Tennessee Football: Police seeking suspect for crime against elderly fan

University of Tennessee police are looking for the man who stole an elderly fan’s credit card and spent more than $350 at the team store inside Neyland Stadium. The suspect also took personal belongings from the victim, according to UT police. The incident occurred during the Sept. 2 season opener against Bowling Green.

The police are asking anyone who can identify the man in the pictures below to contact them at [email protected] or 865-974-3114.

Do you know this man? The suspect used a credit card stolen from an elderly victim at the 9/2 football game to make $350 in purchases inside Neyland Stadium. He also took other personal belongings from the victim. Recognize him? Contact [email protected] or 865-974-3114. pic.twitter.com/NWvZqvDCPC

— UT Police (@UTPolice) September 16, 2021

The man in the photos appears to be wearing a grey Tennessee baseball hat with Smokey on the front, a grey polo shirt featuring a Power T, and cargo shorts. In the pictures put out by the University of Tennessee, the man has a beard and is holding multiples bags of gear with at least one shaker.

Tennessee football overcoming early adversity

The Week One win over Bowling Green has now been overshadowed by the hunt for the man who stole from an elderly Tennessee fan. Despite the encouraging signs on the field, the Volunteers could not carry it into Week Two.

Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel is now prepared to bounce back from a disappointing home loss to Pitt, preaching strength through adversity. After leading early, the Volunteers gave up 27 points in the second quarter and could not mount a second half comeback.

Heupel is excited to see how his players respond to early adversity in his first season.

“You find out what their mentality, attitude and makeup is going to be when they handle adversity as a loss,” Heupel told reporters during his Monday press conference. “Absolutely. I think I said it to you guys after the game, we’re going to find out a lot about our football team by the way they approached being in the building today.”

He continued: “Yesterday was a day where they came back and get some medical treatment. Today, you’re back into football. That’s looking at what happened on Saturday and then pushing forward. Being in the team meeting and being down on the field with those guys, there was good energy.”

After starting the season 1-1, Tennessee is preparing to play Tennessee Tech on Saturday before heading on the road to face No. 11 Florida in Week Four. The schedule does not get any easier down the stretch with conference games against No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Georgia and No. 17 Ole Miss throughout the schedule.