Former star QB Colt McCoy was involved in emails with University of Texas alumni defending controver
- Colt McCoy was involved with University of Texas alumni who defended "The Eyes of Texas."
- The song has been linked to Confederate generals and was performed in blackface.
- Alumni threatened the employment prospects of football players if they didn't stand during the song.
Former Longhorns star and current Arizona Cardinals quarterback Colt McCoy was involved in a University of Texas alumni group that discussed strategies for preserving the school's controversial alma mater song "The Eyes of Texas," according to Kate McGee of The Texas Tribune.
McCoy's relationship with the alumni is relatively unknown. But McGee reported that McCoy, a former first-team All-American for the Longhorns, now a 10-year NFL veteran, was part of an email chain with the donors. In the email, Longhorn donors and fans addressed the controversy on June 29, when students began to speak out against the song in the aftermath of George Floyd's death.
Shortly after the email was sent, McCoy was reportedly on a conference call with other alumni to discuss potential solutions to the controversy.
McCoy again engaged in communication with the donors who were threatening to pull money from the school. This came after an incident on October 10 when football players refused to stand while the song played after a loss to Oklahoma, according to emails obtained by McGee.
University President Jay Hartzell received more than 300 emails on the matter, most of which were from outraged alumni demanding that action be taken to preserve the school's traditions.
—Longhorn Network (@LonghornNetwork) March 9, 2021
Alumni "are pulling planned gifts, canceling donations, walking away from causes and programs that have been their passion for years, even decades and turning away in disgust. Last night one texted me at 1:00 am, trying to find a way to revoke a 7-figure donation," Kent Kostka, president of the Longhorn Alumni Band Charitable Fund Board of Trustees, wrote to administrators in an email obtained by The Texas Tribune. "This is not hyperbole or exaggeration. Real damage is being done every day by the ongoing silence."
Players also accused donors of threatening their employment prospects if they didn't stand for the song, and some players said athletic officials made it a requirement to stand during the song.
Athletic Director Chris Del Conte disputed that players were forced to stand during the song and said he had not heard of donors or alumni threatening job opportunities.
The song's controversy stems from beliefs that its lyrics are tied to quotes from former Confederate generals and that it had been performed in blackface, which supporters of the song have tried to dispute.
An investigative report the university conducted confirmed that the song debuted at a minstrel show where students "likely wore blackface" and that former university President William Prather coined a phrase in the song from a saying among Confederate leaders during the Civil War.
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