If you wondered about the story behind the naming of "Shield Watkin's Field", then you probably were wondering who Tom Elam was and why the UT press box is named for him. Colonel (rank he earned in the Army during WWII) Tom Elam began his service with the athletic board in 1951 and was a member of the board of trustees starting in 1956. He served as a senior member of both committees. Aside from being one of the greatest Vol fans of all time, he was a "country lawer" from Union City, Tennessee with strong political and business connections. He and his wife Kathleen made a 1 million dollar donation to the UTAD in 1992.

The pressbox as it stands today, was constructed in 1987 and was officially dedicated in his honor September 18, 1992, the night before the Vols 31-14 win over #4 Florida.

Tom Elam was a freshman at UT in 1928 when Major Neyland was in his 3^rd season and the famous "Flaming Soph's" were putting UT on the football map. In his time at UT, he was the Inter-fraternity Council President, associate editor of the Orange & White (the school newspaper - along with future great newspaperman Tom Siler) and was the editor of The Volunteer (the school annual). He also was the basketball team manager, working under Britton (Neyland's Army teammate and assistant football coach in the early years at UT) and several of those "Flaming Soph's" were on those basketball teams, most notably Bobby Dodd and future UT head coach (1953-1954) Harvey Robinson. Colonel Elam was there when UT football was in it's infancy, and saw the program grow to the state UT fans now know and love.

Colonel Elam died March 9, 1998, and his reserved seat in the Press Box Suites remained empty in his honor for the Vols '98 home opener win over Florida. One of my favorite lines in regard to Tennessee athletics came from Col. Elam. "I take no back seat or no back talk from anybody on my interest in, love and support for the University of Tennessee".