Sean Merriman, BTN.com web editor, July 28, 2015
Michigan officially ditches 'Legends' jersey program, will retire six numbers prior to Ohio State game @MLive http://t.co/o1YsVzecq0
— Nick Baumgardner (@nickbaumgardner) July 28, 2015
The University of Michigan athletic department has announced that the "Legends" jersey program is officially finished.
According to Nick Baumgardner of MLive.com, Michigan will retire the numbers 48 (Gerald Ford), 87 (Ron Kramer), 11 (the Wistert brothers), 98 (Tom Harmon), 47 (Bennie Oosterbaan) and 21 (Desmond Howard) in an official ceremony prior to the Wolverines' Nov. 28 home game against Ohio State.
Here is a statement from Michigan interim athletic director Jim Hackett.
"At one end of the spectrum (the current players) are awed by the legacy of the men who wore them and at the other end of the spectrum, and as part of a team sport, they wondered why we would call attention to one of our team members. I brought this issue to our new head coach Jim Harbaugh. He agreed with me that it needed a review. I then talked to the families of these great Michigan players. I called them directly and laid out the paradox of seeing players as a team and the due respect to these individual great players.
"The right plan is to retire them and display them in Towsley Museum which is connected to Schembechler Hall. Because we don't have the display area inside the stadium, we have found an area on the concourse where fans can see and honor these retired jerseys."
Michigan senior linebacker Desmond Morgan is the only remaining player on the roster who still sports a Legends number. He has worn Ford's No. 48 since 2012, but will play with a new number this season.
