Tennessee’s Fans Destroy Home Stadium After Defeating Alabama

Paula Ortiz, Design Editor

The University of Tennessee’s football team, the Tennessee Volunteers, played the Alabama Crimson Tide on Oct.14. This highly anticipated game held in The Neyland Stadium resulted in a win for UTK.

As soon as the final whistle was blown, fans stormed the field and tore down the goalposts while also taking chunks of grass with them. Fans carried the post up the stands and threw it over the stadium. They then carried the post through Knoxville and threw it in the Tennessee River.

UTK was charged with a $100,000 fine for violating the southeastern conference’s “access to competition area policy” which ensures the safety of the players, staff and fans. Tennessee football went on Twitter stating the team had a game coming up and therefore needed the fan’s help to pay for the damage that had occurred. They started a fundraiser in order to raise $150,000 for field repairs.

The university also knew how to act quickly because a similar scenario occurred in the 1998 national championship game when they defeated Florida State University. Because of this event, the university already had extra goalposts in storage and will therefore be ready to play at their stadium for their next home game.