ESPN - Story of UM/OSU Helmet Decals
The graphics alone in this story are worth the look. Very well done.
November 22nd, 2022 at 9:56 AM ^
That was great. Thanks for the share.
November 22nd, 2022 at 11:13 AM ^
Agree, that was great. And here all this time I thought the Buckeye stickers were anuses.
November 22nd, 2022 at 3:19 PM ^
This is excellent.
Personally, I always thought a stickered OSU helmet looked like it was covered in bird shit.
November 22nd, 2022 at 11:36 AM ^
Agreed, that is very cool background info. I didn't know any of those details about how ours are awarded.
November 22nd, 2022 at 1:38 PM ^
Ours seem to be the perfect blend of team goals, and individual accomplishments.
November 22nd, 2022 at 10:08 AM ^
Love those stickers. Our high school team used to give them out. We had footballs for offense and skull & crossbones for defense
November 22nd, 2022 at 12:01 PM ^
I love how the Michigan stickers tell a story. Buckeye stickers are similar to 8U rec league baseball helmets - “you had a good play that one time, here’s two stickers!”
Great graphics when viewed on an iPhone. Hat tip to the team that put this together.
November 22nd, 2022 at 12:20 PM ^
Agree. Michigan’s stickers tell the story of your Michigan career, beginning with the area code your from. 313 forever baby!!!!
November 22nd, 2022 at 5:50 PM ^
Our high school did too. A football decal if on the field for a touchdown, a skull for every three tackles, a star if you played at least one down on defense in a shutout, as well as some others. We absolutely loved picking up our stickers on Mondays and putting them on our helmets ourselves. Something so small as putting stickers on helmets provided such a morale boost. I wish I kept my helmet with my stickers. I think Harbaugh’s approach is great.
November 22nd, 2022 at 10:11 AM ^
Very excellent story.
November 22nd, 2022 at 10:15 AM ^
Really interesting how the stickers reflect such different philosophies with two different focuses: individual accomplishments vs. team accomplishments and tenure ("Those Who Stay Will Be Champions").
Brings to mind a comment one of the Michigan coaches made to me after The Game last year: Michigan was a great football team, and Ohio State was a collection of incredibly talented individuals but not a very cohesive team.
I'm very curious to see if that is a one-time state of affairs or a difference between the programs that will persist.
November 22nd, 2022 at 10:16 AM ^
That was a very cool presentation. Thanks for sharing the link, OP.
Need to get some players from my hometown area code to represent the 989 (it was 517 when I was growing up, but switched to 989 right after I left the state).
November 22nd, 2022 at 10:20 AM ^
Really, really cool story (bro). Seriously, thank you for sharing.
November 22nd, 2022 at 10:25 AM ^
Thanks for sharing, I live for this kind of shit! And I love that every sticker on a Michigan helmet is different than any other. As the story tells, every helmet is an entirely unique story.
November 22nd, 2022 at 10:31 AM ^
Relative values of programs: UM 1 sticker per win, OSU 1 sticker per win; except that OSU gives 3 stickers for a win over UM.
November 22nd, 2022 at 10:39 AM ^
Alternatively, The Team, The Team, The Team compared to some individuals are more valuable than other teammates.
November 22nd, 2022 at 11:02 AM ^
Don’t forget that osu gives the gold pants too; aka, about 1500 bucks on eBay
November 22nd, 2022 at 12:59 PM ^
Michigan should buy those as they come on the market and then melt them down and use the resulting gold for a new Big Ten Champions display inside Schembechler Hall.
November 22nd, 2022 at 10:53 AM ^
Very cool, I learned a lot about both teams and the differing philosophies.
November 22nd, 2022 at 11:09 AM ^
What a fantastic article. I love both sides of the story, but Michigan's/Harbaugh's approach seems more rewarding, as well as more nostalgic once the player leaves the program with a helmet full of stickers due to the fact that they're all individualized. A player can pull "the helmet off the mantel", as Harbaugh says in the article, and point to a specific sticker and be able to tell a story about it. The same can't be said about OSU's stickers, though it would still be cool to have a helmet loaded on your shelf.
November 22nd, 2022 at 11:10 AM ^
I don't recall the source, but Harbaugh said that we plan to "out-culture" osu as our strategy to combat their other advantages. I like how the decals are an example of out team based culture over osu's individual culture.
November 22nd, 2022 at 11:16 AM ^
This was well done, informative and the graphic art added to the viewing/reading experience.
Go Blue!
November 22nd, 2022 at 11:44 AM ^
I wish I could find a video of the ESPN commercial that poked fun at the OSU helmet stickers. It made light of the idea that a player could earn a sticker for almost anything. I think it aired in the mid to late '90s when Michigan wasn't awarding helmet stickers.
November 22nd, 2022 at 12:26 PM ^
Ah! Thank you for this cool distraction.
I like that Harbaugh/UM give players their helmets at the end of their careers, as view them as a important memento.
Go Blue.
November 22nd, 2022 at 12:29 PM ^
I think the best part about the story is Brad Robbins crossing out the Columbus area code on his sticker stating, "I couldn't be any less of an Ohio State guy"
November 22nd, 2022 at 12:33 PM ^
Unbelievably cool
November 22nd, 2022 at 12:39 PM ^
Giving them their helmets at the end of their career is such a great touch. I honestly didn't know much about UM's stickers, so learned a lot from this article. Glad to see one player from the 803 area code, in CJ Stokes!
November 22nd, 2022 at 12:52 PM ^
Now that I know what the TED stickers really mean I can stop associating them with TED Talks.
November 22nd, 2022 at 12:56 PM ^
That was really cool. Thanks for linking.
November 22nd, 2022 at 1:05 PM ^
That was excellent.
November 22nd, 2022 at 1:22 PM ^
Great article.
I have to admit, though, while I find it cool how the stickers on the Wolverine helmets tell the story of their career, from an aesthetic perspective, I can't help but think that they blemish what is arguably the best helmet design in college football. Just my opinion, anyway.
November 22nd, 2022 at 1:28 PM ^
It had to kill Heather Dinich that she couldn't insert any SEC love into the article.
November 22nd, 2022 at 1:50 PM ^
For fuck's sake.
It says the most any player has earned in a single week this season for OSU is 16 by J.T. Tuimoloau, who had two fumble recoveries and two interceptions against Penn State.
Do they get two stickers for taking a big dump at halftime?
Great article though. Thank you for posting.
Glad Harbaugh brought stickers back at UM.
November 22nd, 2022 at 2:01 PM ^
Great article - thanks for posting
November 22nd, 2022 at 2:04 PM ^
Personally, I think our Ohio State victory stickers should look like this...
November 22nd, 2022 at 2:54 PM ^
Cool. That is quite interesting and a thing I wondered about -- how Wolverines get stickers and what they mean. I love that it is more personalized and that guys keep their helmets with their career of stickers that tell a story.
November 22nd, 2022 at 3:16 PM ^
Great article. It's kind of funny: it tells you whom to go after on their defense (the CBs). Not too many stickers for those guys!
November 22nd, 2022 at 3:28 PM ^
It's an amazing piece of the most amazing rivalry in sports.
November 22nd, 2022 at 6:41 PM ^
I don't think OSU knows what Title IX is let alone have a helmet sticker for it. They probably think it's a Star Wars sequel.
BEAT OHIO!
November 23rd, 2022 at 1:12 AM ^
When I was a kid I thought the Buckeye stickers were marijuana leaves. For real. I thought that college must really be some kind of crazy place.