Recapping Michigan State football’s first ‘Thy Shadows’ event

Being an invitee to the first-ever ‘Thy Shadows’ event hosted by Michigan State football was an honor. I’m still not quite sure why I got the invite, but I’m not here to complain about that — for obvious reasons.

It was one of the first events of its kind where a major college football program invited select fans and social media personalities to get a first look at new uniforms.

Darien Harris and Mel Tucker did a fantastic job with this event and they both talked about how it was big for recruiting as well. This was the final weekend of recruiting before fall camp starts.

So, without further ado, let’s recap the event.

Michigan State football hosted a great event

As the lights dimmed, a highlight reel played of football clips from the distant past and some recent ones as well. It was a cool tribute to the program and the 100-year anniversary of Spartan Stadium which was a common theme.

Then Alan Haller came out, gave thanks to everyone who helped put the event together, and left off by playing another highlight video of all MSU athletic teams from the 2022-23 school year.

Darien Harris came out and shouted out all of the attendees, thanking them for coming, and then stating how big it is for the program to have an event like this. He, like Haller, spoke about the importance of the Michigan rivalry (another theme) and brought out three special guests to the stage: Tyson Walker, Malik Hall, AJ Hoggard.

The three of them answered questions from Darien and it was cool to see them being candid and getting the respect they deserved from the crowd with a huge applause.

Tucker then came out, and talked about how grateful he was for everyone there and how excited he was to hold this event. He also spoke about how the goal for him at MSU is to bring national championships and he believes that they’re getting closer to that with the improved rosters every year. He then gave Harris the floor again for the big jersey reveal.

JD Duplain, Khris Bogle, and Cal Haladay walked out wearing all-green, all-white, and a mix of the two concepts, respectively.

Then the show ended with a video of the players modeling the jerseys on the field — for a second.

Darien came back on the stage and said “Oh, I was told I forgot about something” and then had Tre Mosley come out wearing the all-black uniform. The crowd loved it.

Following the jersey reveal and the end of the show, there was a meet-and-greet in the hallways outside where some players, former players, and coaches talked with fans, donors, and recruits, and they also had the jerseys on display for everyone to get a close-up look at.

Overall, I’d have to give this event a 10/10 and if this becomes an annual thing (not necessarily new jerseys every year), I just hope I can catch another invite.