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Published Jul 29, 2023
Behind Thy Shadows: What went down at Michigan State football's event?
Matt Sheehan  •  Spartans Illustrated
Staff Writer

MSU, we love thy shadows. But...what on earth was the "Thy Shadows" event on Friday in East Lansing?

I was fortunate enough to receive an invite from the Michigan State football staff for being a “social media influencer” – also know as someone that spends WAY too much time online and cares WAY too much about their favorite college sports program.

What did we all know going into the event? Well, not a lot at all, which I thought was pretty cool. All that was shared was that it was an event at Wharton Center from 7:00 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time with a surprise at the end.

Was it a show? Was it a 90-minute lecture from head coach Mel Tucker himself? Was the surprise opening the ceiling so hundred dollar bills could rain down on us?

Here is a rundown of what happened at the event.

BEFORE THE SHOW

By now, you know that the secret was the new uniforms, including the all-black “Shadows” jerseys – more on those later.

The event took place in Wharton’s auxiliary performance hall, which seats a few hundred people.

We take our seats with tons of recruits and coaches to our left where plenty of chatter is going on. Offensive coordinator Jay Johnson is talking to Matt Hasselbeck – former NFL All-Pro and father of 2024 quarterback commit Henry Hasselbeck. Plenty of other 2024 commits are seated and chatting as well, along with other recruits, including one who is currently committed to another school.

To our right, the “Dawgs” were seated. Former and current players, including Javon Ringer who I swear could still get 1,200 yards this season if he had any eligibility left. Ringer also now works a recruiting assistant with MSU as well. And to our very far right, the donors of course.

The lights lower and I take my phone out to get ready to tweet about it because, well, what else am I going to do? I don’t donate thousands to the program. I’m not a former player that won a Rose Bowl. I’m not on the coaching staff or a family member of a highly-talented football player. So I might as well make myself useful in this room and do what I do best – post things on the internet.

THE SHOW

Athletic director Alan Haller kicks things off and talks about how this is the 100th year of Spartan Stadium in 2023, and names three memories he has:

-The first prime-time game at Spartan Stadium in 1987 against USC, when Haller was a recruit. He said he made up his mind to attend Michigan State that night, but also still made the staff work for his commitment even though his heart was already set. That got some chuckles.

-The 2013 Michigan vs. Michigan State game, which he called the most athletically dominant performance he’s ever seen in sports in person. Hard to argue – just ask Devin Gardner.

-The 2021 Kenneth Walker Extravaganza against Michigan, where he shared that as an athletic director in his first year, he had no idea how he should react to Chuck Brantley’s game-winning interception. He “allegedly” hit a staff member in celebration, but put emphasis on “allegedly.” Plenty of laughs early on.

He ended his time on the mic with reflecting on one more memory that had him holding back tears. Before every game, he said, the nerves would be at a high in that tunnel. He would run out, turn to his right and see his mom in the stands. She sadly passed away years ago, but thinks of those two dozen runs out of the tunnel to see his mom whenever he sees Spartan Stadium.

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Up next, three members of the basketball team make a surprise appearance and answer questions from assistant athletic director Darien Harris. Amongst the highlights were:

A.J. Hoggard: Said that growing up watching guys like Denzel Valentine and Cassius Winston are what made him want to become a MSU point guard.

Malik Hall: His mic didn’t work to start. Hoggard handed him his mic. Malik said “Look at that, an assist from our point guard,” and the crowd went nuts. Like Chris Rock in his prime at Apollo Theatre. Anyway, he said his favorite games of all time at MSU were the Ohio State home game his freshman year to win the Big Ten title and last year’s aircraft carrier game.

Tyson Walker: I’ve known Tyson Walker to be a “keep to himself” guy, so when he was asked about how quick it was until he was immersed into the rivalry against Michigan, his answer took me aback in a good way. He said it just took a few conversations with them to realize that something was…off about the Wolverines.

After the basketball team leaves…IT’S MEL TUCKER TIME.

First time I’ve been in a room while Tucker talks and, yeah, this guy can control a room.

The thesis of his speech? Bringing a national championship back to Michigan State. And make no mistake, he was pretty much speaking directly at recruits and putting emphasis on needing the best players in the nation to do that, and that those players are in the room right now.

He also closed out with saying MSU isn’t going to take a back seat to anyone, which could have been a reference to what we were about to see with the jerseys and having some first-ever engineering of its kind from Nike in the country.

THE JERSEY REVEAL

The “old” jerseys got a revamp – the Greek stripe down the middle of the helmet and on the shoulders, which I’m a huge fan of. As if it were a fashion show, offensive lineman J.D. Duplain came out in the all-greens, linebacker Cal Haladay in the white-green-white variation and defensive end Khris Bogle in the all-whites.

And that’s it! Harris thanks everyone for coming out, the lights turn off…but then the screen starts playing another hype video (which were all amazing by the way). This video is showing the different jerseys and helmets throughout the years with broadcast calls from those games.

The lights come back on – and it’s wide receiver Tre Mosley walking out to debut the first-ever all-black jerseys for Michigan State.

Now, back to the engineering from Nike that is exclusive to these jerseys?

Harris also mentioned that these are NOT alternatives. These are mainstay jerseys and can also be interchanged in other uniform sets – like a black helmet, white jersey and black pants, for example.

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AFTER THE SHOW

Not sure if this was encouraged (all right, it wasn’t) but I sat with brave people like Peach who just walked down to the stage afterward to get a closer look at the jerseys. We get pics of the players, Sparty in his black jersey and Tucker.

I got to meet Tucker for a brief moment, maybe 45 seconds. After NOT botching the dap-up, we talked about the "Spartan Dawg Con" golf outing earlier that day (he did not play, was just there to see the guys off he said) and talked about the jerseys. A brief moment, but in a room full of donors and recruits, a brief minute with the head honcho was more than I could’ve hoped for quite frankly.

I also asked Mosley for a picture for one reasons: Tre “Mr. Reliable” Mosley is one of my favorites and I wanted to see if he even liked that nickname I started two years ago. He does!

My lovely wife, who is 32 weeks pregnant, took the pic and afterward Tre asked her when she was due. Sept. 24 is the date. Tre’s birthday? September 25. Did I tell Tre that if the kid is born on the 25th that we will name it after him? WHO’S TO SAY? A brief moment, but Tre was incredibly kind and personable.

There was a meet-and-greet in a room afterward amongst the attendees, and quarterback Noah Kim was one of the last to leave. He talked to pretty much any person that wanted to talk with him, which was damn near everyone in the room. It was as if he was running for mayor, but that was notable I thought because all these players have a ton more options on how to spend a Friday night.

It was a really cool night and something I don’t take for granted. If you are someone that follows my work, I want to thank you for being a reason I got that invite. I love Michigan State, and to be able to get that behind the scenes look at everything was special.

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