UT Football Fan Surpasses 400 In Consecutive-Game Attendance Streak

By Tim Taliaferro in Blog on October 1, 2010 at 9:23 am | No Comments

Some Longhorn fans were spooked after last weekend’s loss to UCLA. One man, however, knew even a less-than-perfect season wouldn’t change his plans for this year, the next year, or even the entire decade.

Scott Wilson, BBA ’72, Life Member, just hit his 401st UT football game in a row last weekend against UCLA. He hasn’t missed a game since 1978. Nor does he intend to for any future he can foresee.

Nothing from weddings and funerals to car wrecks and dismal losing seasons has stopped Wilson, an Austin attorney, yet.

When we first wrote last year about the many sacrifices of time, money, and relationships he’d made for his team, Wilson was at around 389 games.

He talked about his incredibly tolerant family.

“My sister’s been married several times, and I’ve missed a few of her weddings, but I don’t recall her bothering to ask me whether it was the wrong time of year,” he said.

Wilson went on to his 400th game in Lubbock two weeks ago. Nothing was different, he says, except he was anxious to make it official.

Only after his ticket had been scanned could he relax. “I just wanted to make sure I made it into the stadium and didn’t break my leg on the way in,” he says.

Wilson, who turned 59 this week, says it should take him less than eight more years to hit 500 games. The only thing he could imagine coming between him and his Longhorns is aging. “It’s all just a matter of whether I keel over someday or get health problems,” he says. “My knees aren’t as good as they could be, but that hasn’t stopped me yet. I’ll keep going as long as I can.”

Football isn’t his only gig, either. He’s been to more than 1,200 home and away baseball games; the past 10 years’ worth (about 600) have been consecutive. He takes in around 150 UT games, from volleyball to soccer, every year. 

And Longhorn ladies, he’s still single.

No one can say for certain what will happen tomorrow in the Red River Rivalry. But one thing is certain. Win, lose, or draw, Scott Wilson will be there.

Scott Wilson with his ’72 burnt-orange Cadillac. Photo by Lynn Freehill/The Alcalde.