Published: Sunday, 8/23/2015 Hilliard’s desire to wear No. 47 shines spotlight on Harley BY DAVID BRIGGSBLADE SPORTS WRITER COLUMBUS — The Ohio State football program was closing in on the biggest prize of its 2015 recruiting class. But just to be certain five-star Cincinnati linebacker Justin Hilliard felt the love, coach Urban Meyer punctuated his pitch with a head-turning pledge. If Hilliard signed with the Buckeyes, he could not only continue to wear his high school jersey number, Ohio State would unretire it for him. The number was the 47, worn nearly a century earlier by Chic Harley, the Buckeyes’ first All-American and the tragic hero responsible for elevating the football program into a national power. Just as no Ohio State player would again wear the 45 of Archie Griffin or the 27 of Eddie George, the university retired Harley’s 47 in a 2004 ceremony at Ohio Stadium. The number was to be out of circulation forever. Unless the most coveted prospect in Ohio came to Columbus. “That definitely meant something to me,” Hilliard said. And so, in The House That Harley Built, No. 47 will live once more. Hilliard came to Ohio State, and with the blessing of the Harley family, he will wear the legendary digits this fall — casting a light on a largely forgotten star but also the quirks of reversing history. Reintroducing a retired number is not unprecedented. More recently, Jerry Rice wore the No. 80 of Steve Largent during his lone season with the Seattle Seahawks in 2004, quarterback Peyton Manning received permission from Broncos great Frank Tripucka to wear No. 16 upon his arrival in Denver in 2012, and Michigan rolled out its controversial and now-defunct “Legends” jersey program that put the school’s five retired numbers back into circulation. But the exceptions are rare, and rarer still — if not unheard-of — for a college freshman. Hilliard called it a “great honor” and said he has become an amateur Harley historian, summoning unlikely inspiration from the story of a man who died 23 years before he was born. Hilliard appreciates the support from the Harley family, including Rob Harley, a former Ohio State safety and Chic’s great nephew, and his father, Bob. If you expected a feud over the No. 47, Rob Harley said to keep looking. “I think it’s good,” Harley said over the phone from Pittsburgh, where he is a first-year linebackers coach for Pitt. “I think it’s a good conversation piece. As I told coach Meyer, he’s the head coach. He’s the CEO. “It’s their job to manage the tradition of that university, and I think they’ll do it the right way. I think it’s a good thing. …
Continue Reading: OSU recruit revives legacy
