Michigan Football: Coach’s Corner — What does the #1 Jersey

Posted at 6:00am — 5/8/2008

Michigan Football: Coach’s Corner — What does the #1 Jersey

Well first off, it started with Anthony Carter “AC” wearing the number and at that time did not mean anything. Does that mean a new tradition started or just a great player having a number and then another player doing something with that same number? Does a number make a player or mean anything once on the field. No, but to some Michigan fans it has to do with tradition and living in the past of their hero.

Should numbers worn by those former great Michigan players mean anything less or more than any other number like other great players Bennie Oosterbaan, Dan Dierdorf, Tom Mack, Benny Friedman, Tom Harmon, Desmond Howard, Jon Jansen, Braylon Edwards, Jake Long, and so on. Should Michigan honor those great players with a sacred number for today’s players? Should Michigan have something like Syracuse where the best running back always has to wear #44 no matter if he wants to or not?

The number 1 jersey holds special meaning for many Michigan fans. AC and Braylon are legends whose exploits bring back awesome memories for all Michigan fans. You can fill a highlight tape of great plays for both of these legends. Even Greg McMurtry was an above average Wide Receiver who also shared #1. The fourth player to wear #1s biggest contribution was dropping a pass that allowed Michigan to beat Virginia!

Using numbers has been a recruiting tool for some schools for years such as #32 and #55 at USC are almost legendary along with #44 at Syracuse. So using numbers like #1 at Michigan for offense and #2 for defense is good strategy, but having those types of legendary numbers is also a huge bullseye on back of those who wear those numbers. Wearing those numbers expectations along with being bigger than the. Team and makes it almost impossible to meet.

As much as we fans hate to admit this, there will never be another AC or Braylon. Michigan fans have been clamoring for change for years. I believe that is one thing people like to see with that number on the field is to think back to those great players that wore the number. If we really want change, doing away with some traditions will be the cost. When you go away from an era such as Bo’s era (with Moeller and Carr included) and bring in a coach that has no ties to the program, he will bring his own philosophies to the program.

Speaking of numbers, should Michigan allowed Shawn Crable to wear #2 since so many people remember Charles Woodson and Crable obviously did not play corner-back at Michigan? Personally would have no problem if they took the #1 and retired the number not for a person, but for what it means. We also in some regards really wish the University would un-retire all the other numbers and allow players to wear those great numbers of former football greats at Michigan and hopefully one day those players can play just as great as those before them.
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Written by GBMWolverine Staff

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