Update on Legends Numbers: not completely gone

I don't get the hysteria around this. Wear them or don't. It won't diminish the players who made them great.

2 is the only jersey that shouldn't be worn.

Lets put helmet stickers above the suite boxes. MOAR clutter!!!

I mentioned this last week but I'll say it again since you brought it up. In regards to championship years (conference or national) and legendary player numbers on the press box....no. Just no. Every other stadium in the country seems to do that. We don't need it. The Big House is epic on it's own. When you step inside, you already know you are stepping into college football's holy cathedral.

I know I'm in the minority on the helmet stickers because like the big house, the helmets are epic on their own without clutter. I know people won't back me up on the stickers but I would think many would feel the same about the big house.

Patches are the way of the future.  If a player with a legends patch become a legend we can just add a double patch or a patch on top of the other patch.  We could also add patches to the helmets along with the stickers.  Maybe add some numbers and a patch or two on the pants and we'd be good to go!  Maybe the players can wear special eye patches as well!

Doesn't the NCAA have a rule about changing numbers for one game?  Or maybe it is OK if you give the other team enough notice.  It seems to me that a couple of years ago Florida changed the number on one of their stars so that the other team couldn't find him.

I think the numbers should be issued the same way other numbers are, no changes just for good play. A highly rated freshman could be issued a legends number.  After a while it may even be a recruiting tool (We think you are good enough to wear number 11).   But I would still have a patch on the jersey, just not so obtrusive as the current ones.  I also think that the numbers should stay within the position group, more or less.  The Wisterts were number 11 and we all know they played the line, but they also played defense, so 11 could go to a defensive lineman, included an DE.  Nothing strange about that.

Harmon was a single wing tailback, so 98 dould go to an H-back, a tailback or a quarterback, or even a slot receiver.

Before they started un-retiring jerseys.  #1 goes to a great receiver.  #2 goes to a great cornerback.  Forget all the rest of it.

Oh, and get off my lawn.

I like the national championships on the press box if it can be done with lighting/hologram/projection and can be changed however we want during the course of a game. I would drop the legends thing all together. I would start using the #1 jersey for the best WR and #2 for the best DB. That's it!

I'm fine with the legends numbers, but not every season "just because." As someone else noted, a player should earn and want it. The fact that Funchess had a different number all three seasons was ridiculous.

I like the patches, always have. 

But really like your idea as well - that looks great. 

Since my hexadecimal solution is gaining no traction, let me try three digit numbers. The NFL already does this with their officials. Instead of having numbers go from 1 to 99, go from 1 to 199. In business, if your solution was to identify 105 players using 100 numbers, you'd get laughed out of the room. It's only because of history and tradition (not bad things) that we keep trying to shoehorn 105 players into 95 (because of retired numbers) numbers. Linemen can easily fit another number on their uniforms, especially if it's a slim "1". Are the Yankees laughed at because they put numbers on their uniforms way back in the day? Heck no. Is the Michigan football team laughed at because they put wings and stripes on our helmets? Definitely not. So let's be leaders and best and drag college football into a future of 3 digit numbers. Just think of all the great numbers we can retire with the extra numbers now available. #7 goes to Rick Leach and #41 goes to Rob Lytle. Some stud QB comes in and he wants the #7? Think how cool he'll look rocking the #107. OK, maybe not.

The problem with the legends jerseys is that Brandon made way too many of them. It should be 3-4 max with Woodson, Howard, and Harmon etc. It's just confusing when 11 people are wearing these numbers. Now that they're out there you can't take them away without pissing a lot of people off.

I'd put up 11 national championships, 915 wins, 3 heismans etc. on top of the press box. It's looks a lot better to recruits and players that way instead of seeing all these years from a really long time ago.

I say this with peace and love, NO MOAR LEGEND NUMBERS!

I don't advocate the idea of cluttering up the stadium grounds with statues or the pressbox with a ring of honor, etc.  Those are all rather generic approaches to honoring players that we see in stadiums--both pro and college--around the country.

That was the smart thing about the who Legends jerseys concept.  It was unique to Michigan, easy to execute and it re-introduced a small set of numbers (#11, #47, #48, #87, #98) back onto the field that had been gone for decades.

If having a patch on the uniform or giving the top players in a position group certain numbers is causing a fuss with the current team or the fans, then keep it simple.  Let the retired numbers stay on the field, remove the patches or any other visibile.distinguishing markings on them and go from there.  If a player wants to ask for a number change to a legends jersey, then let him do it.  Funchess went from #87 to #1, and although it's not one of the legends numbers, there is a legacy about the best WR getting that number.  Funchess asked the coaching staff about it, etc., and he wore it last season.

Conversely, if a player doesn't want to switch, then that's okay as well.  If you're the leading TE at Michigan and you wear #88 (as Jake Butt does now) and you don't want Kramer's old #87, then fine.  

It'll be interesting to see how and when Michigan honors Charles Woodson once he retires from the NFL.  The other two UM Heisman winners had Legends jerseys, but that honor may or may not be bestowed upon Woodson.  That's not to say he won't be recognized, but it won't be in quite the same manner as Harmon or Howard were either.

 

I completely agree with putting everything on the press box. They look completely plain as is. It would make them look better and it also gives the legends the recognition they deserve.

with retired numbers or championship years or any other such stuff. A zillion other stadia do the same thing. Looks tacky and has been done to death.

I'm OK with legends numbers or patches, but use them just once a year at homecoming.

If TPTB insist on something more permanent, put bronze plaques on the walls of the end zones, or on the plaza outside the stadium and inside the gates.

Or just re-retire the numbers.

Love the idea. I've been saying this for some time the boxes are too plain and their is plenty if room to add

I'm so sick of people whining about clutter. "Don't put stickers on the helmets because it clutters the best helmet in sports." "Don't put anything on the press box because it will look cluttered." Maybe we shouldn't put players on the field because they'll just clutter it. We should just ban fans from coming to games because they clutter the stands. My goodness. Half the fun of college football is the pageantry. CLUTTER EVERYTHING.

/end rant

I would suggest putting the legend numbers / names on the flags at the top of the bowl in the north and south endzones. They would be honored on display every game day.

Allow the legends jerseys to be available to only captains, returning all big ten players, or during homecoming/ other special games. It needs to be a true privilege to wear them and not an entitlement.

I'll be ecstatic as long as those patches are off the jerseys. 

Why dont the players get honored and get a legends patch to wear for games, but keep their own number?

Just put the numbers in regular circulation. Give them to freshmen like any other number. Just have a patch honoring the legend whose accomplishments led to it having been retired to begin with. That's it. It isn't complicated at all.

To me, the monolithic blue is classy, impossing, and statement-making  No advertising, no self-promoting, no Halo.  Pure wow factor.  Putting writing/numbers/years/graphics on them will soon make Michigan Stadium look like every other junked up venue.  Except for the piped in rawk muzik, Michigan Stadium is not like every other junked-up stadium.  Just MHO.