We’ve all been there before, for some of us it’s been longer than we can even remember. The first time riding on an airplane. This week 12 members of the Albany State football team, an HBCU in Albany, Georgia, took their first ever journey on a plane. Their reactions were captured on the football team’s X account.
The school embraced the moment that these players will never forget. The video was posted with the following description.
“True raw footage of #CreatingLegacies at Albany State. 12 of our students flew for the first time. Watch as these two young men react to the plane taking off. Their priceless reactions capture the mix of joy and fear in this unforgettable moment.”
Three unnamed players were sitting together on the same row and totally lost it as the plane accelerated and rose into the air. The players laughed as they looked out of the window but couldn’t bare to watch as the plane began to gain altitude. At one point the two players closest to the window buried their heads into one another’s shoulders to totally avoid the view. They were stuck between the desire to see the magnificent view and being afraid of it at the same time. People in the comments section shared their joy of seeing these players show their raw emotions during the flight.
“Poor guys! I remember my first time. I had more fear than excitement. Now I love it because I love traveling. Glad they got to experience it. Hoping this is first of many times for them. Love my HBCU!!!” wrote user Tambernesha Wells.
User Rhonda Chichester chimed in “At least they got each other…Awesome video.”
The Golden Rams were traveling to Rochester, New York to take on Central State University in the “Frederick Douglass Classic.” The game is part of a weekend full of activities to bring a complete HBCU experience to Rochester, a neutral site venue.
Other users could feel the pain of the player with the window seat, “The one closest to the window (laughing emoji) hang in there lol,” wrote @ebknowing.
It’s not a common experience for HBCU programs to use airlines for regular travel. Due to budget constraints programs often use buses as the standard mode of travel unless the distance is too great. Rochester and Albany are 1,143 miles apart, which would amount to a 17 hour drive, without stops.
The video of the football players’ reactions has been viewed over 61,000 times on the X platform with 88 reposts and nearly 800 likes.