Red beards, inflatable wolverines & overalls: UGA, Michigan fans’ eccentricity alive in Miami

Bruce Campbell had arguably the most traumatic experience a young Michigan fan could have at the age of 8: an Ohio State fan stabbed his inflatable wolverine.

Thanks to some stellar surgery, however, the wolverine survived and, nearly two decades later, made the trip with Campbell from Ann Arbor to the 305. As he and his family reveled outside Hard Rock Stadium hours before kickoff, the counterfeit carnivore swayed in the Miami wind, welcoming passersby with the Yogi Bear-esque friendliness.

“If you’re not from a college town in the South or Midwest, you don’t understand,” Campbell, 26, said, adding that the wolverine’s name is actually “Bear.”

Campbell was among the tens of thousands of Michigan and Georgia supporters who came prepared with a unique token of their fandom. Quirky traditions and college football go together like peanut butter and jelly: one just isn’t the same without the other. Ranging from the moderately mundane to the outlandishly outrageous, these displays of fandom are worn or displayed with pride, essentially badges of honor that travel from Athens to Ann Arbor to even Miami Gardens for the College Football Playoff Semifinals.

“It’s a love and a passion,” said Jeff Jenkins, 59, as he and his wife, Kim, reclined in their maize and blue chairs under a maize and blue tent. The couple made the cross state drive from Marco Island to Miami Friday morning but not before Jeff, a 1986 Michigan graduate, gave their vehicle a little makeover with the Michigan magnets that now cover every inch of the car’s exterior.

Asked about his setup, which also included an on-demand recording of Michigan’s fight song, Jenkins said his decorations reflected the very same enthusiasm as the “kids who’re doing it for the passion of the game.”

Passion, however, cannot alone win football games. Luck – whether it be a good bounce, dropped pass or even a coin flip – also plays a role. Which explains why Bill Beckham, 65, brought along a replica of Uga, the English bulldog and Georgia’s mascot, that he’s had for roughly 30 years and a mini UGA totem pole.

“You need all the luck you can get,” said Beckham, a ’78 graduate of UGA and Miami native, reaching into his trunk to rub Uga’s head as if it were the Buddha’s belly.

Luck was far from the mind of Jimmy Ratliff as he sauntered along the outside of Hard Rock Stadium. Ratliff predicted a big win for his Dawgs so much so that he dyed his beard bright red.

“We’re just coming off the Christmas season, the sun is shining, we’re in Miami, we’re going to be in the end zone a lot [and I] just wanted a little pizzaz,” said Ratliff, his beard glistening in the light like a big bag of rubies.

As much as Ratliff’s beard and Beckham’s statuettes stood out, the two UGA fans were in the minority. Michigan tailgates appeared to overwhelmingly outnumber that of UGA. By kickoff, the stands were nearly a sea of maize and blue, leading the stadium to seemingly shake when the Wolverines did anything positive.

“We travel well,” Jenkins said prior to kickoff before taking a dig at Dawg fans. “Maybe [UGA] got their tail in between their legs.”

Ratliff, who came from Atlanta, had another idea.

“I think most people bought tickets to Indianapolis” for the championship game, he quipped.

In actuality, there’s truth on both sides. Friday marked UGA’s third game in the CFP – at least one Dawgs fan will leave a dirty message in Tua Tagovailoa’s locker after his late-game bomb cost them a championship in 2017 – and rematches with Alabama seem almost destined. Conversely, the Orange Bowl was Michigan’s first appearance in the CFP.

“We’re just happy to be here,” said Campbell.

The novelty of the CFP, coupled with the more than three decades of attending Wolverine football games, brought Kim Kelly, 57, all the way from Lake Orion, Mich. Dressed in maize and blue overalls with a hat resembling a wolverine’s snout topping her head, Kelly said her outfit was years in the making, something that “just kept getting better and better.”

“I’m always thinking of something else to add,” Kelly, ’91 graduate of Michigan, said.

After watching Michigan’s Marching Band preform a few selections inside the the Capitol One Fan Zone, Kelly’s face was awash in nostalgia. The game began in under two hours and she was now on a quest to find the free face paintings rumored to be close by. Even if she couldn’t find the painter, it wouldn’t matter. Kelly came prepared: a quick reach into her overall front pocket revealed a plastic bag filled with face paint crayons and a blue Michigan mask.

“It’s just love of the team,” Kelly said.

This story was originally published December 31, 2021 at 10:57 PM.

C. Isaiah Smalls II

Miami Herald

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C. Isaiah Smalls II is a sports and culture writer who covers the Miami Dolphins. In his previous capacity at the Miami Herald, he was the race and culture reporter who created The 44 Percent, a newsletter dedicated to the Black men who voted to incorporate the city of Miami. A graduate of both Morehouse College and Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, Smalls previously worked for ESPN’s Andscape.