Leave your best stories of rushing the field

[SmellyCat]

Watching the amazing Tennessee-Alabama game and seeing like 50,000 people on the field (I hope no one got hurt) reminded me of all the times we got to do it at Dyche Stadium and Welsh-Ryan Arena over the years. Who's got a good story?

I still remember the 1991 game against Illinois. I recall a DPS guy trying to stop people and pulling me off the goalpost as we were leaving the stadium with it. He threw me to the ground, which is more than enough to stop me under normal circumstances, but I got right back and jogged it to the lake. We carried the goal posts all the way to North Beach. We were all so wet already (it rained the entire game), so it was a no-brainer to go right into the lake. How much more wet could we get?

I once got a flag off the top of the goalpost when it came down. It's my most prized possession.

My favorite though was a game where we got the goalposts down on the north side of the field and I looked back on the south side and saw the posts swaying and coming down from 100 yards away. It's an image I'll never forget.

 

[IGNORE2]

Watching the amazing Tennessee-Alabama game and seeing like 50,000 people on the field (I hope no one got hurt) reminded me of all the times we got to do it at Dyche Stadium and Welsh-Ryan Arena over the years. Who's got a good story?

I still remember the 1991 game against Illinois. I recall a DPS guy trying to stop people and pulling me off the goalpost as we were leaving the stadium with it. He threw me to the ground, which is more than enough to stop me under normal circumstances, but I got right back and jogged it to the lake. We carried the goal posts all the way to North Beach. We were all so wet already (it rained the entire game), so it was a no-brainer to go right into the lake. How much more wet could we get?

I once got a flag off the top of the goalpost when it came down. It's my most prized possession.

My favorite though was a game where we got the goalposts down on the north side of the field and I looked back on the south side and saw the posts swaying and coming down from 100 yards away. It's an image I'll never forget.

We were at the same games. I was in on these too. I remember they tried to stop our antics by reinforcing the gp.

After laking the post, they chained that big gate needed to carry it out. Also, once down - security would come in an force the gp to the ground and stand on it so it could not be used as a battering ram.

 

[Alan Smithee]

One that I was part of in the early 80s is still vivid in part- either the one where we set the all-time consecutive loss record, or the one when we snapped the streak.

Anyway, we were taking the goalpost to the lake and passed by President Strotz’s house. Naturally, he’s not been at the game, or at least wasn’t there for the end. He was hosting a big cocktail party outside and we stopped and chanted at him. Visibly drunk and wobbly, all he could manage was to yell “Beat Iowa!” And knowing who and what he really was, we rained curses and epithets on him before continuing on.

 

[StratCat84]

One that I was part of in the early 80s is still vivid in part- either the one where we set the all-time consecutive loss record, or the one when we snapped the streak.

Anyway, we were taking the goalpost to the lake and passed by President Strotz’s house. Naturally, he’s not been at the game, or at least wasn’t there for the end. He was hosting a big cocktail party outside and we stopped and chanted at him. Visibly drunk and wobbly, all he could manage was to yell “Beat Iowa!” And knowing who and what he really was, we rained curses and epithets on him before continuing on.

I was there as well

 

[bkillini]

As an old guy now, I hate to admit it but I tore your goal posts down when we beat you at your place during our 1983 Rose Bowl season. I humbly apologize forty years later.

 

[NUChicago]

As an old guy now, I hate to admit it but I tore your goal posts down when we beat you at your place during our 1983 Rose Bowl season. I humbly apologize forty years later.

Pretty much sums up why I have enjoyed every IL beating over the last 20 years.

 

[bkillini]

Pretty much sums up why I have enjoyed every IL beating over the last 20 years.

Fair.

 

[FanatiCat]

1995, vs. Wisconsin. As a WI native many of my friends attended UW. They came down for the game and had tickets in the east stands; I of course was in the west student section. I told them, “I’ll meet you on the 50 yard line after the game.” They laughed. But I was right, and they did come down to meet me after we rushed the field.

 

[Eurocat]

Circa late 80s there was a frat that had a lot of rugby players in it. So that frat was retained by NU for muscle after a game - to help prevent a rush of the field. I don't know how NU didn't realize this could be a problem in the "overzealous policing" sense. No way they do this today. Maybe they thought seeing their classmates down on the sidelines would make others tone it down?

Problem was that only half the frat was invited to provide this "security" so the other half decided to rush the field from the stands leading to fistfights between brothers (and others). From what I understand this really destroyed the frat internally.

I had nothing to do with any of it - I don't even recall which frat is was - but I remember hearing about it, huge arguments that went on for weeks, etc.

 

[CatManTrue]

2004 versus OSU. I can share more but figured I’d save my 10,000th post for my favorite memory as a Cats fan. I also think I shared more deets on the Rock, but I saw Fitz charging around like a bull as the LB coach. He didn’t even seem to notice all of the fans.

I didn’t climb on the goalposts, but a few people may have climbed onto them with my support. That was a bit of rowdy, Good, clean American fun.

 

[its_the_sauce]

Game against Illinois in the late 80's. We won but security (then DPS) was taking a hard line on students storming the field. One of the guys I was with had a small opening but DPS grabbed him, dragged him on the field and threw him down in the end zone. They took him away and it took us a while to get him released (DP&S was on Hinman in those days).

The highlight was his making the Channel 2 news with Howard Sudberry calling out DPS for unnecessary roughness.

 

[IGNORE2]

2004 versus OSU. I can share more but figured I’d save my 10,000th post for my favorite memory as a Cats fan. I also think I shared more deets on the Rock, but I saw Fitz charging around like a bull as the LB coach. He didn’t even seem to notice all of the fans.

I didn’t climb on the goalposts, but a few people may have climbed onto them with my support. That was a bit of rowdy, Good, clean American fun.

I was at that game too. Night game. Hell of a game. Couldn’t participate in the aftermath….

 

[1060Ivy]

Circa late 80s there was a frat that had a lot of rugby players in it. So that frat was retained by NU for muscle after a game - to help prevent a rush of the field. I don't know how NU didn't realize this could be a problem in the "overzealous policing" sense. No way they do this today. Maybe they thought seeing their classmates down on the sidelines would make others tone it down?

Problem was that only half the frat was invited to provide this "security" so the other half decided to rush the field from the stands leading to fistfights between brothers (and others). From what I understand this really destroyed the frat internally.

I had nothing to do with any of it - I don't even recall which frat is was - but I remember hearing about it, huge arguments that went on for weeks, etc.

Was at that game, in the frat, the rugby club, and provided “security” post game.

If there were issues post game at frat I never saw nor were aware of them. There were a number of, ‘Yup, I clocked you, pretty good’ type comments and jibs but these were over a keg at the frat.

 

[Eurocat]

Must have been a different frat in that case. I think they used several for this "backup", rotating amongst them and I think two or three houses were known for having rugby guys. And this was done several times over several years only one time was this a problem. I couldn't name any of them anyway, way too long ago for this old head to remember.

 

[EvanstonCat]

I remember the 1991 Illini game, running down Central hammered in the rain and sticking those posts and raising them up in the Lake where they stood for about a week.

Barnett hated those celebrations. Thought it was embarrassing for us to try making taking down the goal posts a tradition at NU, as if winning wasn’t expected.

My senior year, we won at home, I think against Wisconsin or maybe it was MSU, don’t remember, and sure enough we charged the field and tried to take the goal posts down. Try as we might, they wouldn’t come down. The Wisconsin fans laughed at us, calling us losers for not even being able to take the posts down. I was taking a MatSci course, and the following week’s class, the Prof explained that Barnett had approached them to come up with something that couldn’t be taken down, and so they came up with some crazy alloy that wouldn’t bend or break, and that there was no chance those posts would come down. Aside from the extra UP officers that showed up onto the field after every win, word I think spread, and then our days of taking down the posts were over. The next year was the Rose Bowl year, so I guess that was a good thing for the NU budget.

 

[CatManTrue]

I remember the 1991 Illini game, running down Central hammered in the rain and sticking those posts and raising them up in the Lake where they stood for about a week.

Barnett hated those celebrations. Thought it was embarrassing for us to try making taking down the goal posts a tradition at NU, as if winning wasn’t expected.

My senior year, we won at home, I think against Wisconsin or maybe it was MSU, don’t remember, and sure enough we charged the field and tried to take the goal posts down. Try as we might, they wouldn’t come down. The Wisconsin fans laughed at us, calling us losers for not even being able to take the posts down. I was taking a MatSci course, and the following week’s class, the Prof explained that Barnett had approached them to come up with something that couldn’t be taken down, and so they came up with some crazy alloy that wouldn’t bend or break, and that there was no chance those posts would come down. Aside from the extra UP officers that showed up onto the field after every win, word I think spread, and then our days of taking down the posts were over. The next year was the Rose Bowl year, so I guess that was a good thing for the NU budget.

Sounds like Tennessee should have invested in that as well. They’re trying to crowdsource the goalpost replacement and also owe big fines:

There's an option for a $16 donation, which is the number of years it had been since the Vols beat rival Alabama; a $52.49 donation, which plays off the final score of the game; and a $1,019.15 donation, which is a nod to the sold-out crowd of 101,915 at Neyland Stadium.

As of Sunday afternoon, more than $15,000 had been raised, which is 10% of the goal.
But even that falls short of another tab Tennessee will need to pay soon. On Sunday, the SEC fined the school $100,000 because fans were allowed on the field after the upset win.

Since it was Tennessee's second offense under the league's field access policy -- the first coming after a basketball game in 2006 -- it will be required to pay $100,000. A third penalty will result in a $250,000 fine.

Money from field access penalties goes toward the SEC's Post-Graduate Scholarship Fund.

 

[Alaskawildkat]

Surprised no one has mentioned the 54-51 NU v. Michigan game on November 4th of 2000.

I was seated close to the student section where my NU attending son was located with his classmates. The whole student section swarmed down to the field and I cautiously followed.

I believe the goal posts had been mounted in cement or something by that time but it didn't prevent the students from climbing them and making them sway back and forth.

 

[kelloggcat]

The only time I was on the field (other than graduation) was after the Penn State game in ‘95. I was in the upper deck right in front of the temporary lights (which were literally right behind us) so it took us a while to get down there. By that point the field was pretty full so no one stopped us. There were a lot of people on the goal posts but there was no way they were coming down. Just sort of swaying.

we stayed on the field for maybe ten minutes. My lasting memory is how rock hard the field was and thinking how much it must have hurt to get tackled.

 

[Williesfan]

Surprised no one has mentioned the 54-51 NU v. Michigan game on November 4th of 2000.

I was seated close to the student section where my NU attending son was located with his classmates. The whole student section swarmed down to the field and I cautiously followed.

I believe the goal posts had been mounted in cement or something by that time but it didn't prevent the students from climbing them and making them sway back and forth.

I remember the students swaying the posts trying to take them down. The posts won.

 

[IGNORE2]

I remember the 1991 Illini game, running down Central hammered in the rain and sticking those posts and raising them up in the Lake where they stood for about a week.

Barnett hated those celebrations. Thought it was embarrassing for us to try making taking down the goal posts a tradition at NU, as if winning wasn’t expected.

My senior year, we won at home, I think against Wisconsin or maybe it was MSU, don’t remember, and sure enough we charged the field and tried to take the goal posts down. Try as we might, they wouldn’t come down. The Wisconsin fans laughed at us, calling us losers for not even being able to take the posts down. I was taking a MatSci course, and the following week’s class, the Prof explained that Barnett had approached them to come up with something that couldn’t be taken down, and so they came up with some crazy alloy that wouldn’t bend or break, and that there was no chance those posts would come down. Aside from the extra UP officers that showed up onto the field after every win, word I think spread, and then our days of taking down the posts were over. The next year was the Rose Bowl year, so I guess that was a good thing for the NU budget.

I had heard this story too after I graduated. Always questioned the veracity as it was after I had left to LA for law school.

 

[IGNORE2]

Money from field access penalties goes toward the SEC's Post-Graduate Scholarship Fund.

Well that fund probably goes untapped

 

[eddie_gocats]

I remembered when a NROTC company commander was on the cover of the Daily on the crossbar when the goal post was going down. That season he was punished by having to work parking duty outside during the basketball season instead of being inside as an usher supervisor. Very worth it to him!

 

[CatManTrue]

Well that fund probably goes untapped

Rim shot. I was wondering how long it would take someone to slam that dunk.