The University of Tennessee (UT) football is asking for donations to replace the goalpost that Volunteer fans ripped down in celebration after Saturday’s 52-49 victory over the Crimson Tide at Neyland Stadium.
However, on Sunday when the celebrations were over, the team realized they need goalposts for next weekend’s game against the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks. The team was also handed a $100,000 fee from the SEC for fans entering the field.
“Y’all remember how we tore the goalposts down, hauled em out of Neyland and dumped em in the Tennessee River?” the Tennessee football program tweeted Sunday. “Yeah that was awesome. Anywho, turns out that in order to play next week’s game, we need goalposts on our field. Could y’all help us out?”
“Vols win ✅, Big time cigar party ✅, Rush the field ✅, New goalposts ✅,” Tennessee director of athletics Danny White posted on the university’s donation website.
Linebacker Jeremy Banks #33 of the Tennessee Volunteers gets a cigar from a fan after the game against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Neyland Stadium on October 15, 2022 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won the game 52-49. (Donald Page/Getty Images)
UT President Randy Boyd was one of the fans celebrating with a cigar after the game. When asked how much the costs would be for a potential SEC fine, he replied, “It doesn’t matter. We’ll do this every year.”
According to the university’s donation website, options to donate include $16, which is the number of years it took Tennessee to beat Alabama again, $52.49, the final score, $25, $100, $250, $500, or $1,019.15, the capacity of a sold-out Neyland Stadium.
The crowd of 100,000-plus fans packing Neyland Stadium stormed the field Saturday after Tennessee kicker Chase McGrath made a game-winning 40-yard field goal in the final seconds of the game against the University of Alabama.
Watch McGrath make the game-winning kick here:
The massive crowd got right to business ripping down the uprights:
The excited fans carried the goalposts through the streets of Knoxville in celebration, and hoisted the uprights into the nearby Tennessee River.
The Tennessee Volunteers, now ranked #3, will take on the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks at Neyland Stadium on Saturday.