The Tennessee Volunteers will be honoring the late, great Dolly Parton all season long.
When the news broke of Dolly Parton’s passing at the age of 80 last week, the world was devastated. Tributes poured in from all corners of the world, and country music artists like Alan Jackson, Ella Langley, George Strait (just to name a few) all shared heartfelt messages about how much Dolly meant to music and the world at large.
She was one of those people that was beloved by people all over. No matter the beliefs. No matter the politics. No matter the taste in music. Dolly Parton transcended it all, and meant so much to so many – especially those living within Tennessee, where Dolly Parton was born and raised.
The University of Tennessee is making sure to show love for Parton during the upcoming college football season. How will the Vols be doing that, you ask? The football team will wear a commemorative helmet sticker in every game that honors the “Queen of Country.”
An orange butterfly – with Dolly’s name front and center – will be on every athlete’s helmet:
“For Dolly. A commemorative helmet sticker will be worn to honor Dolly Parton for every game this season.”
Fittingly, the Volunteers open their season on September 5 (9/5).
It’s a beautiful and heartfelt gesture by the Tennessee football program, and the design for the sticker that they went with is getting a lot of love from the sports world. Some are even saying that the Volunteers should attempt to take that logo and sell it on merchandise – with all proceeds going to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library:
They need to sell a shirt with that on it . And donate all the money to imagination library
— Paul mayton (@paultmayton) August 31, 2026
Well done ! 🦋
— Barbi 🐯💜💛⚜️ (@Barbi__7) August 31, 2026
This is awesome. A great tribute to our goat
— NBAYOUNGVOL 🍊🧡 (@VOLBOYx) August 31, 2026
Absolutely amazing…I second all the thoughts of other Vol fans here…sell it as a patch, magnet, on merch etc. and donate proceeds to the Imagination Library as another way to honor her…well done guys! 🦋🦋🦋🧡🧡🧡
— y-Adam Melluso (@AMellusoSports) August 31, 2026
I love it! 🦋🧡 pic.twitter.com/UupUtUQpDi
— Offseason Cam Holt Vols 🌴🍊 (@VolFan_Cam) August 31, 2026
That’d be a really easy way to raise some money for the charity that Parton founded and cared so much about.
Even if Tennessee doesn’t decide to go that route, the gesture they’ve already put forth with these helmet stickers is very well done. It’s one of the many ways that Dolly’s spirit will be kept alive, and I’m sure she’d be tickled to see that an entire college football team is sporting the logo that became synonymous with the artist throughout her career.
Before you go, here’s Dolly Parton being escorted out to the middle of Neyland Stadium (by Peyton Manning) to sing “Rocky Top” in front of the thousands of Vols fans from just a couple of years ago. You can tell Dolly meant a lot to the Tennessee fanbase, just as you can tell the Vols held a special place in her heart:
