TU player proposes on field
BY MIKE AVERILL World Staff Writer
Sunday, November 18, 2012
11/18/12 at 2:16 AM
When Meagan Dickinson was an eighth-grader at Union, she had a huge crush on classmate Brian DeShane.
The only problem was he didn't know who she was.
Then in the 11th grade a mutual friend introduced them, and they hit if off instantly.
"I think we both knew we were going to be together forever probably two or three months into it," Dickinson said.
On Saturday, DeShane, a senior offensive tackle for the University of Tulsa football team, took them one step closer to that with a surprise on-field proposal before the Golden Hurricane's game against the University of Central Florida.
After all the seniors had been recognized in honor of Senior Day, the house announcer directed everyone to turn their attention to the screen on the scoreboard for a special message from one of the TU players.
That's when DeShane proposed.
"I was pretty shocked. It's really exciting," Dickinson said.
"Once they said there was a special message from No. 73 I was like, 'Oh my gosh, is this happening?' "
After Dickinson said yes, DeShane waved his arms in the air, encouraging the crowd to continue its cheers.
"Putting the ring on her finger was the hardest thing I had to do because I was shaking so bad," DeShane said.
He said he picked Senior Day because Dickinson has always wanted to be proposed to at a game and it's a day that they both could share.
"He's played football forever, and I'm an athletic training student," Dickinson said. "So I've been on the field, too. It's always been such a big part of our lives."
She had a hunch this could happen but said that DeShane convinced her it wasn't.
"He's very good at saying 'That's really hard. People don't do that every day,' " she said. "So I was like, whatever he wants to do."
However, Kathy DeShane, Brian's mom, said she and her son had been planning this for a while.
"We've been saying little lies to Meagan to make sure she was thrown off because we wanted this to be a big surprise," she said. "We love her and are excited for her to be in our family."
TU head coach Bill Blankenship said he was pleased Dickinson said yes.
"I just almost hit my knees and thanked the Lord when she said yes because I didn't want my right tackle being out of it because all of a sudden he got dumped," Blankenship joked.
TU went on to beat UCF and clinch the Conference USA Western Division title. In two weeks, the team will play for the conference title.
When asked what meant more, the proposal or the chance to play for a championship, DeShane knew which answer to choose.
"I'm going to say spending the rest of my life with the woman I love," he said.
Original Print Headline: TU lineman wins with proposal
Mike Averill 918-581-8489
mike.averill@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
TU's Brian DeShane (left) proposes to his girlfriend, Megan Dickinson, before the Golden Hurricane's game against Central Florida on Saturday. TOM GILBERT / Tulsa World
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