Jessie Vetter: USA Hockey Goalie Forced To Remove Constitution Reference From Helmet

Jessie Vetter will have to do some equipment alterations before heading out to the 2014 Sochi Olympics after the International Olympic Committee forced her to remove a reference to the US Constitution etched into the back of her helmet.

Vetter wanted a mask that would stand out for the Olympics, so she used 23 karat gold paint and adorned it with symbols of America.

One of those images was the famous opening line of the US Constitution, “We The People” followed by some text from the historic document. But the IOC determined that the tribute to America violated Olympic policy barring any promotion of countries.

“[It] had to be removed because no writings of any kind to promote the country is allowed,” mask artist Ron Slater explained in an email to IN GOAL Magazine. “A sort of ‘our country is better than your country” kind of thing that the IOC frowns upon. Her name had to come off because they see it as self promotion. They wanted everything to be team based. … Our original idea was ‘land of the free, home of the brave,’ and that would have had to have been removed as well.”

The IOC ruling against Jessie Vetter has some American angry, but falls in line with regulations stating that “no form of publicity or propaganda, commercial or otherwise, may appear on persons, (or) on any article of clothing or equipment worn or used by the athletes in the Olympic Games.”

This isn’t the first time the IOC has come down on an American goalie. Before the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, the committee told goalie Jonathan Quick to remove his “support the troops” slogan and made Ryan Miller remove the words “Matt Man,” a tribute to his cousin who died from leukemia. He also had to remove the phrase “Miller Time.”

Jessie Better was still able to keep some of her symbols, including the Statue of Liberty and a bald eagle.