Never forget the meaning of the three letters.

Every player, coach, administrator, parent and fan pouring their heart and soul into the White House High School football program over the last two decades – and even further back – can attest to the power of those three letters – a simple, yet incredible slogan called "B.D.P."

Blue Devil Pride found its beginning at White House High School in 1985, as a team which eventually finished 7-4 played a memorable game against a local powerhouse – the former Madison High School. The 1-1 Blue Devils were driving in the fourth quarter of a scoreless game in week three, when a fumble turned the ball back over to Madison – who then marched for a game-winning field goal and a 3-0 triumph.

Dejected in the locker room, the player mood suddenly turned on the shoulders of senior defensive end Joe Pryor.

"Guys, get your heads up. We showed Madison and the rest of the midstate what Blue Devil Pride was all about," teammates and coaches recalled Pryor saying. And the rest is history.

"The battle cry of B.D.P. was born not in victory, but in a loss," said long-time White House head coach Jeff Porter, who was an assistant for that 1985 team under Bill Locke. "Blue Devil Pride has always been most exhibited during times of adversity rather than when it's smooth. The meaning of Blue Devil Pride to this school and community is undefinable."

Current White House assistant coach and faculty member Mark Lamberth was a sophomore in 1985 and a member of four consecutive 10-AA championship teams at White House, including the night Pryor made the memorable comment which now defines a school and community.

"At that time, the state was playing in three classifications and we were in AA having success," Lamberth recalled. "We played a proven, well-coached Madison team with a lot of tradition. It was a great football game and we had our chances to win, and our team was pretty dejected.

"After that year, my junior and senior season, B.D.P. began to become a phrase and started to take hold community-wide," he added. "Our senior season we won the district for the fourth time in a row at 6-6, and that team exemplified B.D.P. But in 1990, a team that wasn't even going to the playoffs until Macon County upset Springfield – then made it to the semifinals – probably made B.D.P. known even more."

Eighteen years later, a tradition lives in White House, Tennessee, and not just for the football team but the entire school and all which surrounds it. The phrase adorns caps, t-shirts, license plates, school logos, helmets, letterheads and more, and has become the unofficial rallying cry for those which are associated in any way with the "Blue and White."

Brian Wise played four years at White House from 1992-95 and now works as a volunteer assistant with the football team in 2003.

"Blue Devil Pride to a lot of people is like a faith – it's more than being a part of a football team or a community, it's the entire foundation of it," Wise explained. "It's having pride in your surroundings, in your team, in your family, in your facilities, and what you are doing on the field. When it all comes together into one, it makes Blue Devil Pride."

Slogans have been a successful marketing tool on many levels, and symbols often serve as motivation for professional, college and local sports teams. Perhaps the best known "three-letter" reference is the slogan of Al Davis' Oakland Raiders of the National Football League, a "CTE – Commitment to Excellence." In baseball, the Yankees became famous for black armbands in honor of fallen teammate Thurmon Munson; more recently the St. Louis Cardinals adorned caps with DK57 and JFB during the year 2002, for pitcher Darryl Kile and legendary broadcaster Jack Buck, who each passed away during the season.

Colleges are infamous for the same, in both song and saying, from the University of Tennessee's Rocky Top, to the cries of "War Eagle!" at Auburn and "Roll Tide" at the University of Alabama.

But it's just not the same as White House – where B.D.P. didn't originate in death, in marketing, in rally or in slogan. Blue Devil Pride has become a lifestyle and an adoption – not just a trend, a memorial, or a catchy tune.

"Every community or program has their own saying, as this one has been important to our community," Porter explained. "We can only hope it will be important to our football team and this team will hopefully be able to exhibit and build upon the foundation that others come before them have lain."

Coach Lamberth remembers the special feeling when he returned to the Blue Devil gridiron as a coach and heard the chants of B.D.P. from the stands during the season.

"Lots of times, teams and their logos are watered down over time," he said, "but the beliefs in what B.D.P. represents have sustained themselves over the years. Every program has got something like that, a little something, but you have to look at what makes B.D.P. to understand it."

Wise could remember the same feeling when he left the program after his senior season in 1995-96, and now has returned to the community in a new capacity.

"After you graduate, or after you have moved away and you have been around some other things, you come back and say, ‘wow, this is special,'" Wise said. "It makes you cherish what you've had."

"It's not just a word, it is a commitment to excellence; it's caring for your team; it's putting team ahead of individual goals," Lamberth added, "and it's all about effort. You have to give all you've got and always prepare, so whatever you give is your best. That's what B.D.P. is all about."

White House Middle School coach Randall Mash sees it begin all the way at the level of his kids and their families, and hopes kids are instilled early with the wonderful values B.D.P. represents.

"It's just kind of a logo or saying that developed, and now we have it on logos, and t-shirts, and everything," Mash said. "It's just something to let this kids know there is a special pride when they put on that blue helmet – that it means something. It makes you understand a lot of the things have happened in the past, and you are bringing out that tradition still.