The SEC has fined Tennessee $100,000 for the field-storming celebration after a 52-49 win over Alabama on Saturday night.
Now, the school wants fans to help pay for new goalposts.
Tennessee turned to crowdsourcing to pay for replacement goalposts. More than $44,000 had been raised as of Sunday afternoon. The fund-raising effort has gotten funds from more than 900 donors, and there is still 15 days left to contribute.
“Y’all remember how we tore the goalposts down, hauled em out of Neyland and dumped em in the Tennessee River?” the official twitter account for Tennessee football 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?”
Tennessee athletic director Danny White also tweeted, “We had some fun, didn’t we?” and asked fans to “help us out.”
The goalposts had quite the adventure Saturday night, ending up at the Tennessee River. You can chart the goalposts’ journey here.
SEC policy states that “access to competition areas shall be limited to participating student-athletes, coaches, officials, support personnel and properly-credentialed individuals at all times. For the safety of participants and spectators alike, at no time before, during or after a contest shall spectators be permitted to enter the competition area. It is the responsibility of each member institution to implement procedures to ensure compliance with this policy.”
A third offense and beyond would cost Tennessee $250,000.
Mark Heim is a sports reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim.
