Inside students’ goalposts march to river

After the initial shock wore off of Vanderbilt football’s upset over No. 1 Alabama on Saturday, the students on the field gradually came to one conclusion.

The goalposts were coming down, and they were going to end up in a river.

Throwing the goalposts in the river was an iconic celebration that Tennessee fans did after the Vols beat Alabama in 2022. But the riverfront in Knoxville is just a few blocks away from Neyland Stadium, and the fans marched the goalposts through campus and fraternity row.

The closest access to the Cumberland River from FirstBank Stadium is 2½ miles away. The students would have to take the goalposts down West End Avenue, through its merger with Broadway, through throngs of tourists and bachelorette parties on Lower Broadway on a Saturday night.

There was some skepticism among students that they’d be able to make it all the way to the river. That started with getting the goalposts down in the first place.

Of the more than 28,000 fans in attendance, most were Alabama fans. The field-storming celebration consisted of primarily students, and it was a struggle to bring the goalposts down. It took nearly 10 minutes before the students started to dislodge the posts in the south end zone and five more minutes before they finally brought them down, passing it among the crowd.

Eventually, the goalposts did end up in the Cumberland, and the students didn’t stop until they had completed the 2½-mile journey.

“When you go to a school that’s so tight-knit, and I know Vandy markets itself as a really tight-knit, close community,” Vanderbilt senior Kostas North said. “That is a perfect example of that actually coming to fruition.”

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How Vanderbilt students dodged obstacles on goalposts march to river

With construction under way at the stadium, the students couldn’t carry the goalposts through the exits on the south side of the stadium, so they brought it out the north side. They carried it past the frat houses and then continued on down West End.

The Metro Nashville and Vanderbilt police departments ended up assisting Vanderbilt students on their travels by making sure cars didn’t hit the group.

The one roadblock the students ran into came when they got near Bridgestone Arena, where a Predators preseason game had just wrapped up. The students went around the area, navigating the goalposts around street signs and light poles on the narrow side streets. Predators coach Andrew Brunette said he even helped the students lift the goalposts over a car at one point.

After the detour, the students made it to Broadway, and the goal was in sight.

“If any one of these guys in a job interview says, ‘I was part of the group that carried a goalpost,’ I think any engineering job should be theirs,” said Blake Enwiller, a junior at Vanderbilt. “Because it was a work of beauty, how they figured out a way to get that whole thing 2½ miles, not just the strength, but also just the ability to navigate it through those obstacles.”

Bachelorettes, party buses, at least one Tennessee fan join celebration

Enwiller described the procession as a parade, with people clapping, screaming and giving high-fives. Cars driving by honked in approval.

At one honky-tonk on Broadway, Enwiller said, a man in a Tennessee jersey made the “anchor down” hand signal.

“There are probably very few things that can get a Tennessee fan to cheer anchor down, but that was one of them,” Enwiller said.

The bachelorettes and party buses were friendly. They honked and cheered for the students as they approached the Cumberland River.

The walk didn’t feel like 2½ miles, Enwiller and North agreed.

“We could have walked five miles if that was what it took to get that thing in the river,” Enwiller said.

Vanderbilt football goalposts end up in Cumberland River

Between the road and the river, there’s an embankment the students had to descend. With the blue glow of police cars and EMS behind them, the students slowly dropped the goalposts down into the river. A group of what North estimated to be hundreds of people, primarily students, stood recording the moment with their phones.

After the mission was accomplished, police quickly cleared the area and the students went on their way. Some stayed on Broadway to celebrate at the bars, while others made the walk back to campus and the fraternity parties. The goalposts were retrieved from the river, sliced up and auctioned off by Vanderbilt. The students’ work was done.