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Ryan Day made an exception to Ohio State’s ‘no blue’ rule to show support for New Hampshire coach

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

The color blue is never permitted inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on Ohio State’s campus. If anyone is caught wearing a blue shirt or traveling with a blue pen, they’ll be forced to do pushups as a punishment.

It’s part of the culture in Columbus, and helps keep the rivalry with “That Team Up North” relevant every single day.

But Ryan Day is making an exception to the “no blue” rule inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center — and for a really good reason.

Day’s former head coach at New Hampshire, Sean McDonnell, is undergoing a battle with cancer. On Thursday during his radio show, Day was wearing a blue “Mac Strong” shirt to show support for his coach and mentor. New Hampshire’s primary color, of course, is blue.

Day played for McDonnell at New Hampshire from 1999-2001.

“This is New Hampshire blue.” Day said about his T-shirt color choice on Thursday. Stephen Means of Cleveland.com posted the photo:

Lifting the rule for this cause is certainly an appropriate measure.

McDonnell has been the head coach at New Hampshire since 1999, compiling a 154-95 record and led the program to 14 straight Division IAA/FCS playoff appearances. He’s a four-time division champion and two-time conference champion.

Due to his health concerns, McDonnell took an indefinite leave of absence before the 2019 season kicked off.

The rivalry between Ohio State and Michigan is a pretty important thing, but it’s not the most important thing. Day’s shirt was a reminder of that this week.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB