48 days until Michigan football: Revisiting retired jersey numbers
There’s much anticipation heading into the Michigan Wolverines football season, and TheWolverine.com is counting down the days until the Sept. 2 opener against East Carolina. We’ll discuss current Michigan events, the upcoming season and/or take a look at a significant number that correlates with how many days remain until kickoff, whether it be a player’s jersey number, a year, a date, a score, etc.
Michigan football has six retired jersey numbers in program history. Some of them were brought out of the closet for legacy jerseys during the Brady Hoke years, but the athletic department has since put them back in the vault.
Six seems low for a program with such a storied history as Michigan has, and a glaring omission is 1997 Heisman Trophy winner Charles Woodson and his No. 2. Perhaps things will change on that front eventually, but for now, the jersey number still appears and those who wear it carry a heavy task of living up to the name.
Here are the six numbers retired by Michigan football:
11 – Francis (Whitey), Albert and Alvin Wistert
The Wistert brothers all earned first-team All-American honors, something that no other set of siblings has achieved in college football. Francis played from 1931-33, Albert from 1940-42 and Alvin from 1947-49, each playing tackle. Their jersey number was retired in 1949.
21 – Desmond Howard
Howard was the 1991 Heisman Trophy winner and finished his time at Michigan with four Big Ten titles and three trips to the Rose Bowl. He had 134 catches for 2,146 yards and 32 touchdowns along with 45 kick returns for 1,211 yards and two touchdowns. His number was retired in 2015.
47 – Bennie Oosterbaan
The Michigan legend won three-time All-American honors in football, two-time All-American honors in basketball and also won a Big Ten batting title for the baseball team. Oosterbaan’s number was retired in 1927.
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48 – Gerald Ford
The 38th President of the United States was the team’s Most Valuable Player in 1934 playing center nad linebacker prior to entering the political arena. Michigan retired his number in 1994 and Ford was a member of two national title teams in 1932 and 1933 with the Wolverines.
87 – Ron Kramer
Kramer was at Michigan from 1954-56 and played end, earning a pair of All-American honors (1955-56) and three-time All-Big Ten honors (1954-56). Outside of playing end, he also had time at running back, quarterback, kicker and receiver. Kramer played football, basketball and track in Ann Arbor.
98 – Tom Harmon
Harmon did a little bit of everything for the Wolverines, rushing or 2,134 yards, scored 33 touchdowns and threw 16 touchdown passes in three seasons with the program. Harmon won the Heisman Trophy in 1940 and was also a pilot during World War II, earning a Silver Star and Purple Heart.
Michigan football countdown to kickoff
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