Hugh Jackman's Heartfelt Tribute at Michigan Game Leaves Fans Buzzing
Hugh Jackman took his role as honorary captain of the University of Michigan Wolverines seriously — just ask his girlfriend, Sutton Foster.
“From one Wolverine to the others on the @uofmichigan football team,” Jackman, 58, wrote via Instagram on Saturday, November 7, referring to his beloved Marvel Cinematic Universe character. “I’m beyond stoked to be your honorary captain tomorrow! BTW — Is it a simple mistake that I haven’t received the playbook yet, on purpose?!?”
Jackman and Foster, 51, were present for Saturday’s game, dressed in matching Michigan hoodies, jeans and team hats. Jackman, for his part, paired his ensemble with a jersey emblazoned with the No. 48.
“I’m gonna wear this jersey, some of you know this number,” he told the team ahead of kickoff, per social media footage. “You may know what this represents [or] you may know this story.”
The No. 48 on the back of Jackman’s T-shirt paid homage to former President Gerald Ford, who was the 48th commander-in-chief.
“That is not why I’m wearing this jersey. In 1936, Gerald Ford was playing with Michigan [and] his best mate on the team was Willis Ward,” Jackman explained. “Willis Ward was a Black man, who was the star of the team. They were best friends, they say ‘best friends for life.’”
Jackman further recalled Michigan’s 1936 game against Georgia Tech, where the visiting team threatened not to play if Ward was on the field.
“At the time, the sporting director for the U of M said, ‘Alright,’ they benched him,” Jackman noted. “Gerald Ford was so incensed that his best friend, a Black man, was benched. He wrote to his dad and said, ‘I’m leaving this university.’ He went to the sporting director and he said, ‘I will not play in this game.’”
He continued, “It became a whole thing. Willis Ward pulled Gerald Ford aside and he said, ‘You are playing and you know why? Because you’re going to go out there and you’re gonna beat them.’ He might have said a few other words that I don’t want to say, and that’s exactly what happened the next day. They stayed best friends for the rest of their lives.”
Jackman explained that he told the Michigan players Ford’s story as one of “character and standing up for what matters.”
“Ultimately, [the story is] about sticking up for your teammates, about sticking up for that teammate who was next to you,” the Deadpool star stated, noting the crooked “4” in the Ford jersey is a “memento” to his lifelong friendship with Ward. “No matter what the stakes are, do what is right and you back your teammates. To me, I hear that story and I guess to me, that’s what it is to be a Wolverine.”
Despite Jackman’s heartfelt pregame speech, the team lost 6-15.
