, I wanted to create what I have now, basically, like, I wanted to be able to build relationships with people and engage with the community because I saw a hole in how other accounts deal with things, you know, like, every, a lot of things feel non personal, A lot of things feel like an account, you know?
Roddy: Right.
Stockton: I feel like Red Cup Texas feels like Blain Stockton is, is posting things. Like, you know that it’s me.
Roddy: Yeah. You know, like, because No, it’s definitely a person.
Stockton: Exactly. Like, I have a very unique personality and, like, I’ll just make random tangential comments about other things that are going on. It’s like, yeah, you know Blain posted that, you know? So I took over then. Yeah, I just wanted to I wanted to engage with the community more than what I saw with Barstool Longhorn, particularly, I will call that out. I wanted to do better than Barstool Longhorn, basically. And then we grew a little bit that semester. It was hard, obviously. I mean, trying to restart something that, you know, didn’t really have a lot of a base. I mean, so we got up to, I remember maybe like 6, 000 early smer. I was like, wow, I’m doing great. Like I was like, it’s funny how much your goals change. , because like my original goals were like if I can just gain like 10 followers a day then I’m gonna be doing great, you know? Like that was, that was my, that was my big thought. , and now I feel disappointed whenever I do that, you know? Like, like it’s funny going from, my, my old posts would get like 75 to 150 likes and be like, okay, that’s good. And then now it’s like I get 1, 500 and I’m like, that didn’t really do that well. You know, it’s, it’s an interesting, it’s interesting feeling like that. , but football season obviously helped. We were at 10, 000 after the Michigan game and we were at 20, 000 at the start of this semester. So really, really football coverage hammered it home. , but yeah, why Red Cup Texas? Because I needed a platform, ’cause I needed a platform.
Roddy: ’cause you needed to be put in the public specter
Stockton: Apparently so. I think people like it.
Roddy: So it’s, I think that people would agree. I mean, obviously people really like it, so, I mean, yeah, I mean, you seem like a good guy. You have funny and like Yeah. I mean,
Stockton: Thank you.
Roddy: Yeah. You know who runs the Barstool account?
Stockton: I do. I know his name. Okay.
Roddy: I’m not, not gonna ask.
Stockton: He was actually, he was actually at the, he was at the Peach Bowl. He was sitting down in the student section. He’s actually in front of me.
Roddy: Is he a student?
Stockton: He is a student.
Roddy: Okay. Okay. Outside of like, sports and Red Cup, what do you do? Like, what do you do for fun? Who are your friends?
Stockton: Oh, wow.
Roddy: How do you spend your time?
Stockton: Oh, wow. How do I spend my time? . I am the luckiest person to be friends with the people that I am. I’ve said that in the past, I continue to say that. I believe that adamantly. I’m very lucky to know the people that I know. Cause they’re just great, you know? Like, I can Depend on them, you know, and I met them through going to games. Obviously, like I’m friends the Bevo Hat Guy now, you know
Roddy: Tell me about him. That was the question I was gonna ask.
Stockton: Ah, yes Bevo Hat Guy ,
Roddy: what’s his name?
Stockton: His name is Jack.
Roddy: Okay, I’m like objectifying him like Bevo Hat Guy.
Stockton: Oh, yeah Oh, yeah, it’s like Red Cup Guy It’s funny cuz people people people People call him Bevo Hat Guy, but like, every time he gets noticed, it’s Bevo Hat Guy. Whenever I get noticed, it’s like, Red Cup! Red Cup guy! Red Cup Texas! It’s like, please just be consistent, guys. Like, come on.
Roddy: Would it be like, would it be funnier if people just like randomly shouted your name in the streets?
Stockton: No, that would be more frightening, for sure. That would be frightening. A bunch of random people that know my name. , no, Jack is great. Jack cares a lot. You know, like, we’re very similar in that. Like, we just, we just love this university. We went to the Cotton Bowl a day early because our parents wanted us to beat the weather. So we just gallivanted around Arlington for a day in the snow. And that’s what we did, you know? That’s so cute. Yeah, little bro core, bro core memory. , but, Jack’s, Jack has a much more difficult college experience than I do. I have a lot of time to be able to, like, make content, which I do, to just hang out, you know. Jack is a pre med student right now, so he actually has a lot of things going on academically. , which forced him to actually live a balanced life of get work done before you go to games and stuff. But, yeah, I met him at the Wyoming game last year. , that was the first time I was in the front row of a game. I was in the second or third row for the Rice game. But since then I’ve been in the front row every home game, so that’s fun. , but, yeah, my friends are amazing. , I wouldn’t, I would not trade them for anything. You know, like, that’s honestly the, the, the, what has made college the most enjoyable. thing for me is like, I’ve been able to build relationships with so many cool people, and those are the people that I feel like are the coolest, you know, like they’re always there.
Stockton: , we, we watched the Super Bowl last night, obviously, that’s what we do, . We just grab lunch randomly, you know, I mean admittedly a lot of my life is you know Figure out some stuff to post. I have to make a Valentine’s Day post some kind of satirical Gunnar Helm Valentine’s Day post You know, that’s what it’s going to be
Roddy: right, the people are expecting
Stockton: The people know what they’re going to get like something about David Benda and it’s a pun about Bent over and it’s like, you know, I guess what it’s going to be, but I, I do, I do work a couple of jobs. I have, I, I’m going to be reffing flag football again this semester, so that’s fun. I have that tonight. I have a training thing, so that’ll be fun. , and then I get to do play by play. I work for a. Like high school streaming service. So I go around the Austin area on Fridays and I get to go call games. I was in San Antonio last Thursday, Friday, Saturday for a swim meet.
Roddy: Okay.
Stockton: Never had done swim before. I got put up in a hotel and I got paid significantly more than I normally do. So, I was like, I will do swim, thank you.
Roddy: Yes, I will do swim and yes I will drive to San Antonio. Yes, I will take all of those, yes.
Stockton: Yes, I will stay in a hotel for free.
Roddy: Yeah, exactly. A bed that’s not twin sized is.
Stockton: I got a king sized bed. I’ve, I’ve never slept alone in a king sized bed before. You know how big of a deal that was for me? I was so adult. Wow. I felt, I was like, I’m on a work trip right now. I’m on a work trip. This feels so, what the hell am I doing here? Like.
Roddy: You already get to like do what you want to do with your life though. Like that’s so cool.
Stockton: Oh yeah, it’s very, yeah. Every, whether it be Red Cup things. Like, if we reach another follower milestone, or if, if it’s something with my play by play stuff that I get to do, I’m always, a lot of times I’m just like, how am I here, you know? Cause like, a lot of things still haven’t hit me yet, of the way that my life is. It’s just like, I’m, I’m just plain stalking from Smithville, Texas, and all of a sudden I’m on TV a lot. Cracking my belt because I’m putting belt to ass, you know, like I got on TV for the Florida game doing that I just like just random random things. This is like I’m the luckiest guy in the world, you know I’m like, I really feel like that And so it’s hard to have a bad day when you feel like you’re lucky to do what you do
Roddy: My last sort of main thing before we can yeah, but we can go whatever is the game day Outfit, where did the helmet come from? What’s with the cut off shirt. Like where did that, how did that develop? Where did that come from?
Stockton: Okay, so, the helmet was purchased by my mother when I was eight years old.
Roddy: That’s why it looks so small.
Stockton: That’s why it looks so small, yes. It looks like a little circle on my head, doesn’t it? Yeah! It actually fits a lot. It’s, it’s randomly fits a lot of people’s heads. Like, it fits all of my friends heads besides my, like, 6’6 friend, which obviously is not gonna fit him. He has a big head anyway. But, so, yeah. Helmet. I’ve had that helmet for 11 years now, I guess, mathematically speaking. , so, it was part of a, like, uniform set that I got for Christmas when I was 8 years old. So I have my little, I have my little Texas jersey and I’m like, I was a little football player, you know? I had my little, had, it only had like little slits for shoulder pads. So I’d have my little shoulder pads in and I’d be running around with Football is way too big for my hands, you know, all nine yards. But then, last year, the Rice game, I didn’t bring it. It wasn’t, it wasn’t with me, you know? I left it at home because I didn’t think anything of it. Something within me, after we beat Alabama, was like, I have a helmet at home. What if I wear that? What if I see if it still fits and then I wear it to games, you know? Wouldn’t that be cute? Funny? Or whatever, whatever adjective you want to use to describe it. Stupid. Dorky. Any, any nber of things. , so I went home that weekend. No, I actually watched the Alabama game from home. That, that, the day after that game I was like, Does this thing still fit? And it did. And it did. So then I started wearing it last year. , It wasn’t a big thing though. , I would, I would wear the same polo to every game last year. I wore a polo and I’d alternate between shorts or jeans. You know?
Roddy: So you look like a pledge, basically.
Stockton: Well, pledges wear long sleeves. Yeah, okay.
Roddy: Then you looked like a brother.
Stockton: I guess, yeah, yeah, so I’ve always been a polo guy, like every Texas guy I’ve ever been to is like, I’m gonna wear polos, you know, it’s like, it’s kind of, I don’t know, yeah, I’m a, yeah, I’m a relatively like I’m not a professional guy anyway, like I go to like high school playoff basketball games like I’m gonna wear a polo just for fun You know, I have no rooting interest. I’m just gonna go sit in the stage and wear a polo So, yeah, I’d wear that but whenever it was hot I would roll the sleeves up because I had a wicked farmer’s tan believe it or not had a wicked farmer’s tan So, eventually that started going away, then this smer I was like, Hmm, what if I cut out the middleman and I don’t have to roll my sleeves up? So I watched a YouTube video and I fashioned myself a cut off shirt on my kitchen table, and then now, that’s what I wear. And, it works, it works well, it’s identifiable, everybody knows that that’s Now people know that’s the Red Cup guy in that shirt, you know? Like I’ve had people, I’ve been getting YikYaks like, does bro not own another shirt? And I reply and I’m like, clearly you’re not superstitious. Like, of course I’m going to wear the shirt. So yeah, and then I wear, wear my jeans and boots the whole, the whole nine and my belt buckle that I won. I won it, a grand champion heifer.
Roddy: Okay.
Stockton: Smithville Stock Show.
Roddy: Cool.
Stockton: Yeah, stock show kid. I won two, actually. I won, so, random, like, background information on me. My grandparents have cows.
Roddy: Mm hmm.
Stockton: So I’ve been, I’ve been raised around the cows my whole life, you know. So in junior high and stuff, I did stock shows. , I had this, I had a heifer. Her name was Apple Blossom. Call her Blossom for short, you know. She was a pretty little red heifer. Blaze face and everything, you know, she’s, she’s pretty, she’s, she’s a pretty heifer. So yeah, took her to the Smithfield stock show, she was grand champion two straight years. She still lives in the pasture out there at my grandparent’s house, and she still lets you come up to her cause she’s gentle, and you go and you rub on her head and it’s like, aw, blossom. You know, like, it’s just random little fun things, like, uh, cows are, cows are funny, like there’s. There’s this one, there’s, cows are funny, because there’s the difference between, like, I go back whenever my grandpa and dad are working and stuff, and I’ll go help them, there’s, there’s the ones, remember, you pin, that are, like, trying to eat feed out of the bucket, out of, while you’re carrying it, and it’s like, damn you, you’re gonna, you’re gonna knock me over, and then there’s the ones that, like, don’t want to come in, those are the ones that are, End up, once you get them in, and like, those are always the ones that you actually have to get to sell or do any nber of things. And they’re the ones who are aggressive. And then it’s like, oh, I, extra tangent. So I did a steer, after I got, cause you know, you only show, Blossom two years. That was the Smithville rule. It was two years in the Smithville stock show. So then I had, my dad was like, let’s do a steer because you actually make money off of a steer. You couldn’t sell the heifer. We wouldn’t have sold her anyway, but there was no option to it. So we were like, let’s get you some college money, you know, do a steer. The first steer we were going to do, put him in the pen. We were gonna put the halter on him so he could, so I could start like actually Walking him, you know, and he jped through a fence through mind you. This was not barbed wire. This was His panel, you know, this is like squares like this, you know Plb through it. Yep. So that’s so they were like, oh, he’s not gonna work anymore. He’s getting sold When it was like option nber two Welcome. Welcome to the team buddy. So yeah, then we ended up with my boy Scotch, his name was Scotch. He was a yellow, a little yellow steer, and he got butchered. Aww! Darn! See, that’s what a lot of people don’t understand. So we had, there was this girl in my class last, last semester. , we had this project we were gonna do. And she was telling her professor, middle of class, she was like, I’m, I’m going back to my hometown this weekend. I had this thing there, should I do my project over that? And he was like, yeah sure, where are you from? She’s like, oh this little small town up by Dallas. And he’s like, oh where are you from? She’s like, Louisville. And he’s like, that’s 200, 000 people! That, that is 40 times the size of Smithfield. That is not a small town. We have no concept of what a small town is. Like, I have two stoplights. You are not, no. Being from Smithfield. When we did grocery shopping, we went to Bastrop to do our shopping. So, did I ever think of Bastrop as a small town? No, not really. Cause like, we would, like, we didn’t have a big grocery store in Smithville. We had a Brookshire Brothers. You know…
Roddy: Town market
Stockton: It’s like a little little thing, you know, right next to the tobacco barn, you know You can get drive through dip What more could you want, you know drive through snuff, you know at Smithville But it’s great. It’s a blessing and a curse obviously if I can go home and I’ll feel like a celebrity. You know, it’s like, Blain’s back in town! You know? It’s like, everybody’s like, Oh my gosh, Blain! How’s college? I see you on TV with your helmet! It’s like, yeah. That’s me, you know, but then it’s also just like, ah heck,
there’s a lot of people that I know here. I’m gonna run into them inevitably. Some of them you don’t necessarily like.
Roddy: Anything official you want to say before I turn that off?
Stockton: It’s always a great day to have a great day. That’s uh, those are my closing thoughts. It’s always a great day to have a great day. Final point. Done.
