Fans have their own view of football team and MU’s image

As the University of Missouri football team took to the field Saturday for the first time since playing a key role in ousting the school’s president and chancellor, fans said they were glad to get back to football.

But many also acknowledged the powerful forces looming over the game against BYU at Arrowhead Stadium. Tailgaters found time to reflect on the school they remembered, and the one that has been cast into an international spotlight.

Most fans said they never believed the game would be called off, even when players threatened a strike a week earlier in support of student protests against racism. Some credited head coach Gary Pinkel with backing up the players and noted the millions of dollars invested in the game.

A few admitted having had doubts about the game even as they withheld judgment on how events played out on campus.

“Without knowing all the details of why they were boycotting, I didn’t know how the university was going to handle it,” said Mizzou fan Kevin Openlander of St. Louis.

Openlander tailgated Saturday with his daughter, a Missouri graduate, and other family members. Having seen the resignations of top officials, Openlander said it seemed that the protest movement had a point.

“The university must have done something wrong,” he said. “I mean, you don’t see anyone defending them.”

None of that seemed to dull the fan pride on display Saturday as thousands pitched black-and-gold tents and raised Mizzou flags.

No protesters appeared Saturday at Arrowhead. Security guards at the stadium gates blocked at least one person from bringing in a sign that was judged too “political.”

Karen Rogers, a 1996 graduate, said security identified her sign, reading “Proud of Mizzou Football —Concerned Student 1950” as too political. She was forced to leave it outside.

“I’m disappointed,” Rogers said. “I wanted to support the team, and the school.”

A spokesman for the Chiefs said security made a mistake in not allowing Rogers to bring in the sign. No one was instructed to keep signs out with messages about the events at MU, and the Chiefs did not judge the sign to be inappropriate.

Tailgaters generally acknowledged that the students had drawn attention to real problems, but pointed out that race politics were neither new to the Columbia campus, nor confined to it.

Some didn’t appreciate that MU has been cast at the center of attention over campus racial strife. Brandon Simpson, a food truck operator in Kansas City, criticized the media coverage.

“Everything got distorted by getting national attention from the media,” said Simpson, who is black.

One graduate said it had pained him to see the latest generation of students still struggling with a problem that has tormented those who came before. We often assume the mere passage of time means progress, said Mike Hayes, a 2000 graduate.

“I actually expected more out of the people who were coming after us,” Hayes said. “I thought we were improving.”

That improvement may be found in the action at the university, according to interim chancellor Hank Foley.

“What is currently happening at Mizzou is not turmoil; nor is it negative” Foley wrote in a statement released Saturday. “What it shows is that we are diverse, tolerant and open. But the activism also shows that for everyone to feel a part of Mizzou.”

This story was originally published November 14, 2015 at 9:52 PM with the headline "Fans have their own view of football team and MU’s image."