A Key Contributor to Cro-Magnon Football

The Cro-Magnon League

Mr. Peabody: "Welcome again everybody to another episode of Mr. Peabody and Sherman. Today we have a very special guest, that noted football historian and President of the Retroactive Michigan Title Association - MARK II."

Sherman: "Gee, Mr. Peabody, this is going to be a great show!"

Mark II: "Thanks Mr. Peabody, thanks Sherman."

Mr. Peabody: "Today we will be travelling with Mark II back in time in search of RETROACTIVE MICHIGAN TITLES. Sherman, set the WAY BACK MACHINE to the earliest days of football - the year 40,000 B.C."

Way Back Machine: "WWWWHHHHIIIIZZZZ, WWWWHHHHIIIIRRRRLLLL, ZZZZAAAAPPPP, ZZZZOOOOIIIINNNNKKKK!!"

Mr. Peabody: "Folks, here we are near the caves of southern France, home of the CRO-MAGNON man."

Mark II: "Thanks, Mr. Peabody. Observe closely the two Cro-Magnons fighting in club combat over by that olive tree. They demonstrate how football was played in the earliest days. There was no running or passing as we know it today. The combat will continue until one of the players is rendered unconscious. The victor is entitled to drop-kick a woolly mammoth skull over the lowest limb of the olive tree. Thus, true to its name, football was originally a kicking game."

Mr. Peabody: "Fascinating, Mark II. But how does this relate to retroactive Michigan titles?"

Mark II: "Glad you asked, Mr. Peabody. Come over here! [Mark II, Mr. Peabody and Sherman enter nearby cave. Mark II dusts off strange cave drawings.] Look at these strange symbols.

Through laborious effort I've been able to translate these symbols. The first symbol closely resembles the modern letter "M", and is used to identify the greatest player of the Cro-Magnon era (they had no names). The second symbol is a primitive arrow. The third denotes the blue sky. Taken together, the symbols tell the legend that the greatest football player would, after his retirement, ascend to the blue sky and live gloriously forever. In modern day parlance the translation is :

"M GO BLUE"

Sherman: "Wow, Mark II, is that the Michigan connection?"

M Was a Painter in His Spare Time

Mark II: "Not only that, Sherman, but I've discovered the bones of the actual M. Through modern day DNA research I've been able to establish that M's DNA is almost an exact duplicate of Lloyd Carr's. Hence another strong Michigan connection."

Mr. Peabody: "Yes, and I can see the similarity in skull structure and cranium capacity."

Mark II: "HURMPH."

Sherman: "So how many RETROACTIVE MICHIGAN TITLES can be awarded in the Cro-Magnon era?"

Mark II: "At least 5,000."

Sherman: "Wow!!"