More Chicago: Limegrover is a 'proud Maroon'

As readers of the Star Tribune print edition, or startribune.com, or both, you probably have all the information on the legacy of the Chicago Maroons' football program that you can digest.

Well, I bet you don't know this: That famous "C'' on the helmet of the Chicago Bears … that started with coach Amos Alonzo Stagg and the University of Chicago's powerhouse football program.

George Halas received permission from Stagg to use the "C'' when he moved his Decatur Staleys (1919-20) to Chicago in 1921.

Matt Limegrover told me that. He should know. Limegrover, now the Gophers' assistant head coach and offensive coordinator, played for the Maroons from 1987-90. He received a degree in public policy in 1991, at the same time he was starting his coaching career as a three-season (1991-93) assistant at Chicago for head coach Greg Quick.

Chicago plays at Bethel on Saturday, which put our Rachel Blount on the story of the Maroons' football history for today's print edition, and me in pursuit of newspaper pages from long ago, and of a local connection.

Limegrover was the latter, and we had an enjoyable 15-minute conversation on the subject earlier this week.

Matt called himself a "proud Maroon,'' and said he has a charcoal drawing of Stagg at his home … an ancient piece rescued from a U. of Chicago storage room that was being cleaned out (with items discarded) in the early '90s.

"I was from Pittsburgh and it came down to Carnegie-Mellon or Chicago. I grew up about a block from Carnegie-Mellon, so I was looking for a new adventure, and Chicago was it.

"That was quite an investment for my parents, since Chicago was supposed to be the second most-expensive college in America, $18,000 a year, when I started there.

"I found out one thing in that academic environment: If you're the dumbest person in class, keep your mouth shut.

"They didn't really talk much about the football history – it was all academics – when I visited Chicago … Later, as coaches, one thing we did when a recruit was on campus was have his photo taken with Jay Berwanger's Heisman Trophy (from 1935).

"It's amazing to be walking around that campus and realize, 'This is the place where the atomic age started.'

"I used to look in the newspaper every Sunday to check on the Maroons. Now, with the Internet and cell phones, with Facebook and texts, I have enough guys I played with and other friends who follow the team that I know the details of a Maroons' game not long after we're done playing our [Gophers] game.