Retired numbers display coming to Michigan Stadium concourse

Submitted by Wolverine Devotee on

As posted on the front page, the #11, #21, #47, #48, #87 and #98 jerseys will be retired on November 28.

However, what wasn't posted was that they will be honored in a display at the stadium concourse.

http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/072815aab.html

"The right plan is to retire them and display them in Towsley Museum which is connected to Schembechler Hall," added Hackett. "Because we don't have the display area inside the stadium, we have found a high profile area on the concourse where fans can see and honor these retired jerseys."

FreddieMercuryHayes

July 28th, 2015 at 1:37 PM ^

Can't they just make a place for them in the stadium?  Isn't there a bunch of blue space above where the windows end in the suites/press box and below the roof of said boxes?

Yostbound and Down

July 28th, 2015 at 1:43 PM ^

My preference would be only to have the numbers honored, not retired completely. #21 is more than just Desmond although he is the most famous, it's Biakabatuka too. 

Hopefully this is a move towards that.

Hannibal.

July 28th, 2015 at 1:58 PM ^

I've never liked retirement of numbers in college football.  #1 is for practical reasons -- you just need lots of jerseys.  #2 is because you don't associate college players with numbers as strongly as you do in the pros.  In the pros you retire the jersey of a guy like Gordie Howe or Nicklas Lidstrom because they are fixtures for so long that you can't imagine anyone else ever wearing that number.  In the case of college jersyes, sometimes you get guys who only stay three years and maybe only excel for two of those years.  You won't find a bigger Desmond Howard fan than me but I don't want #21 retired. 

Hobo5589

July 28th, 2015 at 2:06 PM ^

I havn't read or heard anything about Morgan wearing the #48 this season but I would guess that he will just wear the number with no patch and then they will officially put it away after this season?

Wolverine Devotee

July 28th, 2015 at 2:08 PM ^

Just saw this tweet.

How wild would that be having a #3 at LB?

 

Practice jerseys are often a good indicator of what number a player will wear. I got Mo Wagner and Hibbetts correct a month before it was officially released.

Marley Nowell

July 28th, 2015 at 2:11 PM ^

I am glad to see the legends nonsense gone but sad to see these numbers not being used anymore. I would rather have the numbers honored and still given out to worthy candidates as a motivator, a la Braylon and the #1 Jersey

Moonlight Graham

July 28th, 2015 at 2:20 PM ^

Still not liking this much, but I saw some GREAT suggestions in this thread. I agree that retiring numbers of college players is a little silly because they're only there for four years. And I like the idea of only retiring Heisman winners (or Presidents?) So we can't retro-actively un-retire/un-legend the non-Heisman winners, although think about how cool it would be if UM's only retired numbers were 2, 21 and 98. I think doing a smaller patch and then allowing anyone who wants the number to wear it with pride, stop switching them around all over the place.




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ALLmaizeNOhayes

July 28th, 2015 at 2:37 PM ^

I always was under the impression that retiring a jersey meant the number of that jersey could still be used. 

Retiring a number is having the number completely retired and not able to be used.

Does anyone know if that is correct?

With that being said, #11 #21 #47 #48 #87 and #98 would still be able to be used by an active player.

jonesie022

July 28th, 2015 at 7:08 PM ^

Still baffled as to why the blue press boxes on both sides of the renovated Big House are not being explored for things like this.

I think the B10 title years, national titles, Heisman winners and retired numbers would look fabulous there.




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cutter

July 28th, 2015 at 8:25 PM ^

Right now, Michigan Stadium has a relatively clean look with the two structures on the east and west side of the stadium.   Add in a "ring of honor" or something like it would just clutter up its appearance.

I also think such a "ring of honor" would be an entirely unoriginal udea.  You can see that sort of thing at a bunch of other stadiums and having it at Michigan Stadium would make the type of step that takes away from the program's uniqueness.  It'd look fairly generic.

That's why the Legends jersey program worked.  People might complain about the execution, size of the patches, etc., but it was also something that was only done at Michigan.

I do have one suggestion, but I don't consider it very likely.  Green Bay's Lambeau Field was originally constructed to much the same design as Michigan Stadium.  If there's another major expansion project at the stadium, I'd love to see an atrium added to it so that a full scale Michgan Athletics Museum could be put in place.

I like the idea of displaying the jerseys at the UM Stadium concourse because the museum at Schembechler Hall is not very big.  I was in it prior to the spring game and if you get any number of people in there, it gets pretty crowded pretty quickly.  Having a larger space at the stadium would truly make it part of the game day experience.