Before the Tennessee Vols traveled to the horseshoe last weekend for a first round College Football Playoff matchup against Ohio State, there was plenty of talk about whether UT would be able to handle the sub-freezing temps in Columbus.
In an effort to perhaps prove a point, numerous Vols players took the field for pregame warmups without shirts, despite temps that were in the 20s.
The decision to go shirtless for pregame warmups in the extreme cold received plenty of criticism before the game. That criticism hit a crescendo after Tennessee lost 42-17 to Ohio State.
Vols senior offensive lineman Cooper Mays, who wrapped up his Tennessee career in the loss to the Buckeyes, joined Off the Hook Sports this week to discuss the way UT’s season ended.
Mays was asked by host Dave Hooker about the decision to go shirtless.
“We do warmups at the hotel before [the game], so we did a little walk-through outside at like 10 AM, so I did that shirtless,” said Mays. “Just to kind of like make sure — I knew if I could go out there shirtless at 10 AM, then I’d be fine for the game. You know what I’m saying? Like I’ve already done the worst of it. So I did that.
“And then kind of everybody wanted to do it in the stadium during pregame. And I was like well if other people are going to do it, I’m not about to run out there with my sweatshirt on. I’m not about to be that guy. So I was like heck yeah let’s do it. A lot of people were wearing vaseline. I didn’t wear any vaseline. I just took it on the chin.”