LOOK: Michigan-based company set to release Team 144 Championship boot
![Michigan running back Donovan Edwards (7) picks up the trophy to celebrate the Wolverines' 34-13 win over Washington at the national championship game at NRG Stadium in Houston on Monday, Jan. 8, 2024. Michigan running back Donovan Edwards (7) picks up the trophy to celebrate the Wolverines' 34-13 win over Washington at the national championship game at NRG Stadium in Houston on Monday, Jan. 8, 2024.](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_2400,h_1350,x_0,y_171/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/wolverine_digest/01j38cekteqjvw9vfde4.jpg)
A Michigan-based company is set to release a limited edition boot that will certainly get the attention of Maize and Blue faithful across the country. Founded in the state of Michigan back in 1883, Wolverine has been making footwear and apparel for blue collar Americans for over 140 years.
The company, which is based in Rockford, MI, has utilized the new era of NIL to bring more awareness to their business by partnering with select members of the Michigan football team. That partnership has led to the creation of a limited edition boot that celebrates Team 144 and the 2023 National Championship season. Fans can visit the website here to get a look at the design and to sign up for details on the upcoming release.
One of the first players to join the "Maize and Blue Collar" campaign was Blake Corum, a guy who was brought up on blue collar values and who's now considered to be a Michigan football legend. Given the fact that his grandfather was a framer and his father is in the landscaping business, Corum was already familiar with the values that are a driving force behind the Wolverine brand.
Scott Schoessel, who's the chief marketing officer for the Wolverine work division, recently described why Corum was such a great fit for the campaign.
"Blake was relatively... he was known at that point, but he had just come off of his freshman season. So not hugely known," Schoessel said. "He rattled off probably a minute or two of just unbelievable insight around the link between how he accepted challenge as an athlete, learning from the hard work that his grandfather and father instilled in him."
Job's finished. 🫡 // Congratulations to the Michigan Wolverines on their historic victory! @blake_corum #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/EEuA7GH6qG
— Wolverine Boots (@wolverine) January 9, 2024
Those blue collar values have continued to be a central focus of the NIL campaign between Wolverine and the Michigan football program. "We wanted it to be a very authentic partnership," Schoessel said. "So everybody that we've worked with from the start is based more on their background than the football field. We got lucky with somebody like Blake, who's huge. But it was more about their personality, their background, and their attitude toward hard work. That's what's most important to us."
This year, the Maize and Blue Collar campaign includes guys like Donovan Edwards, Will Johnson, Mason Graham, Colston Loveland, and Alex Orji. A portion of all revenue generated by the campaign will benefit Michigan's NIL Collective, Champions Circle.
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