When the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team hosts Appalachian State in the season opener for both teams on Sept. 4, both teams will have a “GC” decal on their helmets.
All Southern Conference teams will wear the sticker, commissioner John Iamarino said, as a show of support for all the people along the Gulf Coast so dramatically affected by the BP oil spill.
Iamarino announced the initiative during the SoCon’s media teleconference Tuesday, and credited Elon coach Pete Lembo with the idea.
“I lived in Louisiana for six years and my son was born there, so when Pete mentioned it, the concept really resonated with me,” Iamarino said, adding “We just think this is the right thing to do.”
According to the SoCon, more than 170 league football players are from Gulf Coast states. The SoCon had to get the decals approved by the NCAA before the teams could wear them.
For more from the teleconference, see tomorrow’s Times Free Press.
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