Safety verses tradition as CU students rush the field

When CU students stormed the field against Georgia after a thrilling win, it attracted the scorn of sports fans from across the nation. Many consider Georgia too weak a team to justify storming the field, but for CU students the practice has become a new tradition as fans have took to the field six times in the last four years.

Over the past two decades there have been a number of serious injuries across the nation when fans have taken to the field. In 2000 at a University of Texas-El Paso game, one fan was crushed by a goal post that was brought down by the crowd. That man was paralyzed. This led to a lawsuit against the university and the goal post manufacturer, raising liability concerns for everyone involved.

According to CU Associate Athletic Director Tom McGann, students' and players' safety is the greatest concern. "Really we don't like it to occur, but we understand it, and once again we support the students having fun at our football games. As long as they don't push, and if they know our big concern is their safety, if they can be safe around each other, not to push each other."

The Southeastern Conference now prohibits rushing of the field and fines schools progressive amounts starting at $5,000 and up to $50,000 after the third offense. The Pac-12 Conference, which CU will be joining next year, permits fans to rush the field, but it must wait until five minutes after the game has ended to allow opposing players and officials time to get off the field.

For CU students, however, rushing the field has become tradition and an important part of college. "I think it's wonderful that CU students stormed the field the past game against Georgia," said student Jarid Kahn. "I think it shows exuberance and excitement and I don't know. It feels part of the college experience to have a little fun and get a little bit out of hand as long as it's not too bad."

CU has collapsable goal posts that can be brought down within seconds of the end of the game and a number of additional gates leading from the stands to the field have built to help fans get down safely to celebrate on the field. As long as everyone stays safe, the tradition will no doubt continue to be a staple of CU school spirit.