Football

Michigan, others honor Oxford shooting victim Tate Myre: 'Prayers up to the One who conquered death'

By Kevin Mercer Dec 6, 2021
Michigan defensive end Aidan Hutchinson wears a "TM42" patch and "Play for Tate" wristband during the Big Ten championship, Dec. 4, 2021. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Witnesses say that when Tate Myre heard the sound of gunshots ringing throughout his school, he didn’t try to escape — he ran toward them in an attempt to disarm the shooter.

In the chaos, Myre was struck with a bullet and died en route to the hospital. He was one of four students who died in the tragic school shooting at Oxford High School in Oxford Township, Michigan, a Detroit suburb, on Nov. 30. Seven others, including one teacher, were injured.

Myre, 16, was a star running back and wrestler at Oxford, and he was well on his way to reaching one of his dreams to play Division I football.

News of Myre’s heroism spread quickly. Led by star defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, the players for the Michigan Wolverines football team expressed a desire to honor Myre in the Big Ten championship game on Saturday. On Hutchinson’s right wrist was white tape, and written on one side was “Play for Tate,” and on the underside was “Breath in God” (a phrase he’s shared before on social media).

Members of the Myre family were honorary captains for the game and each player on the Wolverines wore a patch on their right shoulder that read “TM42.” Forty-two was Myre’s jersey number at Oxford. When Michigan scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to rout No. 13 Iowa, 42-3, the team unknowingly honored Myre’s memory even with the number of points it scored.

“God works in mysterious ways,” Hutchinson said when speaking about the significance of the final score in the postgame press conference. “Man, it’s crazy.”

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh spoke in the same press conference about seeking to honor Myre by bringing his parents to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, where the game was played.

“We wanted to offer our prayers,” he said. “[Oxford Township is] a community that desperately needs it and offer them up to the One who conquered death, and also honor Tate Myre and his bravery, his courage.”

The Wolverines plan to wear the “TM42” patches in the College Football Playoff, where they are the No. 2 seed and will play No. 3 Georgia on Dec. 31 at 7:30 p.m. ET.

The Wolverines weren’t the only ones to honor Myre. In the NFL on Sunday, players and coaches for the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings, who were in Detroit to play the Lions, wore customized jerseys and warm-up gear. The helmets for both teams featured a yellow “O” decal on the back, which is Oxford High School’s logo, and there was a moment of silence before the game.

The Lions won the game in dramatic fashion, 29-27, with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Jared Goff to Amon-Ra St. Brown on the final play of the game. The win was Detroit’s first of the season.

In his postgame press conference, Lions coach Dan Campbell awarded the game ball to the 11 people who were shot at Oxford, naming each of them by name.

“Those names, for all those who will never be forgotten and they’re in our hearts and our prayers, and all the families and not to mention all those that were affected by all of this,” Campbell said. “The classmates, the brothers and sisters, the cousins, the teachers, everybody, coaches.”

A petition to rename Oxford High School’s football stadium has been started in Myre’s honor by his fellow classmates. It currently has more than 255,000 signatures.

Please join us in continuing to pray for the shooting victims, their families and all those affected by this tragedy.

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