NIU Football Sports Jerseys honoring military Veterans
The Wednesday November 13th home football game against Ball State University held more than just MAC West and BCS implications. The game carried with it a sense of honor as the football team specifically played for our nations veterans and public service personnel. Prior to and during the game, the NIU football team took several steps to display respect for our nations servicemen and women including allowing veterans access to the field as the Huskies entered the game at halftime, making Albert Riippi (An 87-year old veteran of World War II who is also a former Huskie football letterwinner (1944) an honorary captain for the game, and honoring former Marine and NIU football defensive end Jake Coffman as a Huskie legend. One of the more noticeable displays of respect was the jerseys and helmets the football team sported during the game. The Adidas sponsored American flag oriented jerseys displayed stars on one shoulder and stripes on the other with the word “Heroes” on the back of every player’s jersey. The Huskies' helmet decals for the game displayed stars and stripes within the “NIU” portion of the Huskie logo. Associate Vice-President and Director of Athletics Sean T. Frazier explained that “as the son and brother of U.S. Army veterans and police officers, it is very personal to me to be able to show our gratitude to these groups throughout our event.”
So what happened to those patriotic NIU football jerseys? Each of the 99 available special edition jerseys was auctioned off with proceeds going to the Active Heroes Organization. The Active Heroes Organization is a 501c3 non-for-profit that seeks to help veterans, active duty military, and their families by providing programs to combat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). For more information about the Active Heroes Organization visit their website at: www.activeheroes.org. - Joshua Reed Military Student Services
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