Iowa State is begging its fans to stop throwing its opponent’s footballs out of the stadium at college football games. The program could face punishment from the Big 12 Conference if this behavior does not stop.
You’ve been warned!
No matter how hard the administration tries, I would imagine that the college football fanbase in Ames is not going to stop. Especially after a half dozen Busch Lights…
Game balls actually require a lot of prep!
I get how it looks from the outside. The average Big 12 football team generates somewhere between $40 and $50 million in annual operating revenue. Some of the top programs exceed $80 million. Others generate less than $20 million.
Even still, $20 million should be more than enough money to purchase a new set of footballs for all 12 games in the regular season. That is absolutely true.
However, there is a lot more that goes into a game ball than what meets the eye. It can take anywhere from 12 to 72 hours to fully prep a leather football for a competitive college or NFL football game. That includes the initial cleaning and dye removal process, the application of leather oils or balms to soften the hide, the mudding process and the final conditioning.
Here is a good breakdown of the process on the NFL level, which is more or less the same on the collegiate level.
Every team/school does it a little bit different, with different amounts of mud or different kinds of balms, etc. You get the idea. The football is not pulled out of a plastic bag on Saturday morning to be used at kickoff. It is a process.
With that in mind, every team uses a specific set of footballs on game day and each team only has a specific amount per game. The kicker balls are especially specific. Every specialist has his own preference for what a ball should look and feel like. It was most recently an issue when the college football officials took Ole Miss’ game balls during its loss against Florida.
Iowa State is begging its fans to stop throwing footballs out of the stadium.
There is a tradition in Ames that dates back to I don’t know when. The Cyclones are not the only one to do it but they have become notorious for doing so.
Any time that one of Iowa State’s opponent’s footballs end up in the crowd, it is going to end up in the parking lot. The fans work together to throw the football up the lower bowl, into the upper deck, to the top row, and out of the stadium. It is a collective effort.
Again, the Cyclones are not the only fanbase to do this. They are, however, the ones who face potential repercussions if they continue to do so. Iowa State released the following plea for fans to stop throwing footballs out of the stadium. The Big 12 could punish the program!
“Thank you to everyone who attended the exciting 45-42 win over West Virginia this past Homecoming weekend in Jack Trice Stadium. As Coach Rogers shared in his post-game comments, our fans and home atmosphere contribute to the success on the field.
“We do want to take this moment to ask that you help us on one item. Please return the game balls to the student-managers from the opposing team when they enter the seating area. Game balls belong to the visiting team, and the visitor’s student managers are responsible for them. Taking those footballs puts our opponent’s managers in a really tough position in protecting their limited inventory of game balls. This is not good sportsmanship and is not representative of how we would want our team and our own student managers treated when we travel to other Big 12 venues. If these acts continue, Iowa State Athletics is subject to penalties from the Big 12 Conference. Therefore, we reserve the right to eject any fan who participates in this exercise.”
Iowa State’s fanbase is notoriously kind. Maybe they will adhere to the warning. I doubt it. Will the Big 12 actually lay down the hammer if the Cyclones don’t stop?