In 1962, Michigan's Undergraduate Club affixed a simple yellow block "M" to a strip of fabric and used it to form a tunnel before the Wolverines played Illinois. An instant hit, the banner would go on to welcome players at every home game since.
Though the banner has been stolen on two occasions, only once was it attacked on the field of play. And it was spectacular.
Ohio State and Michigan brought identical 10-0 records to their November 1973 meeting and the top-ranked Buckeyes wasted little time setting the mood in Ann Arbor. As Woody Hayes' team ran out on to the field before the game, they converged on the banner, doing their best to trample the despised symbol of Michigan football, leading legendary Michigan announcer Bob Ufer to go apeshit in the booth.
“They will meet a dastardly fate here for that! There isn’t a Michigan Man who wouldn’t like to go out and scalp those Buckeyes right now. They had the audacity, the unmitigated gall....” — Bob Ufer
Most – including Ohio State great Archie Griffin – suspect All-American tackle John Hicks as the ringleader, but he professed his innocence in BTN's Tiebreaker, an excellent documentary on the '73 game, which ended in a 10-10 tie.
Center Steve Meyers would only say, “Woody obviously wanted that banner down. He hated that banner.”
