Unnamed player to wear Gerald Ford's retired #48 jersey this year
Detroit Free Press reporter Mark Snyder just tweeted this:
Hoke on Alabama radio: Gerald Ford's No. 48 jersey will be worn by a UM player this year to honor him... No. 1 in "near future" not this yr
That's a retired jersey number.
http://twitter.com/freepwolverines/statuses/212551162174517249
UPDATE: Bennie Oosterbaan (#47) and Ron Kramer (#87) will also become Legends this fall. Click here for more details in a more recent thread.
Dave Brandon creates the future, by destroying the past.
I personally think it's just as much of an honor to have someone wear the jersey and honor it than it is to never see it, especially seeing as Michigan doesn't showcase their retired numbers anywhere in the stadium.
I think this is pretty cool actually.
We have the following 6 numbers retired:
11 - Wister Brothers (Francis, Albert, and Alvin)
21 - Desmon Howard
47 - Bennie Oosterbaan
48 - Gerald Ford
87 - Ron Kramer
98 - Tom Harmon
Where would we put them at the stadium?
21 not retired. Its still being worn as one of the Legends numbers.
This makes me suspect that they'll announce Gerald Ford is the second Legends number during the Air Force game. Brandon's been hinting at doing something special for that game. Bet this might be it.
Good call. Since he was the Commander and Chief, that might be a nice tie in for that game.
...during WWII and saw combat action.
If this report is accurate, it means that the Athletic Department gained the approval of the Ford family. How anyone could be upset by an unretiring action when the family is apparently for it is beyond me.
What an incredible honor it will be for one of the players to wear Ford's jersey.
And is being honored (maybe) on a day his Athletic team plays Air Force?
I see what they did there....
Till the war started.
But I wasn't really going for a historical comparison (as I think most people got) as much as (one of) his job(s) was to shoot down airplanes....and his old football team is playing the team who's job is to fly airplanes...and.....if you have to explain the joke it's really not very funny anymore. :-(
...Doolittle Raid, the Army did not operate aircraft from Navy ships. As now, naval aviation was made up of Navy and Marine Corps squadrons.
Both of my grandfathers were aviation mechanics in the Marines. They would slap the sh*t out of anyone who said they were army.
I guess "Go Blue" takes on a whole 'nother meaning.
/Navy Brat
aboard the aircraft carrier USS MONTEREY during WWII, where he was responsible for, among other things, crew fitness. I have this photo hanging in my man cave:
http://www.murdoconline.net/pics/ford_bb.jpg
Ford had an idea to put a basketball hoop up on the forward elevator of the carrier. That's him appearing to win the jump ball. Serious ups!
edit: actually the shorter guy may have the more serious ups, but it looks like Ford will win the tip
...Here's a comment of mine from an earlier thread that provides a link to the story of how this photo came to be associated with President Ford.
This would be a really cool moment.
We could put them on a ring, or......perhaps a halo around the top of the stadium. Right, works?
Brady Hoke says something and Dave Brandon gets blamed for it. Um, okay.
Logically, if she weighs the same as a duck, she's made of wood. And therefore...a witch! Also, Mike Hart is a pineapple.
Ah yes, but bridges can also be made of stone!
My money's on Jordan Kovacs.
I'd rather it be one of the freshman linemen to be honest. Changing your number senior year is a bit jarring to fans, since we've come to know them with the numbers they established themselves with. It took awhile for me to adjust last year to Floyd being 8, and he was only a junior.
We've never in my years of fandom had a player like Kovacs. We won't retire 32 for him anytime soon (and wasn't he 22 or something right up until he debuted?). If you see that number on a big back with huge shoulder pads you'll think of A-Train and on a squatter Fullback you'll think of Dudley. But anytime I see a guy of small build lining up at strong safety wearing 32 it's as much a Kovacsian reference as a speedy quarterback wearing 16 is a Denardian one.
I doubt they're going to honor Gerald Ford by giving his number to a random freshman. What's the point if he's mostly going to sit on the sideline all year?
It's most likely going to be an upperclassman who has proven himself to be a leader.
and I hope it's him. Nice move Hoke and DB!
Yes, I'd give it to a young player. I'd use it as a recruiting tool and say if you want to take on the mantle of a Legends number, you get your grades in order and play your way onto the 2-deep as a freshman, RS freshman, sophomore, or RS sophomore at the latest, and at the end of fall practice if the coaches think you've earned it, you can have that number. Then that player has an entire career ahead of him to honor that number, and it's a motivator.
Giving it to an established player is a gimmick. My 88 jersey is rendered useless and team databases are thrown out of whack while Roh or Campbell runs around as a Wistert for a year, then it's tossed to another player or thrown back on the heap. I'd much rather see Ondre Pipkins in 11.
I do think that Michigan should try to get a special dispensation from the NCAA to use illegal numbers for special cases where the player being honored wore an unusual number, e.g. 11 on an offensive tackle, or 98 in the backfield.
But I'm with you. Make it a recruiting tool. The next #1 should be Treadwell. Instead of a one year gimmick, the patch is out there for 4-5 years. And players shouldn't be "honored" with it after a good career...at that point, they've made their number special. Now if someone really WANTS it ala Braylon, I wouldn't deny them...it can be a motivational tool too. But if the point is for people to remember the players of the past, if it's just for one year every so often it's not effective as occassionally. Besides, you probably need a few so-so players to wear these numbers too. If all the greatest players of one time only wear one number, it'll be iconic for the school, but not so much for the players.
But again, that doesn't seem to be the path they're taking. (Though maybe the #1 in the near future thing might mean that's not the only way they'll go.). Maybe the compromise answer is when "retiring/unretiring" the number, you give it to an established player to honor it at the ceremony. But thereafter it just goes to a freshman. Not that they're taking my vote.
For me, and I suspect for many, the assurance that comes with bestowing that honor on someone who has proven their worth outweighs the confusion it wreaks on historical research done with spreadsheets.
A freshman may be a bust talent-wise or personally by the time they're done at UofM. Imagine if Will Campbell got the #11, this year's possible breakout season aside. Or if Justin Turner was given the #2.
People don't remember Braylon as #80. He earned a shot at the jersey he wanted wearing that number, then made memories for Michigan fans as the latest #1. Just because it is reserved for an upperclassman who has proven he deserves it doesn't mean it has to rotate yearly by always going to a senior.
That would be ABSURD!
.....in the hypothetical future where we've made that a legacy jersey.
| Anthony Carter | WR | 1979-82 |
| Greg McMurtry | WR | 1986-89 |
| Derrick Alexander | WR | 1990-93 |
| Tyrone Butterfield | WR | 1994-96 |
| David Terrell | WR | 1998-2000 |
| Braylon Edwards | WR | 2003-04 |
It's only since Braylon that anyone has ever had to "earn" it. And that's not even counting all the guys who wore it before AC. And lots of guys have worn 21, 2, and various other numbers associated with all time greats that weren't all time greats. It doesn't detract from the number. Someone wearing the number, with a patch, brings attention to them. Someone not wearing it at all because we're "saving it for the right guy" makes them forgotten. It's been 8 years with no #1. But from 1986-2000 it was pretty consistently worn. And none of them had to "earn it"...and for the most part, it worked out ok.
This is a really good point.
I was twelve when Terrell began at UofM, so I guess Braylon's #1 backstory just stuck in my mind more. It certainly got a ton of coverage.
And I guess I still like the idea of earning it and giving it to a proven character/talented guy, but you do have history on your side.
Personally, it's never taken me more than one offensive or defensive series to get "used to" a number change. Does this really throw you off that much?
Yeah it does. Because I'm working with these guys in the abstract all the damn time, over the offseason, etc. That only applies to people who cover the sport, but even as an intense fan the number switches were jarring. I got used to Mundy as 21, but I thought of him as 26 and had to remind myself. The exceptions are like where Braylon specifically went for 1 and got it, and only really was a factor for one season as 80, or like how Marlin was 20 as a freshman then 3 the rest of his career -- he'll forever be 3 and it was a good change.
After about half-way through his starting career, a number shouldn't change because the association is already established, and it'll be hard for the new number to replace the old one.
Won't anyone think of the poor video game designers?!?!
Are you trying to imply that "QB #16" represents an actual real-life player? EA Sports' lawyers will reassure you that nothing is further from the truth.
Jack Kennedy, baby.
Way to take that from the front page of The Wolverine.com, how original
Take what from The Wolverine?
The # fits a D-back and Kovacs sort of looks like a young Ford.
Ford was a center but what position area does that number fall into in today's game?
Running backs, defensive backs, linebackers, maybe tight ends.
I think it can be any position except OL.
So can we assume, based on this information, that Ford is the next Michigan Legend?
I confess. I'll be wearing that jersey this year. Case solved. I'll also be getting two scholies for long snapping and towel boy. I'm versatile.
Wasn't retiring the jersey in the first place meant to honor him?
I've never heard of a jersey being brought out of retirement for one season. Is that common?
I only saw the Twitter.
What makes you think that it's only for one season? I was under the impression that patches, lockers, and whatnot are (relatively) permanent changes.
I must have misread that. My bad.
I think the plan is to "unretire" all of the five jerseys so that our team of over 100 players can use them, while at the same time we can recognize more legends than just the seven who were honored with the five jerseys (the Wistert brothers all wore #11).