BYU Football Gained New Fans In Knoxville Police Department
Sep 10, 2019, 8:09 AM
Photo: Courtesy of BYU Photo/Jaren Wilkey
PROVO, Utah – BYU’s double-overtime victory over the Tennessee Volunteers this past Saturday left many in the Volunteer fan base speechless.
The loss for Tennessee marked the first time the Volunteers dropped to 0-2 to open a season since 1988. But that didn’t matter to one group of Tennessee fans, the Knoxville Police Department.
Knoxville Police Department Captain Jeff Stiles shared an experience he had with BYU fans in the post-game.
Even though we would have liked to see the Volunteers win on Saturday, we were delighted to meet so many polite and…
Posted by Knoxville Police Department – TN on Monday, September 9, 2019
“Something happened last night that hasn’t happened in the many years I’ve been working UT football games. When we finally got the “all clear” from command and were dismissed from our field duty, we exited gate 7 (where the visiting team’s players exit) and as we’re approaching the enormous group of BYU fans that have packed outside the gate, they make a path and begin cheering for US! I must have given 100 high fives and heard “thank you for your service” dozens of times. It was honestly a little odd at first. That’s not the treatment that my brothers and sisters get very often these days, but as much as I expected some foul comment about cops, nothing ever came. Just cheers, smiles, and gratitude. Thank you, BYU Football. I wasn’t necessarily a fan last night, but will be from now on.”
The KSL Sports team saw first hand the large contingent of BYU fans that were gathered at the north end of historic Neyland Stadium. There were hundreds of Cougar supporters waiting for their team, as you can see in the video below.
#BYU fans are HYPED after taking down the Vols! #BYUvsTENN #KSLsports pic.twitter.com/dpejcVrt59
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) September 8, 2019
Saturday marked the first time that BYU and Tennessee squared off on the gridiron. The two programs will meet again when Tennessee travels to Provo for a game in LaVell Edwards Stadium in the 2023 season.
When that next meeting between the two programs, there will now be split allegiances for the Knoxville Police Department after their positive interaction with BYU fans this past weekend.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12-3 pm) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.
