Hoosiers Now

McMahon Family Gave Indiana Football a WWE Takeaway Belt for 2023 Season

WWE executive chairman Vince McMahon is the grandfather of Indiana football running back Declan McMahon, and for the 2023 season, the family gifted his grandson's team a WWE championship belt that the defense uses to celebrate each and every forced turnover.

Daniel Olinger

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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Through the first week of the season, Indiana safety Phillip Dunnam holds the title belt. 

First started by the 2017 Miami Hurricanes with their legendary turnover chain, it's now common in college football for a defense to sport a celebratory prop after each takeaway. From the Nevada trident to Oregon State's turnover chainsaw, it's something both fans and players look forward too after each fumble or interception. 

The Indiana defense has joined the party in 2023 with a WWE takeaway belt. 

"Declan McMahon, his grandfather is part of WWE, so they gifted us a WWE takeaway belt that we hold up for whoever makes an interception and causes a forced fumble," Indiana linebacker Jacob Mangum-Farrar told media on Monday. 

Declan joined coach Tom Allen and the Indiana Hoosiers' football team as a walk-on running back during the 2022 fall camp. And Declan's grandfather Vince isn't just part of WWE — he's the executive chairman.

"It was for the start of the season, so we got it a couple of weeks ago, but we had been talking about in the offseason," Mangum-Farrar said. "Just to have something to hold and build energy off of."

The Hoosiers only got to hoist the belt one time on Saturday, when Dunnam stepped in front of an errant pass from Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord midway through the second quarter. 

No play in the game gave Indiana more life than Dunnam's takeaway, as it kept the score at 7-0 for the time being, and set up the lone IU score of the game — a 43-yard Chris Freeman field goal.

To watch Dunnam's interception of McCord once more, CLICK HERE. 

"I was happy for him, because he does it so much in practice," Mangum-Farrar said of Dunnam. "He gets picks all the time in practice, so I was happy to see that translate to the game."

Of course, the entire conversation surrounding the IU takeaway belt started when the transfer linebacker from Stanford was asked about his most memorable play from the game. With time winding down in the second quarter, and Ohio State leading just 7-3, Mangum-Farrar burst around the edge of the Buckeyes' offensive line, and appeared to strip McCord clean of the ball, which was immediately recovered by fellow IU linebacker Aaron Casey.

However, it turned out that the referees had ruled the play an incomplete pass on the field. After further review, the call of an incomplete pass was not confirmed, but it did stand, negating Indiana's best chance at truly taking all momentum away from Ohio State entering the half. 

The Buckeyes kicked a field goal to up 10-3 immediately after the play. 

Even though no turnover was ultimately forced on the play, it did raise an interesting point of discussion — if Mangum-Farrar forced the fumble, but Casey recovered it, who gets McMahon's official Indiana football WWE takeaway belt?

"We had a debate about that — it would be me," Mangum-Farrar said while laughing along with media. "[It's] because of my forcing of the ball out. But I [also] said, 'What if you were to pick that up and score a touchdown?'" 

"[Aaron] said we'd probably have to hold it up together then."

There's no photos yet of the WWE takeaway belt in Bloomington, and Mangum-Farrar said that it's probably locked away somewhere until game day. The linebacker described it as being the typical looking wrestling title belt, but adorned with Indiana stickers and decals. 

Best believe every reporter, photographer and fan will be on the lookout for Vince McMahon's gift to the Indiana defense should a Hoosier come up with another interception or fumble during the game. 

Related Stories on Indiana Football:

  • WEEK 1 BIG TEN POWER RANKINGS: With week 1 of the 2023 college football season in the books, our Daniel Olinger ranked all 14 football teams in the Big Ten on where they currently stand in the conference. CLICK HERE
  • HOOSIERS NOW PODCAST: Daniel Olinger and Jack Ankony for HoosiersNow.com recorded a video podcast, talking about the Hoosiers' current quarterback situation, why the team used the game plan that it did and what to expect from IU football moving forward. CLICK HERE
  • GAME STORY: The Indiana football team lost to No. 3 Ohio State 23-3 in Bloomington on Saturday in the 2023 season opener. Coach Tom Allen and the Hoosiers had their moments, and even held it to a one-score game through the third quarter, but ultimately, the team was doomed by bad quarterback play from Tayven Jackson and Brendan Sorsby. CLICK HERE
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Daniel Olinger
DANIEL OLINGER

Daniel Olinger is a Sports Illustrated/FanNation reporter for HoosiersNow.com. He graduated from Northwestern University with degrees in both journalism and economics. 

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