Each Saturday for three quarters of a century, Spartan Football players accompanied by coaches and football staff, embark upon one of the most iconic pregame traditions in all of college football: a walk from Kellogg Center, across the venerable Red Cedar River and on to Spartan Stadium.

It is an idyllic pregame walk with fans meandering toward the stadium, while the strains of the Spartan Marching Band can be heard in the distance, and of course there are all manner of pregame activities and festivities along the walkway, yet this is more than a path to the stadium, rather it is a tradition that launched Michigan State Football from national obscurity in 1945, into a football powerhouse from 1950 to 1966

By all measures, this walk deserves to be recognized as “Spartan Football Walk of Champions”. After all, Michigan State has been playing football for 125 years, and yet only 6 Spartan teams have earned the title: National Champions.

So, the historic walk seems to be the perfect place to memorialize each National Championship team with a bronze plaque inlayed into the concrete walkway and in so doing, memorializing each player, their head coach, assistant coaches and members of the football staff by name and for perpetuity.

Existing plaques don’t properly tell the story:

Of course, Michigan State displays individual plaques for each National Championship Football teams inside Spartan Stadium, yet the names of players, coaches and staff are conspicuously missing.

We also know that plaques are displayed on the south end of Spartan Stadium thereby recognizing each National Championship team, yet those plaques do not include the name of every player, every coach, and every support staff…and that’s not right.

Another fact is certain, the plaques displayed on the south end of Spartan Stadium are rarely viewed by fans because the only time most fans are in proximity of the south end of Spartan Stadium is during the frenetic chaos of gameday and frankly, most folks are unaware the plaques exist at all, and that’s not the best way to honor Champions.

So, creating a “Walk of Champions” is the right thing to do, because a lot of support players from those teams have not been properly recognized individually, and therefore sadly forgotten to history and that needs to change!

It takes a team:

While star players are important, we all know it takes a “team” to win a National Championship and so every player who ever “practiced” or “suited” during the Championship years should be recognized and honored on the “Walk of Champions”, that means every player that suited but never played, players that practiced but never “suited”, as well as assistant coaches, trainers and every member of the staff.

I’m not in the “landscape design business” nor am I in the “graphic design business” but the “Spartan Football Walk of Champions” would ideally recognize each National Championship Team with its own individual bronze plaque inlayed every 10-20 yards along the walkway commencing from Kellogg Center, in progressive order from 1951 thru 1966 leaving ample space for Championship plaques to be added in the future.

At the bottom line:

The photo at the top of this article represents the “Walk of Champions” at Ole Miss, while the photo immediately below represents Alabama’s “Walk of Champions”.

Yet, very few schools have accomplished what Michigan State Football has accomplished in the era of modern football.

In the era of modern football (1950 to present) Michigan State Football accomplished an unprecedented feat by winning (or sharing) 6 National Championships in just 15 years, from 1951 to 1966, and that needs to be celebrated and memorialized, because those players not only put Spartan Football on the map, they also put Michigan State University on the map.

Sadly, it has been 55 years since Michigan State won a National Championship and it is equally sad that only one team since 1966 has competed for a National Championship and that was 2015, and that seems like a generation ago.

In fact, since 2015, the compass seems to be pointed in a totally different direction, so perhaps a “Walk of Champions” would serve as aspiration for administrators, coaches and players alike, that if they are equipped with a championship plan and a Will2Win (in the likeness of John Hannah and Biggie Munn), then their legacies can be indelibly memorialized on the “Walk of Champions” as well.

If you would like to add your name to a petition for a Michigan State “Walk of Champions”, then drop me a short note via email and I will include your name on such as petition…

Thank you for reading and I welcome your comments and opinions.