KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee quarterback Alan Cockrell says he can't understand what prompted a fan to throw a chair at him after Tennessee lost to Mississippi last week.
'I just can't understand any human being doing something like that,' Cockrell said Tuesday.
'What if that chair had hit me on the head?'
As Cockrell was walking off the field after Mississippi defeated the Vols 13-10, a fan in the stands threw a portable stadium chair at him. The chair struck the junior quarterback on the shoulder pad and then hit teammates Chris White and Curt Singer.
Cockrell did not play one of his better games against the Rebels. He threw two interceptions, including one in the final minute that killed the Vols' last chance to win or tie.
The man who allegedly hurled the chair -- Gregory Lee Devore, 26, of Columbia -- was arrested after Ronny Long, a baseball teammate of Cockrell, ran up into the stands and held the man for police.
Cockrell said he felt like attacking the chair-thrower.
'At first, I wanted to go into the stands after him. Then I realized it's something some drunk did, and he thinks he's a tough man for doing it. I just can't see a class human being doing that.'
Cockrell said he and his wife, Paula, also have been bothered by obscene phone calls this year.
'They make me mad because I want to find out who they are. I tell callers, 'Why don't you say that to my face?' I ask them who they are. If they don't say, I hang up.'
Against Mississippi, Cockrell moved past Jimmy Streater to become Tennessee's all-time leader in passing yardage.
