The University of Tennessee, fined for fans rushing onto the field, is seeking donations for new goalposts

Share

Tweet

Share

Share

Email

Comments

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE/WKRN) — The University of Tennessee was fined for its fans storming the football field at Neyland Stadium on Saturday after The Volunteers defeated the University of Alabama for the first time since 2006.

The Southeastern Conference (SEC) announced that Tennessee will be fined $100,000 for violating the league’s competition access policy. This is the second time Tennessee has been penalized for the policy, the first since a basketball game against Florida in 2006, according to the SEC.

The policy states that “access to competition areas will be limited to student-athletes, coaches, officials, support staff and duly authorized individuals at all times. For the safety of participants and spectators, at no time before, during or after competition will allow spectators to enter the competition area. It is the responsibility of each member institution to implement procedures to ensure compliance with this policy.”

As soon as the Tennessee-Alabama game ended with a 40-yard field goal in the final minute – making the final score 52-49 – fans from the sold-out stands flooded the field. Nexstar’s WATE staff was at the stadium and captured the moment on video, which you can watch below.

Then Tennessee fans knocked down the postscarried them out of Neyland Stadium and threw them into the Tennessee River.

After the excitement, Tennessee Football tweeted on Sunday, “Remember how we tore down the goalposts, hauled them out of Neyland and threw them into the Tennessee River? Yeah, that was great. Anyway, it turns out that in order to play a game next week, we need goalposts on our field . Can you help us?”

The university included a link to fundraising page, who said the philanthropic annual gifts to the My Everything campaign will go towards buying new goals. Suggested payouts include $16 (“Seasons Since Vols Beat Alabama”), $52.49 (“Breathtaking Final Score”) and $1,019.15 (“Sold Out Neyland Stadium Capacity”).

As of 5:00 PM CT Sunday, approximately $42,000 had been raised, which is about 27% of the goal.

When Tennessee pays its fine to the SEC, it will be deposited into the SEC’s graduate scholarship fund, the conference said.