Sprinting into the stadium is a mixture of awe and adrenaline.
Cleats crunching on the field and white 12th Man towels waving are only a few components of the Aggie game day atmosphere that punter Shane Tripucka takes in as the team runs onto Kyle Field.
"You can't even put it into words," Tripucka said. "I always tell our young guys, like our freshmen and sophomore kickers that if they're running out for the first time or the first couple of times out of that tunnel, I tell them 'Don't look forward, look up.' It took me two years to realize, 'Oh, I've got to look up and go, wow this is awesome.' It's incredible to get to be a part of this. It's unbelievable and the fans are crazy."
Taking the field this year, fans may notice that the senior who set a school record with 27 inside-the-20 punts and did not have a single touchback on 69 punt attempts in 2016, is sporting a different number than his prior 46.
"I switched to 18, which is my grandfather's retired Denver Broncos number to honor him this year," Tripucka said. "He passed away a couple of years ago. This year, I just happened to be able to switch it. I was really excited to do that and jumped on it the first chance I could."
Tripucka's grandfather, Frank, was a prolific NFL quarterback who had the first 3,000-yard passing season in NFL history and the first touchdown pass in AFL history.
"He was a different player from his time. When he played, in the 50's and early 60's, it was all just running the ball, running the ball, running the ball," Tripucka said. "He was one of those first quarterbacks that started throwing the ball around. I think that's kind of cool because he revolutionized that part of the game a little bit. He helped bring it to what it is today."
Drafted in the first round of the 1949 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles, he was traded to the Detroit Lions, played for the Chicago Cardinals, signed with the Dallas Texans and even, spent eight years in the CFL before making history with the Denver Broncos as their starting quarterback.
After the 1960 AFL All-Star and 1986 Bronco's Ring of Fame Inductee's number was retired, only Peyton Manning who asked for permission, was able to don the jersey for the Broncos.
The impact Frank had on the people around him was the driving inspiration for Tripucka to honor him in this way.
"Growing up, my grandfather had Alzheimer's," Tripucka said. "He didn't really remember a lot of the stuff with us, but just seeing how people were around him was awesome. People loved him. Before he started to lose his memory a little, people would always tell me how great of a person he is, and how much he loved the people around him, too."
Born into a family full of athletes, Tripucka started playing football when he was five years old.
"We played on a little flag football team of a bunch of five-year-olds on the Steelers," he said smiling. "That was the first time I remember ever playing organized football."
What he loves most about the sport can even be connected to his early start running around the backyard tossing around the old pigskin with his brother.
"It's hard to explain," Tripucka said. "You start to become a family especially with our specialist group. We're always with each other, all day long. Getting to be around those guys and helping each other all the time is great."
In high school, the Allen, Texas, native played both tight end and receiver.
"Senior year in the preseason scrimmage, I got rolled up on from behind blocking, so they were like, 'Yeah, you're going to punt from now on,'" Tripucka said. "I had been the punter. I was upset for a little bit, but I got over it. It ended up working out."
Tripucka has embraced his role as a punter on the Aggie squad with an unrivaled enthusiasm.
He's also made important contributions to the Maroon & White, ranking in the top five in the SEC in 2016 with 69 punts for 2962 yards, with 16 of his punts traveling 50 or more yards last season.
"Being a good punter takes a lot of patience because it looks like it's relatively simple. You just kick the ball, but it's very, very detailed, and very tedious," Tripucka said. "You have to drop the ball perfectly this way or do your steps like this way, so it's a lot of patience. Sometimes if you're not kicking well, it takes some time to figure it out."
Tripucka helped the team average 41.6 on net punting, which ranked No. 7 nationally and finished 2016 with a 42.9 punt average while forcing 27 fair catches and depositing 27 punts inside the opponent 20-yard line.
From mastering the timing and maturity acquired throughout his collegiate career, a few memories stand out to Tripucka.
"Some of my favorite memories are the Chick-fil-A Bowl my freshman year," Tripucka said. "We were getting crushed at halftime and the Johnny Manziel Effect came into play in the second half. We came back and won that game. That was a crazy game. And the Alabama game the year after we beat them at Tuscaloosa. Ah man, we didn't win that game but some of the plays in that game were unbelievable, like Kyle Field was actually shaking. It was insane."
Aside from football, he has played baseball, basketball and occasionally golf with his dad.
Although football demands a lot of time, when Tripucka is not practicing, he's also interested in music.
"I'm a really big Tom Delonge fan," Tripucka said. "He's the guy that used to sing in Blink 182, Angels & Airwaves. Everybody else hates it because I'm always walking around with my phone playing it so that's what I'm really into right now. I'm actually learning how to play the guitar. It's not going well but I just started."
Taking on a mindset of appreciation and action, he plans to approach the upcoming games with a grateful perspective, taking it all in and giving the team everything he's got.
"It goes by a lot faster than you think. Everybody always says that to me, and now, being there, you kind of understand it," Tripucka said. "I have a really strict routine during the week that I go through to get ready for every game. You just have to stick to that routine and make every game count and kind of soak up the experience because it's a once in a lifetime thing to do. It's awesome to be here."
In New Jersey, his grandmother often watches him compete with the Aggies on TV.
"I called her before the season when I got the 18 number to tell her. She was ecstatic," Tripucka said, beaming. "She was so happy for it. We send her t-shirts with Texas A&M football and my number on it. She loves hearing that we're all doing well, and that I'm getting the opportunity to play here."
Although his grandfather wasn't able to attend a game in Kyle Field, when he looks up into the stands and runs out of the tunnel, Tripucka can be confident of this.
"He's around, he's watching what we're playing," Tripucka said. "While he was alive he didn't get to see me play, but I definitely know he's watching now."
Cleats crunching on the field and white 12th Man towels waving are only a few components of the Aggie game day atmosphere that punter Shane Tripucka takes in as the team runs onto Kyle Field.
"You can't even put it into words," Tripucka said. "I always tell our young guys, like our freshmen and sophomore kickers that if they're running out for the first time or the first couple of times out of that tunnel, I tell them 'Don't look forward, look up.' It took me two years to realize, 'Oh, I've got to look up and go, wow this is awesome.' It's incredible to get to be a part of this. It's unbelievable and the fans are crazy."
Taking the field this year, fans may notice that the senior who set a school record with 27 inside-the-20 punts and did not have a single touchback on 69 punt attempts in 2016, is sporting a different number than his prior 46.
"I switched to 18, which is my grandfather's retired Denver Broncos number to honor him this year," Tripucka said. "He passed away a couple of years ago. This year, I just happened to be able to switch it. I was really excited to do that and jumped on it the first chance I could."
Tripucka's grandfather, Frank, was a prolific NFL quarterback who had the first 3,000-yard passing season in NFL history and the first touchdown pass in AFL history.
"He was a different player from his time. When he played, in the 50's and early 60's, it was all just running the ball, running the ball, running the ball," Tripucka said. "He was one of those first quarterbacks that started throwing the ball around. I think that's kind of cool because he revolutionized that part of the game a little bit. He helped bring it to what it is today."
Drafted in the first round of the 1949 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles, he was traded to the Detroit Lions, played for the Chicago Cardinals, signed with the Dallas Texans and even, spent eight years in the CFL before making history with the Denver Broncos as their starting quarterback.
After the 1960 AFL All-Star and 1986 Bronco's Ring of Fame Inductee's number was retired, only Peyton Manning who asked for permission, was able to don the jersey for the Broncos.
The impact Frank had on the people around him was the driving inspiration for Tripucka to honor him in this way.
"Growing up, my grandfather had Alzheimer's," Tripucka said. "He didn't really remember a lot of the stuff with us, but just seeing how people were around him was awesome. People loved him. Before he started to lose his memory a little, people would always tell me how great of a person he is, and how much he loved the people around him, too."
Born into a family full of athletes, Tripucka started playing football when he was five years old.
"We played on a little flag football team of a bunch of five-year-olds on the Steelers," he said smiling. "That was the first time I remember ever playing organized football."
What he loves most about the sport can even be connected to his early start running around the backyard tossing around the old pigskin with his brother.
"It's hard to explain," Tripucka said. "You start to become a family especially with our specialist group. We're always with each other, all day long. Getting to be around those guys and helping each other all the time is great."
In high school, the Allen, Texas, native played both tight end and receiver.
"Senior year in the preseason scrimmage, I got rolled up on from behind blocking, so they were like, 'Yeah, you're going to punt from now on,'" Tripucka said. "I had been the punter. I was upset for a little bit, but I got over it. It ended up working out."
Tripucka has embraced his role as a punter on the Aggie squad with an unrivaled enthusiasm.
He's also made important contributions to the Maroon & White, ranking in the top five in the SEC in 2016 with 69 punts for 2962 yards, with 16 of his punts traveling 50 or more yards last season.
"Being a good punter takes a lot of patience because it looks like it's relatively simple. You just kick the ball, but it's very, very detailed, and very tedious," Tripucka said. "You have to drop the ball perfectly this way or do your steps like this way, so it's a lot of patience. Sometimes if you're not kicking well, it takes some time to figure it out."
Tripucka helped the team average 41.6 on net punting, which ranked No. 7 nationally and finished 2016 with a 42.9 punt average while forcing 27 fair catches and depositing 27 punts inside the opponent 20-yard line.
From mastering the timing and maturity acquired throughout his collegiate career, a few memories stand out to Tripucka.
"Some of my favorite memories are the Chick-fil-A Bowl my freshman year," Tripucka said. "We were getting crushed at halftime and the Johnny Manziel Effect came into play in the second half. We came back and won that game. That was a crazy game. And the Alabama game the year after we beat them at Tuscaloosa. Ah man, we didn't win that game but some of the plays in that game were unbelievable, like Kyle Field was actually shaking. It was insane."
Aside from football, he has played baseball, basketball and occasionally golf with his dad.
Although football demands a lot of time, when Tripucka is not practicing, he's also interested in music.
"I'm a really big Tom Delonge fan," Tripucka said. "He's the guy that used to sing in Blink 182, Angels & Airwaves. Everybody else hates it because I'm always walking around with my phone playing it so that's what I'm really into right now. I'm actually learning how to play the guitar. It's not going well but I just started."
Taking on a mindset of appreciation and action, he plans to approach the upcoming games with a grateful perspective, taking it all in and giving the team everything he's got.
"It goes by a lot faster than you think. Everybody always says that to me, and now, being there, you kind of understand it," Tripucka said. "I have a really strict routine during the week that I go through to get ready for every game. You just have to stick to that routine and make every game count and kind of soak up the experience because it's a once in a lifetime thing to do. It's awesome to be here."
In New Jersey, his grandmother often watches him compete with the Aggies on TV.
"I called her before the season when I got the 18 number to tell her. She was ecstatic," Tripucka said, beaming. "She was so happy for it. We send her t-shirts with Texas A&M football and my number on it. She loves hearing that we're all doing well, and that I'm getting the opportunity to play here."
Although his grandfather wasn't able to attend a game in Kyle Field, when he looks up into the stands and runs out of the tunnel, Tripucka can be confident of this.
"He's around, he's watching what we're playing," Tripucka said. "While he was alive he didn't get to see me play, but I definitely know he's watching now."