One of the most recognizable rituals in college football didn’t start in South Bend. It started in Norman.
For Oklahoma fans, that’s the whole point of the argument over “Play Like A Champion Today.” Notre Dame may have turned the phrase into a national image, but the Sooners say the tradition belongs to them, and they’ve got the history to back it up.
Bud Wilkinson first put the sign in place in the late 1940s, hanging the red-lettered message in the tunnel the Sooners used on the way from the locker room to Owen Field. From there, it became part of the program’s game-day routine. Every Sooner who’s come through the historic program has tapped the phrase on the way out to the field.
Notre Dame’s version didn’t arrive until about four decades later, ahead of the 1986 season, when Lou Holtz put up a sign with the same words at Notre Dame Stadium. The Fighting Irish then copied the Sooners’ routine by tapping the sign as they walked through their tunnel. Once NBC cameras were placed inside that tunnel, the gesture became tightly associated with Notre Dame, and the Irish ended up getting credit for a tradition Oklahoma had already been living for years.
The backstory at Notre Dame has always been a little fuzzy, too. According to the story, Holtz spotted a photo of the sign with the phrase while looking through a Notre Dame history book. When he started asking around about it, nobody really seemed to know much about the sign.
Even if Notre Dame had some version of it before Holtz made it part of the program, the routine wasn’t a true tradition until the 1980s. At Oklahoma, though, the people inside the Barry Switzer Center know exactly where it came from. Wilkinson brought it to Norman, and the program says he also brought three national titles.
The tradition is still alive today at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. The sign remains in the tunnel, and players still reach up and tap it before heading onto the field.
Then there’s a crimson banner with the same phrase, surrounded by flags representing the Sooners’ seven national titles. Even on the road, Oklahoma carries a replica of the sign so the ritual can travel with the team.
For some people, it may sound like a small dispute over an old sign. For Oklahoma, it’s a matter of getting the credit right.
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