Former UM player opens up about touching letter from Tressel

And who said there was only hate between Ohio State and Michigan?

Former Wolverine offensive lineman Elliott Mealer opened up about a letter his family received from former Buckeye coach Jim Tressel.

After Mealer’s younger brother, Brock, learned to walk again after being paralyzed from the waste down, he got to join in one of college football’s best traditions. He got to touch the famed “M Club” banner before the game on Sept. 4, 2010 to the applause of the capacity Big House crowd.

The Buckeyes weren’t in Ann Arbor that day, but Tressel caught wind of Brock Mealer’s story. Tressel had recruited Elliott Mealer and kept tabs on him at Michigan. Sandy Mealer Barber, Elliott and Brock’s aunt, received a card from the Ohio State coach.

It read:

“Sandra,
No doubt, the greatest cheer a Buckeye ever received at the Big House!
You must be so proud of those Mealer Boys!
God bless! Go Bucks! Go Blue!
Jim Tressel
P.S. Thanks for the awesome photo!”

Mealer told MGoBlue.com that Barber had sent a photo of Brock touching the banner to Tressel along with a thank you for the signed Ohio State football helmet he sent for a charity golf outing held in memory of her brother, David, the father of her nephews. Part of the proceeds went to benefit paralyzed patients at Michigan’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital.

Mealer, who grew up a diehard Ohio State fan, was touched by the back-and-forth Tressel and his family developed. He also couldn’t believe that the Buckeye coach would write ‘Go Blue!’

Even better, Brock can walk a half mile and was able to walk at his wedding in 2012.

See, there’s more to the Big Ten’s best rivalry than meets the eye.