Lawrence High grads Brandon McAnderson, left, and Brian Seymour, right, share a laugh with LHS assistant principal Jan Gentry. The two former Lions played football together at LHS and at Kansas University and were honored Friday at Lawrence High for their contributions to the Jayhawks' 12-1 season that concluded Jan. 3 with a victory in the Orange Bowl.

Former Lawrence High football players Brandon McAnderson and Brian Seymour, honored Friday morning during an assembly at their old high school, looked back on their Kansas University football careers without regrets.

Well, maybe one regret for McAnderson, who as a senior rushed for 1,125 yards and 16 touchdowns. He said he wished he could take back the play that took place in practice his junior year. He rammed into former KU coach Don Fambrough and knocked out his two front teeth.

Fambrough said McAnderson still apologizes for it every time he sees him.

“I still feel bad about that,” McAnderson said. “We do our field goal before practice. He was standing closer than normal, and we have a situation where if the snap is dropped, everybody takes off to try to get open. So as soon as they yell the call, ‘Fire! Fire!’ everybody starts running. He’s standing maybe five feet away, and I ran right into him. When I hit him, I tried to grab him, and he hit the ground. I was really nervous. I was scared. You never know what can happen with a situation like that. Luckily, the lord blessed him and blessed me and nothing happened to him. I wish I could have found a way to avoid him, but the juice was on.”

The juice is always on with competitors such as McAnderson and Seymour.

A walk-on at KU, Seymour graduated in December with a degree in finance. McAnderson graduated with an education degree in December and hopes to hook on with an NFL team, either as a drafted player or invited free agent.

“Professionally, the situation would probably be better for a sixth-or-seventh-round draft pick to be a free agent in terms of choice of team they would get to play for, to find a better fit, but I think it would be more of an honor to be drafted,” said McAnderson, who will play in the East-West Shrine game a week from today. “I would love to hear my name called. That’s a dream of pretty much every kid who dreams of playing football, to hear your name called in the draft.”

McAnderson was not invited to the NFL Combine.

“I don’t feel any worse not getting invited, but I’m not going to say it’s not a big deal because that could help a person’s draft status,” he said.

Xavier Omon of Northwest Missouri State, McAnderson’s backfield-mate in youth football with the Lawrence Bulldogs from the third through sixth grades, was invited to the Combine.

“Now I can honestly say we had the best little-league backfield in the nation,” McAnderson said. “We’re close friends and still keep in touch. He’s the real deal, as real as they come. When I’m sitting at home, watching the draft same as I do every year, I’ll be rooting for him to get drafted, but I won’t have to root too hard. I’m pretty sure he’s going to get drafted.”

McAnderson said he will take teacher certification classes and work out with the KU football strength and conditioning staff this coming semester. Seymour will take a portfolio-management class, in which he and other business students help to manage the business school’s endowment fund.

Seymour didn’t appear in games much until his senior season, when he played a significant special-teams role.

“I always knew if I put in the hard work, good things would happen,” Seymour said. “Even with all the 6 a.m. winter workouts, it’s still something I’ll miss. Even when I wasn’t playing, I still felt like I was part of the team and enjoyed being with the guys. I think it helped me with time management, mental toughness and just understanding that you’ve got a full plate, but you’ve got to deal with what’s in front of you.”

What was in front of the two former Lions on Friday morning was a gymnasium full of students giving them a standing ovation.