Goodbye seniors

These past four years have been filled with ups and downs for the Tiger faithful and nobody could attest to that more than Auburn's senior class.

What do you say to a team that-- through adversity and coaching changes, sticks with a program and wins a national championship--besides, thank you?

Thank you for three bowl wins and a perfect season.

Thank you for showing us what resilience and perseverance is about.

Of course, these seasons couldn't have happened without the athletes who gave it their all for the orange and blue every Saturday.

Some of these guys have stood out more than others to me, guys like Kodi Burns.

I remember watching Kodi as a high school senior, running in the first score from six yards out against the Florida Gators, and scoring the overtime touchdown for the win over Clemson in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

Burns was the first Auburn true freshman quarterback to start since Gabe Gross in 1998, but has done and endured a lot more at his time at Auburn.

Burns was released from the quarterback position and later played wide receiver, but his contribution extended far above just catching passes. He was committed.

He had two teeth knocked out during the 2008 LSU game, but he decided to go back into the game and help his team.

His blocking, team motivational skills and overall commitment to Auburn will be missed.

Then there was a guy like Zac Etheridge. Etheridge is one of those guys, like Aairon Savage, who has had to battle the injury bug during his tenure at Auburn, but was able to still push through, work hard and play his senior season.

He started 12 of 13 games at safety and led the team with eight tackles during his first career start in 2007. Etheridge would also lead the team in tackles in 2008 and started 33 consecutive games before suffering a season-ending neck injury against Ole Miss.

Part of being an Auburn man or woman is to live by the creed, which states, "Therefore, I believe in work, hard work."

Every time I see those words, I think of linebacker Josh Bynes, who appeared in only five games his freshman year and had eight starts as a sophomore, but his true work ethic showed during the 2009 season.

Auburn had no depth at linebacker, and Bynes was forced to play almost every snap.

The Lauderdale Lakes, Fla., native paced the Tigers with 104 tackles during the season and was sixth in the SEC and tied for 77th in NCAA with 8.0 tackles per game.

Although every position in football is important, there is a group of men that often do not get the credit they deserve--the offensive line, also known as the men in the trenches.

The quality and strength of an offensive line is paramount to a successful offense, whether running or throwing the ball.

Men responsible for this success on Auburn's line include Lee Ziemba, Mike Berry, Byron Isom, Bart Eddins, Jorrell Bostrom and Ryan Pugh.

This year's line saw three All-SEC performers this season and set school marks for points (577), total offense (6,989 yards) and rushing offense (3,987 yards) this season.

Ziemba also won the Jacobs Blocking Trophy for the best lineman in the Southeastern Conference.

Finally, there is kicker Wes Byrum. The South Florida native has emerged as Auburn's leading scorer and one of the program's most reliable kickers.

Byrum kicked the winning field goal in the BCS National Championship, bringing his total of game-winning field goals to six.

He finished his career with a school record 363 points, which ranks fifth in SEC history, and also has the top two individual scoring seasons by a kicker in Auburn history, including a record 123 points this season.

Byrum is the first Auburn player to play in the East-West Shrine Game, America's longest-running college all-star football game, since Jonathan Wilhite in 2008.

To the seniors I just mentioned and to those I didn't, thank you for everything, and you're now forevermore part of the Auburn family.