Kid mocked for homemade Tennessee shirt gets heartwarming response from UT; faith in humanity restored
A heartwarming story during this bye week. A young student in Florida wore a homemade Tennessee Vols shirt to school for collegiate pride day, and was left in tears after some students mocked him for it (he attached a piece of notebook paper that said "UT" to a plain orange tshirt). His teacher decided to contact UT about it, and not only did the school send him a full box of Vols swag, but they actually designed an official UT shirt for their store that's based off the kid's homemade design. I'm as cynical as they come, but I'll be damned if this didn't make me a little misty eyed on a Monday morning. Hats off to UT on this one.
September 9th, 2019 at 9:00 AM ^
Someone down at UT is making good decisions. Thx for sharing this.
September 9th, 2019 at 9:44 AM ^
It's about time someone there made a good decision. Should have hired Leach.
September 9th, 2019 at 10:16 AM ^
Hell yeah, 100 thumbs up for this comment. This is pure PR gold, for maybe $100 (at cost) in merchandise, they are going to get millions in great PR at a time when they really need it.
Not to mention they made a bunch of people feel really good for a few days (something perpetually scarce in society) and now surely have a UT fan for life. They might even get a handful of other diehard UT fans from that community.
Seriously good shit UT.
September 9th, 2019 at 9:00 AM ^
Man kids can be mean. Good on UT.
September 9th, 2019 at 9:01 AM ^
I kinda love the official version
September 9th, 2019 at 9:19 AM ^
It is pretty awesome.
September 9th, 2019 at 9:36 AM ^
I’d wear it, be proud, and not feel guilty. Kids are pretty awesome. It’s too bad we lose that innocence when we grow up (or in some cases earlier, like the mean girls).
September 9th, 2019 at 9:44 AM ^
Seriously thinking of buying one...
September 9th, 2019 at 9:03 AM ^
Fantastic news.
September 9th, 2019 at 9:07 AM ^
Our faith in Humanity is tested daily and its actions like this that keeps that faith alive. Well done UT. I'm sure they just made a few new fans for life with this.
September 9th, 2019 at 10:15 AM ^
Snark alert...
They'll need those new fans after all the ones they lost with this 0-2 start.
September 9th, 2019 at 9:10 AM ^
Kids can be assholes, but someone in this kids life should have told him how this was going to go down before he did it.
Good on the Vols though.
September 9th, 2019 at 9:54 AM ^
That's a tough situation as a parent. You don't want to discourage the kid from being himself, joining in the fun at the school but maybe you also can't really afford to buy the shirt for him. He's proud of his homemade shirt, you're proud of him too. You can't just tell the kid people will make fun of him because it's not a real Tennessee shirt. That would devastate him more coming from his parents. The best you could do is say some people don't like Tennessee and so they might say something about your shirt because they don't like the team.
September 9th, 2019 at 10:21 AM ^
Yeah I didn't mean to come off like a dick, but kids are basically animals and I have two of my own. I've had to have similar conversations with both of them.
September 9th, 2019 at 10:26 AM ^
I agree with this except I would also tell him some people might not like his design and tell him to ignore both types of kids. I'd tell him how proud I was of his creativity and and dedication and if anyone doesn't like it, that's their problem not yours. And if he starts to question his efforts when stupid kids are stupid, I'd show him the msu mountain dew uniforms designed by supposed professionals and let him know I'd choose his design over that every day of the week!
September 9th, 2019 at 9:17 AM ^
Thanks for sharing this, very cool story. It's nice that they are donating part of the proceeds to a charity, but it would be even cooler if they set up a scholarship fund for the kid as well. Seems like he could use it in the future
September 9th, 2019 at 9:41 AM ^
Forget a scholarship fund. If it's the kid's design, shouldn't they have to license it from him?
September 9th, 2019 at 10:05 AM ^
If the kid licensed the design, the NCAA would disqualify him from ever participating college sports.
September 9th, 2019 at 9:20 AM ^
Really happy for that kid, that’s a great story.
Does the principal’s quote at the end of the article rub anyone else the wrong way? I get that there are different levels of bullying/teasing, but it makes it sound like it wasn’t taken seriously at all. Even seemingly little things can really affect a kid mentally.
September 9th, 2019 at 9:33 AM ^
Some of the worst bullying cases cross gender lines imo.
It can be very emasculating especially at that age.
September 9th, 2019 at 10:02 AM ^
Welcome to 2019. Emasculation is official policy now.
September 9th, 2019 at 10:16 AM ^
LOL and emasculated men are a very common sight these days.
September 9th, 2019 at 10:21 AM ^
I am going to start walking around in public with my ample junk hanging out to reverse this trend.
Nothing less emasculated than that - just ask Dino C
September 9th, 2019 at 10:36 AM ^
I am going to start walking around in public with my ample junk hanging out to reverse this trend.
That won't fix anything... the professional protesting class will just accuse you of having "toxic masculinity".
September 9th, 2019 at 10:37 AM ^
That would be the least of my concerns - my wife would have stronger language than that!
September 9th, 2019 at 6:22 PM ^
Well, if it's just the wife you have to worry about, simply tell her, "it pays to advertise!"
September 9th, 2019 at 10:19 AM ^
If the kid was bullied the principal would be in trouble for not taking more action, etc. He's just covering himself.
September 9th, 2019 at 10:34 AM ^
Cool story, and happy for the kid. It's awesome. But we need to recognize various levels of bullying, and the need for various levels of intervention. You don't need to take action and helicopter over every situation as a principle. It'd be impossible to do, especially in a school with hundreds if not thousands of kids where plenty of nonsense is said every single day. There are times when intervention is needed, but there are also times where a kid needs to learn to be resilient and stand up for themselves. If the case was truly a couple of girls being pricks, I don't think ti'd be the case where the teachers or principles need to come down with the full weight and authority of the school system. Give me a f*cking break.
We don't know a whole lot about what happened. Just be happy for the kid, and stop with the pitch fork mentality. Before you know it the twitter outrage mobs are going to be calling for the principle to resign.
September 9th, 2019 at 1:24 PM ^
I think what both of you said is valid and true. What the girls did was bullying, but it didn't rise to a level where any reasonable person would feel that intervention was necessary, beyond a "that wasn't nice" if it was overheard by a teacher. The principal really was playing CYA, though, because "bullying" carries all sorts of legal definitions and requirement to intervene.
September 9th, 2019 at 10:30 AM ^
Parents of the kids doing the teasing are part of the problem. Principals and teachers may be afraid of blowback from parents of the bullies if they try to exert any kind of discipline.
And yes, bullying can cross gender lines. I was teased by girls at 12 or 13 years old for wearing an off-brand style of blue jeans. Kids can be rotten.
September 9th, 2019 at 11:50 AM ^
No. Given 1) that may not have been the full quote from the principal - there could have been additional statements and context that we don't know about, and 2) we don't know all the facts here. There's lots of potential explanations. It's possible the principal is a a clueless jerk. It's also possible the principal is looking out for the best interests of all his students - both the student who made the shirt and the girls who bullied/teased him.
September 9th, 2019 at 9:23 AM ^
Good on Tennessee but was still irks me at the bottom of the article is the principal trying to downplay it....like come on man. That's an opportunity to educate students and you sound like you swung and missed on it
September 9th, 2019 at 9:31 AM ^
Yeah. I get a superintendent not wanting to characterize it as "bullying" because that's such a loaded term, and kids that age can be super-emotional in ways that don't seem to make sense objectively, but it still feels like a teaching moment for everyone involved.
September 9th, 2019 at 9:28 AM ^
Good on UT. Kids can be assholes without really understanding the impact of what they're doing, but it's still nice to see a bit of good happen for a kid who legitimately just loves the Vols.
September 9th, 2019 at 9:40 AM ^
That's class, pure and simple.
September 9th, 2019 at 9:41 AM ^
Soooo...
How soon can I buy a Michigan iteration from the MgoStore???
Please make this happen!!!
September 9th, 2019 at 10:43 AM ^
Nike would descend upon us with great fury and vengeance for not including a prominent jumpman logo.
September 9th, 2019 at 9:50 AM ^
The teacher’s Facebook post and its photos and comments are well worth checking out, too.
September 9th, 2019 at 9:50 AM ^
"faith in humanity restored"
As opposed to faith in the Tennessee football program, which is a smoking crater at the moment.
September 9th, 2019 at 11:12 AM ^
Best time to evaluate character is when things are bad. Separates genuine decency from fair-weather appearances.
September 9th, 2019 at 10:01 AM ^
That principal comment. I wonder what the full context of the quote was. The only quote used in that paragraph was "the girls teased the boy about his shirt", the rest was the author providing their view. I wonder if that was exactly what the gist of what the principal said or if we the readers aren't getting an honest depiction.
September 9th, 2019 at 10:08 AM ^
I appreciate Tennessee updating the quality of their designs to match the quality of their football program.
September 9th, 2019 at 10:16 AM ^
That's mean and I upvoted you.
September 9th, 2019 at 10:14 AM ^
Absolutely beautiful outcome. This is just excellent!
September 9th, 2019 at 10:14 AM ^
Absolutely incredible
September 9th, 2019 at 10:16 AM ^
I hope that kid took one of the UT cups, walked up to the kids that bullied him, and said "see this cup? It's full of your rage and I'm drinking it, suckas."
September 9th, 2019 at 10:35 AM ^
I like his shirt better, free from that "official ncaa" taint.
September 9th, 2019 at 10:40 AM ^
Hopefully the proceeds of that designed t-shirt go to his college tuition (even if not at UT.)
September 9th, 2019 at 10:46 AM ^
That is pretty cool
September 9th, 2019 at 10:51 AM ^
That shirt is better than half the stuff Nike puts out and better than anything Adidas did. Hire that kid.