At the urging of Gainesville Police, the UF students behind an anti-Tennessee sign altered it slightly Thursday night.
The sign, a spray-painted attack on University of Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs, first read Dobbs “cries after sex.”
It now reads that he “cries after exams” — with the letter "S" still easily visible.
The change, which the housemates begrudgingly agreed to, came after Gainesville Police received two complaints regarding the sexual theme of the sign.
“That’s just how this world is now, my friend,” said Colin Malafronte, a UF student who lives at the house.
The sign first appeared Wednesday afternoon on the side of a six-person brick house on the corner of Southwest Sixth Avenue and Southwest 12th Street.
The anti-University-of-Tennessee sign first appeared on Wednesday afternoon on the corner of Southwest Sixth Avenue and Southwest 12th Street.
And despite the negative backlash it has received, for the most part, passersby have enjoyed the jab at Tennessee ahead of Saturday’s football game between the Gators and the Volunteers, the students said.
On Thursday, before the change, smirking students crossed Southwest 12th Street just to snap photos of the sign.
“Within five minutes (of putting it up) guys were driving by on their scooters just laughing their a--es off,” said Peter Tsirnikas, a UF student who lives at the house.
Tsirnikas, an agricultural operations management sophomore, said the students’ landlord was not a fan of the sign and had asked them to take it down, although it was not until the police arrived that they conceded.
The motivation behind the sign was sparked by jabs Tennessee fans made on social media, including attacks on coach Jim McElwain’s wife and a GoFundMe account to raise money for Gators quarterback Austin Appleby’s funeral.
“I think college campuses need more of it, if anything,” said Andrew Engle, a UF economics junior who lives at the house. “I love it. I love the pageantry of college football. This is what it’s all about.”
The anti-University-of-Tennessee sign first appeared on Wednesday afternoon on the corner of Southwest Sixth Avenue and Southwest 12th Street.
