Former Texas football player Caden Sterns was allegedly threatened over not wanting to participate in “The Eyes of Texas.”
The iconic song for the University of Texas is a major part of the football program, but has caused problems recently because some believe it has racist roots. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
UT-Austin’s band will not play “The Eyes of Texas” at this Saturday’s football game after a survey revealed many members are unwilling to play the school song, @thedailytexan reported.
The song has ties to minstrel shows where performers wore blackface. https://t.co/swVjYkIUsH
— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) October 21, 2020
Sterns, who entered the draft after this past season, tweeted late Monday afternoon that he was told by some alumni to go along with the song or he and other players “would have to find jobs outside of Texas.”
My teammates and I got threatened by some alumni that we would have to find jobs outside of Texas if we didn’t participate. https://t.co/owWwHF50ri
— Caden Sterns (@CSterns_7) March 1, 2021
Sterns claims come after it was made public that several wealthy boosters threatened to pull funding if the song was canceled.
“UT needs rich donors who love The Eyes of Texas more than they need one crop of irresponsible and uninformed students or faculty who won’t do what they are paid to do”
Emails show wealthy alumni supporting “Eyes of Texas” threatened to pull donationshttps://t.co/w6TpTFR5ga
— Kate McGee (@McGeeReports) March 1, 2021
I don’t know whether or not Sterns is telling the truth, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he was. For those of us who have seen “Pony Express,” there’s a similar scene in the documentary.
Eric Dickerson claimed he was told that if he didn’t play for Texas, he’d never be able to find employment in the state.
Texas boosters wield a substantial amount of power in the state, and we all know how crazy college football fans can get.
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We’ll see what the school ultimately decides to do, but given the financial threats from boosters, I wouldn’t expect “The Eyes of Texas” to go anywhere in the near future.