When Christopher Columbus High School student Peter Callahan climbed to the top of section 306 in Hard Rock Stadium during the Miami Hurricanes-Syracuse Orange football game this past Saturday, he never expected to start a movement. But what began as a bet between father and son quickly turned into an unforgettable moment of gridiron madness.
Medina was one of three young men to scale the stairs, remove their shirts and wave them over their heads in an attempt to inspire a Hurricanes’ performance that had been, so far, lack-luster. Hundreds more would follow them.
“The game was dead, not many people were cheering,” said Callahan. “But once we got up there, it started getting more people, and the stadium was going crazy. The top was shaking.”
This past Saturday, November 8, the Hurricanes defeated the Orange 38 to 10. An Instagram post attributed the Canes’ win to the group’s growth and cheering; it attracted more than 13,000 likes.
Before the game started, fans from all over the region showed up to tailgate. They hoped to watch their home team win and shake off a difficult overtime loss to Southern Methodist University on Saturday, November 1.
The game showcased a new trend that began last month. The “shirtless dude” mob first appeared in Stillwater, Oklahoma on October 11, when the Oklahoma State Cowboys played the Houston Cougars at T. Boone Pickens Stadium.
The Cowboys were down all three quarters, and the team was headed towards a sad loss. Fans were slowly leaving. But then Callista Bradford, a season ticket holder, dared her brother, Trent Eaton, to go to an empty section, take off his shirt and wave it. She offered him $10, according to USA Today.
Then Eaton climbed to section 231, quickly stripped down, and started waving his shirt. Down below, Oklahoma State student Luke Schneberger decided the stadium was boring and that the vibes “were just not there.” Then Schneberger’s friends saw Eaton on the jumbotron and they all decided to join him. As the afternoon went on, more and more people joined.
In the end, it didn’t do much good. Houston beat Oklahoma State 39-17.
But the trend continued at Virginia Tech on October 24, in Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Virginia and then at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill on October 25 in Kenan Stadium.
It went this way each time: One or two young men showed up in a faraway seat. They removed their shirts and swung them over their heads. Eventually, there were dozens or even hundreds more doing the same on every big play by the home team. At the University of Oregon in Eugene on October 25, the Oregon Duck mascot even joined the shirtless mob.
Then this past Saturday three University of Miami fans – Jaden Medina, Julian Gomez and Peter Callahan, all seniors at Christopher Columbus High School, decided to hop on the trend.
“I’ve been a UM fan since like forever,” said Medina. “You could basically say 18 years.”
At first, not much was happening during the game. The score was 0 to 0 through most of the first half. However, towards the end of the second quarter, the home team woke up and scored two touchdowns.
Callahan had seen the shirtless men trend all over Tiktok and Instagram and decided to go for it.
During the second quarter, the three boys headed to section 306. They began waving their shirts. They were determined to bring more energy to the stadium.
According to Callahan, “Jaden’s dad offered us $20 to go up there and do it, and we went up there and started going crazy.”
Then came a Hurricanes touchdown and the number grew. A second touchdown followed just 23 seconds later and the number blew up. By the end of the half, there were hundreds of shirtless dudes.
“We just ran up there and you know started waving our shirts,” said Medina. “I would say about a total of 400 people gathered by the end of the fourth quarter. I feel like the atmosphere changed once everyone got up there.”
Brooklyn Gabby, 23, a masters in business student at the University of Miami, has been a fan for the past three or four years. She has season tickets, and saw the mob on Saturday.
“It was really funny because the section at first was pretty empty, and then a few guys ran up without their shirts, and you know started making a lot of noise,” Gabby recalls. “And then out of nowhere, more guys would just run up and be so excited to join the group.”
She shares how the energy from the men added to the crowd and brought up the mood.
“Honestly it just kept going, the section was overflowing,” said Gabby, “But it was hilarious, and all in good humor.”
The three boys plan on doing it again during the last UM home game on November 15 against the North Carolina State Wolfpack.
“Everyone kept telling us we had a great idea, ” said Medina. “The fans that came up to us were saying we are geniuses for doing this.”
The story was originally published by Caplin News, a publication of FIU's Lee Caplin School of Journalism & Media, as part of an editorial content partnership with the WLRN newsroom.
