Origin Story
In a dark corner of the Peach Bowl office, there is an infrequently used and dimly lit storage room. On the wall beside the door a small placard identifies it only as “Room 68.” While not exactly “forgotten,” it seldomly had any visitors, and its heavy wooden door was only opened and closed when the Bowl historian visited, adding a new treasure or memento to its cluttered and dusty shelves.
Over more than 50 years, the room had become a museum of sorts. Although not visited by the public, it was a time capsule of the Peach Bowl’s climb from obscurity to making Atlanta the Capital of College Football. Old helmets, jerseys and historical photos from the earliest games. Preserved clumps of sod and blades of grass from the first Peach Bowls at Georgia Tech and Atlanta Fulton County Stadium. Large swatches of artificial turf from the Georgia Dome and Mercedes Benz Stadium. Photos from the hundreds of charitable donations made by the bowl over the years. And hundreds of old articles, record books, media guides and random trinkets.
During the pandemic of 2020, the office closed, the people left and Room 68 sat untouched and unvisited for over a year. The people, the TEAM who made this place vibrant and successful…were gone. And the items that haphazardly filled the shelves lay in the dark, undisturbed.
Months passed. But one day, in the Summer of 2021, the Bowl office finally re-opened. The historian, who had missed his visits to Room 68, made it his first stop. He set to work, determined to make sense and order of the chaos. He arranged the jerseys and inflated the old footballs. He laced up a pair of old game cleats and displayed them with pieces of grass and turf. He created a timeline, sort of a history of the Peach Bowl. And as he worked, the noise and activity attracted each of the staff as they returned. A vibrant, new energy grew with each team member’s visit. Room 68 took on a warm, soft glow as fresh life was breathed into the artifacts long relegated to its dark recesses. With his work complete, the historian turned off the lights and left Room 68 to join the first team meeting since their return.
At the very moment the full team was finally back together for the first time, a brilliant light seeped out from within Room 68, filling every corner of the offices in that same warm glow.
Then the door burst open.
What stepped out into their circle was like nothing they had ever seen. Tall, overly green and with a smile that was literally lighting up the entire room. This thing slowly looked around – meeting the gaze of each of the bewildered staff – extended his arms and furry fingers and clasped them together the way a quarterback would between plays.
“What’s that mean?” someone asked.
With immediate recognition and understanding, the historian knew that this was a moment to celebrate the power of teamwork…and he motioned for everyone to come together, closing the circle more tightly…
“It means,” he said with a wry smile. “HUDDLE UP!”
