After the lights of the Rose Bowl dimmed, the confetti was swept up and the fans shuffled out of the gates, the No. 1 Michigan football team’s equipment crew went to work. It packed up the helmets and benches, shoulder pads and medical tents, then set out on the 1500-mile trek to Houston for the National Championship Game.
When the Wolverines’ players and coaches arrive in Houston via plane on Friday, they’ll bring their own baggage with them — not the physical kind, but perhaps a more strenuous haul. They’ll arrive carrying the weight of a season-long sign-stealing scandal with them, allegations that become even more present as they compete for their first National Championship since 1997 against Washington on Monday.
According to those players and coaches, though, that baggage is unfair. Just like they’ve maintained all season, they say they did nothing wrong compared to the greater field of college football programs. In fact, they say they’re only following suit.
“I also feel like it’s so unfortunate because there’s probably — I don’t want to say a crazy number, but I’d say a good number — 80 percent of the teams in college football steal signs,” junior quarterback J.J. McCarthy said Wednesday. “It’s just a thing about football. It’s been around for years.
“We actually had to adapt because in 2020 or 2019 when Ohio State was stealing our signs, which is legal and they were doing it, we had to get up to the level that they were at, and we had to make it an even playing field.”
There’s a lot to unpack in McCarthy’s assertion, perhaps the most direct reference by someone inside Schembechler Hall to the prevalence of sign-stealing. Not only does McCarthy deny any wrongdoing by his school, but his statement points the finger at other programs.
