Michigan football countdown to kickoff: 98 days until 2022 season
There’s much anticipation heading into the Michigan Wolverines football season, and TheWolverine.com is counting down the days until the Sept. 3 opener against Colorado State. We’ll 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.
‘Old 98’ deserves some shine with 98 days until Michigan kicks off the season. Tom Harmon was one of the best players in program history and the sport overall, with ESPN.com ranking him No. 65 on its list released in 2020. Bleacher Report, meanwhile, slotted him 30th.
The 1940 Heisman Trophy winner, Big Ten Most Valuable Player and Associated Press Athlete of the Year featured as a halfback and quarterback for the Maize and Blue. During his three-year career from 1938-40, he scored 33 touchdowns, kicked two field goals, nailed 33 extra points for 237 points, and threw 16 touchdown passes. The two-time consensus All-American gained 3,438 yards rushing and passing, and played almost every snap over his three seasons. He led the nation in scoring in both 1939 and 1940. He was also a member of the varsity basketball team for two seasons.
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Perhaps his most impressive game came in a 40-0 drubbing of Ohio State in Columbus in 1940. He rushed 25 times for 139 yards with and three scores, threw for 151 yards with two more touchdowns, kicked four extra points, returned three kickoffs for 81 yards, intercepted three passes and averaged 50 yards on three punts. In all, he played all but 38 seconds and had 371 total yards in Michigan’s 40-0 rout of the Buckeyes.
Ahead of his final games as a Wolverine in November of 1940, the Michigan program announced his jersey number, 98, would be retired once his legendary career concluded. It remained that way for 73 years, until Michigan unretired it in 2013. Harmon was named a Michigan Football Legend, and quarterback Devin Gardner wore the No. 98 from 2013-14 with a jersey patch honoring Harmon. The tradition ended with Gardner, and the number hasn’t been worn since.
Harmon was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1941 NFL Draft, selected by the Chicago Bears. After a quick stint in acting, Harmon earned a Purple Heart and Silver Star while serving as an Air Force pilot from 1942-45, then went back into football, playing for the Los Angeles Rams from 1946-47. He broadcasted football games from there on out.
According to the Heisman Trophy’s website, Harmon’s career in broadcasting was a smashing success.
“Harmon’s subsequent career in broadcasting proved as successful if not more than his time spent on the field,” the site read. “In 1949, after two posts as Sports Director of WJR in Detroit and commentator on KIEV in Glendale, he became Sports Director of the Columbia Pacific Network managing daily radio and television shows. Harmon reported live on major sporting events from the Olympics to the Rose Bowl for CBS, ABC and NBC, to name just a fraction of his 10,000 broadcasts. Until his passing on March 15, 1990, Harmon was broadcasting the Los Angeles Raiders football games.”
What happened to Michigan football ‘legend’ patches?
The ‘Michigan Football Legend’ tradition was a short-lived one. It began with Desmond Howard being honored in 2011, and continued on with the numbers 87 (for Ron Kramer), 48 (Gerald R. Ford), 47 (Bennie Oosterbaan) and 11 (Albert, Alvin and Whitey Wistert). To honor those greats, tight end Devin Funchess wore 87, linebacker Desmond Morgan donned 48, linebacker Jake Ryan sported 47 and safety Jordan Kovacs represented 11.
Head coach Jim Harbaugh restored order, so to speak, retiring the legends program in 2015. The jersey numbers were re-retired at the 2015 Michigan vs. Ohio State game at The Big House.
