FAYETTEVILLE, Ark., April 6 (UPI) -- Bowing to protests from breast cancer survivors and gays, University of Arkansas football officials have stopped making lazy players wear pink jerseys.
The tempest began Monday when supporters of The Race for the Cure, which raises funds for breast cancer research and is associated with the color, took offense.
Razorbacks Coach Houston Nutt said the jerseys also drew complaints from gay rights advocates who sport the color.
"It's unbelievable," Nutt told the Springdale (Ark.) Morning News.
The pink jerseys were used as punishment for players caught loafing six times or more by defensive coordinator Reggie Herring.
Although Nutt ordered the practice stopped, he said the jerseys weren't pink in the first place.
"Really, it's not pink. It's a faded, faded, faded, faded, red," he said.
One breast cancer survivor, Holly Conner, applauded the Hogs' method of discouraging loafers.
"When I walk in (breast cancer) events, I proudly wear pink," Conner said. "But that's not to say others can't use pink for other reasons, too."
