Give Me The Wrench: The Story Behind EMU's 51-Pound Pipe Wrench

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YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- Hard working. Blue collar. Tough.

Those are the characteristics that embody Eastern Michigan University football.

So, how does a 51-pound piece of steel fit into the equation?

This is the story of the wrench.

Head Football Coach Chris Creighton In His Own Words
It goes back to when we first got here. It took me a couple of months, but I learned and I realized who we were. When I say we – I mean Eastern Michigan University, EMU football, Ypsilanti, this region.

I would characterize those things as tough, hardworking, determined and blue collar.

So, my first summer here, one of our graduate assistants went to a tool company and told our story to their company president. At the end of a tour, their president gave us this 51 pound pipe wrench, and we painted it green and it is now the symbol of our program.

The wrench represents blue collar and hard working. There's just a toughness about blue collar people. Additionally, a pipe wrench has the two vises that start opened (or closed), and you can gradually close the two vises.

Our theme, the first year, was "Close the Gap". So, the second aspect of the wrench is that it's about constant improvement. It's constantly trying to close the gap between where you are currently at in any area of your life and your potential, where you can be.

Finally, we also tie in a third piece to that. In the movie Good Will Hunting, there's a scene, and we show it every year to our team. I'll just summarize it by saying the wrench is also a response to adversity.

The reality of life is that we all have adversity of different varying kinds. Ultimately is our response to adverse situations that really will define who we are and how we live. There's a line in the movie where Matt Damon chose the wrench over a couple of other choices that would have been lesser choices. It was the hardest choice. His character says, "give me the wrench." So, that's a saying in our program that we know that there's going to be adversity and we're not going to look the other way. We're not going to run away from it. We're going to face it, fight it and defeat it and say "give me the wrench."

So there's a lot of depth of meaning to the wrench. Long before there was ever a turnover chain, we had the wrench. It's out on the sideline. It's not on a bench. It's not on the ground. It's not laying on a table. Our players hold it. It's 51 pounds the entire game as a constant reminder of those three things.

Now we ask somebody or a group of people to lead us out each game. And it may be somebody who's going through some adversity. It may be somebody who has overcome some adversity. It may be somebody who needs some encouragement. So there's various reasons for doing it, but it's a big deal.

It's rare for someone not involved in sports or being on a team to run out with a Division I college football team. Being in the locker room or behind the garage doors before we take the field, no one knows the energy and the intensity involved in those moments. We've had guys carry it that have lost spouses. We've had guys carry it who have lost family members. Even folks that are currently fighting cancer.

There's some very intense reasons why they are chosen, and we share their story with the team. I think it can be an emotional and a powerful moment. Ultimately, it's our way of trying to encourage the person as they try to overcome and fight through adversity.

It's not something that I had ever thought about or considered prior to being here. It is just like the field being Gray or calling the stadium, The Factory. I remember early on, some people called it gimmicky. It's not a publicity deal or some gimmick. Honestly, it was the result of realizing who we were and who we are.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

Give Me The Wrench: The Story Behind EMU's 51-Pound Pipe Wrench

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