Tennessee Vols send important message ahead of huge showdown with the Florida Gators

Last weekend, after the Tennessee Vols' loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks in Fayetteville, a video surfaced on social media that showed UT defensive lineman Omari Thomas shoving a fan.

The shove came as Arkansas fans stormed the field after the Razorbacks' win against the Vols.

The video was surprising to see because Thomas is one of the Vols' main team leaders -- on and off the field.

Thomas apologized for his actions via a post on Twitter/X.com.

Tennessee appeared to send the message this week that they have Thomas' back by naming him as a team captain for the Vols' matchup against Florida that's set for Saturday night.

It goes without saying that players can't be pushing fans while leaving the field -- even in the midst of a chaotic scene. Thomas, however, shouldn't be defined by one bad moment. It's something I'm sure he'll learn from and he'll continue to grow as a person because of it. Beyond that, I'm not sure what else there is to say about the incident.

Naming Thomas as a captain seemingly shows that Tennessee isn't willing to let that one moment define Thomas. He's still a key leader for the Vols regardless of his unfortunate post-game moment in Fayetteville.

Related: Former Vol gets real about Tennessee RB Dylan Sampson's 'lackadaisical' comments after loss to Arkansas