It’s not as bad as you think.
Tom Petty, the legendary Florida-born singer-songwriter, passed away earlier this week, leading to an outpouring of support from people across the country. His home state staged a particularly heartfelt tribute during the University of Florida’s eventual 17-16 over LSU on Sunday by rocking out to “I won’t back down.”
This one’s for you, @TomPetty . pic.twitter.com/OMUwJOnAgS
But there was some controversy surrounding the moment when the LSU band played shortly before Petty’s song ran over the loud speakers, as spotted by SB Nation:
A couple of UF fans were super hot about the LSU band playing at the start of the 4th quarter. #TomPetty #doesntwanttobackdown pic.twitter.com/TkeOTM1VtC
The @lsu band also continued to play over our Tom Petty tribute #LSUvsFLA pic.twitter.com/GHSbeETdCv
There was also a lot of talk about the moment on social media:
@lsu has shown very little class of late. First the hurricanes and today the band playing while honoring Tom Petty. #classless
Just heard that LSU band was asked to remain quiet for our “We are the Boys” tradition and Tom Petty tribute. The fact that they didn’t makes them very classless and disrespectful #UF #Gators #TomPetty
The behavior of the @lsu band trying to sabotage the UF tribute to Tom Petty is beneath contempt. Disgraceful conduct.
On Sunday, the LSU band offered clarification on the situation, writing that LSU was merely trying to honor one of its own traditions and was in no way trying to disrespect the tribute.
