How Tennessee Volunteers Will Pay Tribute To Dolly Parton 'Every Game This Season'

The University of Tennessee Volunteers football team announced a special way they’ll honor Dolly Parton this season.

Parton died “peacefully,” and “surrounded by loved ones” at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville on August 25 after “bravely facing a brief battle with cancer,” according to her representatives. She was 80. She was laid to rest beside husband Carl Dean in a private service for immediate family.

The football team at the University of Tennessee, located in Knoxville, will pay tribute to the East Tennessee-born legend. The team announced on Monday (August 31) that “a commemorative helmet sticker will be worn to honor Dolly Parton for every game this season.” The announcement included a photo of the orange, butterfly-shaped sticker with Parton’s name on it.

“All that she's meant across the world, this country, and certainly the Queen of East Tennessee,” Tennessee Volunteers coach Josh Heupel said, per ESPN. ESPN noted in a report on Monday that Parton’s connection to the university includes serving as the 2009 commencement speaker, performing on the campus, receiving an honorary doctorate of humane and musical letters, and more. “A lady that was extremely proud of her roots. You look at her impact, just her ability to give back, make an impact to people, certainly here in East Tennessee. She means a lot to people across this country, but certainly here inside the state of Tennessee, too.”

Parton’s appreciation for butterflies stems back to her childhood in the mountains of East Tennessee. She often used them as a “symbol” in her career, and even had small, subtle tattoos of them to help cover scars. Parton spoke about her tattoos and her love of butterflies in a 2021 interview with W magazine. She said, in part, that her pastel tattoos “take the sting out,” as she hid scars. Parton, who is from Sevier County in East Tennessee, also said in that interview of butterflies, “I just kind of related to them with my own personality. I claimed them as my little symbol. And I just kind of related to them with my own personality. I claimed them as my little symbol.”

Shortly after Parton’s passing, a butterfly appeared on stage at the historic Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. It happened while Mae Estes performed “Coat of Many Colors,” which Parton released in 1971. A video of that moment appeared on the Opry’s Instagram account on Friday (August 28). The caption stated: “You can’t make this up🤍🦋 The spirit of Dolly Parton is strong in the Opry House. Just ask Mae Estes! A butterfly appeared flying around stage during her tribute to Dolly with ‘Coat Of Many Colors’”

See the helmet sticker here: