Louisville removing Papa John's from stadium name

A day after saying the school was considering its options regarding the naming rights to Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, University of Louisville president Neeli Bendapudi on Friday announced the school will indeed remove "Papa John's" from the name.

The home of the Louisville football team now will be called Cardinal Stadium.

John Schnatter, the founder of the pizza chain, admitted earlier this week he used the N-word on an internal company conference call in the spring. He resigned from both the university's board of trustees and his position as Papa John's chairman Wednesday.

Speaking at a news conference Friday, Bendapudi added that Schnatter's name will be removed from the Louisville College of Business. The changes are effective immediately, she said, adding that the board of trustees supports the move.

Schnatter issued an apology Wednesday night, stating, "News reports attributing the use of inappropriate and hurtful language to me during a media training session regarding race are true. Regardless of the context, I apologize. Simply stated, racism has no place in our society."

At least three Louisville players earlier Thursday tweeted that the name should change.

Wide receiver Seth Dawkins tweeted, "We need to change the name of the stadium ASAP, I'm not here for it," with Cardinals receiver Jaylen Smith responding, "AT ALL."

Fellow Louisville receiver Keion Wakefield tweeted, "Muhammed Ali Stadium has a nice ring to it."

Ali, the boxing great, was born in Louisville, Ky., and is buried there.

--Field Level Media