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This article requires a disclaimer. You see, I’m not a University of Texas football fan. When I heard that they were joining the SEC, I protested and pretended it wasn’t going to happen like a child who just found out they’re going to have a little brother or sister. When this season began, I thought I’d gag over how much the sports media fawned over the Longhorns — looking at you ESPN — and their darling quarterbacks. (The whole offense is overrated if you ask me.) 

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And then, when my beloved University of Georgia Bulldogs beat them during the regular season, despite being the “underdogs,” their student section acted like a bunch of babies and threw trash onto the field when they didn’t agree with a call, which really soured me on the whole program. Finally, when they landed themselves in the SEC Championship this year and talked like they were going to dominate the conference, I was totally over it. Luckily, my Dawgs knocked them — and ESPN’s breathless reporting — down a peg or two and showed them that you don’t just show up and think you’re going to dominate the conference in year one. That’s not how it works. 

All of that said, I just spent a couple of hours writing an article on the disregard for human life in this country, and I was feeling pretty low, so when I saw that one particular young man was using his newfound internet fame for good, I decided I’d bring you that story, too, even if he is a University of Texas student. 

On October 19, when my aforementioned Bulldogs were crushing the Longhorns 30-15 in that first regular season match-up, the camera people, as they do, panned the crowd of Texas fans who realized they weren’t going to win this game like everyone said they would. Texas sophomore Grant Walther was one of those people, and he grabbed viewers’ attention, in part because of the distraught look on his face and in part because he has quite a head of hair. The shot of him not only went viral, but it became something of a meme called “Angry Texas Fan.” (I know I had several friends send it to me.)

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“That was the moment when we all realized there was no coming back from the score difference there,” Walther told the Daily Texan. “It was just coming to terms with the fact that we were going to lose to Georgia, which was a game that me and my friends were looking forward to since it got announced. It was crushing.” 

He added that he was shocked by the sudden fame. “In my mind, I was like, ‘Okay, they turned me into a meme, this will probably be gone in a few days,'” he said, adding, “But then, the Monday after (the game) on campus, people started recognizing me. I went into one of my classes and they all just started clapping. I was like, ‘Whoa, this is real now, this is actually happening.'” 

But unlike some young people who seem to want fame for themselves at all costs, Walther said he and his mother began discussing what he could do to sort of pay it forward. They talked about how important family was and how his grandmother had recently beaten breast cancer, as well as how the disease had impacted other members of his family. And that’s when he decided to raise money for cancer research. So far, his fundraiser has raised nearly $19,000 with just five days left to go. All funds raised will go to the University of Texas at Austin’s Dell Medical School. 

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According to the Daily Texan, this is only the beginning. The college student also has plans for another fundraiser in the spring that involves getting people to shave their heads for cancer to set a record. “People tell me I’m very lucky that this happened to me, but I’ve faced a lot of negative comments on the internet,” Walther wrote on the fundraiser website, adding “I’d like to focus on hope and turn this experience into something positive and beautiful.”  

The 20-year-old is originally from California and is currently a government major at Texas, with plans to go to law school in the future. As for his hair, Walther seems less concerned with that. “I wash my hair every morning, and I let it dry but it just sticks straight up. I tell you what, it has a mind of its own and there is just no way I can control it,” he said in an interview with the Dallas ABC affiliate WFAA. 

I say good for Walther for turning the situation into something positive, and I hope he keeps this mentality up for life. He sounds like he’s got a pretty good head on his shoulders for someone who is only 20 years old. But if the Longhorns end up playing my Dawgs in the College Football Playoffs, all gloves come off, at least for the duration of the game. 

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