Hail to the Frogs: TCU boasts some classy young men

Losing with dignity is difficult.

But showing class in victory, especially when success is marginalized, is even harder.

Just ask the young men who comprise Texas Christian University’s football team.

Only three years after joining the Big 12, the Horned Frogs took the conference title (along with co-champion Baylor) and won the Peach Bowl in Atlanta, beating out Ole Miss, a member of the much vaunted SEC.

Playing in the Peach Bowl was a consolation prize for a team bumped from its No. 3 seed after a 52-point win in early December.

Finishing No. 6 meant any dreams of securing a spot in the playoff — a distinction many people believe they deserved — were as fleeting as morning fog.

The slight might have deterred a lesser team, deflated its will or blurred its focus.

But the Frogs had something to prove, if only to themselves. Rather than doing it with words and bluster as disappointed teams often do, they did it with their actions, on and off the field.

Lead by the example of TCU Coach Gary Patterson, a fellow not known for restraint, the talented team exhibited grace after the snub.

Sure, they were overlooked because of their size and more limited fan base, but they decided the most emphatic statement they could make was in winning again.

And win they did.

Plenty of ink has been spent on the Frogs’ tremendous year, and plenty more will be spent speculating about 2015.

But as Patterson said after the Frog’s Peach Bowl victory, “I don’t think I have to say anything.”

Indeed, their actions have said it all.

This story was originally published January 2, 2015 at 6:32 PM with the headline "Hail to the Frogs: TCU boasts some classy young men."