This week’s edition of Who Caught Our Eye features a fan so passionate about the Mustang pride, it may surprise you just how far this SMU fan will go.
Paul Layne (‘76) has been to every SMU football game for 37 years, tallying up a total of 408 straight games at present.
His Mustang pride and spirit has stretched across the Atlantic to Tokyo and throughout the states from Dallas to Reno.
Former SMU team cheerleader Paul Layne began this streak at the age of two.
His parents were fans and they made it to nearly every game except for away games. He then began his career as an SMU cheerleader.
This career resulted in was five years worth of consecutive attendance for both home and away games.
Suddenly, he had earned himself a streak that could not be broken.
His following career of a flight attendant would cover the cost of flights as long as he flew standby. Although his free-travels would cost him some close calls, he still made it to every game against Wolf Pack in Reno.
The night of the California Sonoma Valley wedding, Layne hit the road, covering 200 miles in total, to catch the opening kick off.
His official streak began in his cheerleading days as a Mustang here in 1976. Keep an eye out for the devoted Mustang fan this 2011 football season.
Tokyo — that’s the furthest Paul Layne has traveled for a pony-up kick off.