Are legend numbers being diluted?

Submitted by KAYSHIN15 on
I know our kids are playing their hearts out, but I have to be honest when I say I cringe every time I see a pass get caught on #2 in our secondary. I also think it's safe to say that the #98 is probably not getting its just due either. Are we hurting the legacy of our former greats when we give out numbers because kids work hard and have good character despite their lack of greatness on the field? If I had a vote, I would put both the number 2 and 98 back on the shelf or does anyone believe we risk permanently breaking the confidence of our players by going this route?

RoxyMtnHiM

September 7th, 2014 at 1:24 PM ^

"The Michigan tradition for retiring jerseys in football was a pretty lousy one," Brandon said earlier this week. "Most of the players with retired jerseys, the ceremony consisted of the coach going and telling the equipment manager not to give out that number."

Indeed. The old way did nothing to leverage tradition and impact the extraction of value.

http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2012/08/dave_brandon_lays_out…

 

Joined: 04/21/2009

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Bando Calrissian

September 7th, 2014 at 1:38 PM ^

Because all but one of those retired numbers happened fifty years ago or more, before there were fifty-yard-line ceremonies for anyone as much as farting in a profound and recognized way. 

Easy solution would have been to take a season, and each home game, have a ceremony with the families of each retired number and actually talk about them. Keep the jerseys retired, maybe post them somewhere, too. Retire #2 and #21 for the Heisman winners, call it a day. Instead, we've got all this drama and pomp and stupid jersey patches, guys switching numbers every year... Just huge distractions.

Don nailed it earlier--this was a poorly executed marketing job that, unfortunately, it seems we're stuck with.

Honestly, does Brandon even know who Henry Hatch was?

Joined: 07/02/2008

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Maizenblueball

September 7th, 2014 at 4:13 PM ^

I am not a fan of the Legends jerseys. I also cringe every time I see #2 getting lit up. The only problem is, at this point, what can you do about it mid-season? If you made players take off the Legends jerseys now, you would crush their confidence and morale.

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