The men’s hockey team at Penn State University paid tribute to one of their school’s bravest alumni with special United States Navy-themed jerseys last week.
The Nittany Lions wore the special edition jerseys during the Capital Hockey Classic against Army West Point on Thursday, December 12, in Washington, D.C. The sweaters paid tribute to Lt. Michael P. “Murph” Murphy, a Navy SEAL who was killed in action in Afghanistan in June 2005 and posthumously awarded a Medal of Honor, America’s highest military decoration.
Murphy, a 1998 Penn State graduate, was a Navy SEAL nicknamed “The Protector” that was killed in action during the War in Afghanistan on June 28, 2005, when his squad was surrounded by Taliban forces. True to his nickname, Lt. Murphy was able to relay the SEAL’s situation to friendly forces, at the cost of his own life. Murphy was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions, becoming the first member of the United States Navy to receive the award since the Vietnam War. The popular “Murph” workout, frequently performed on Memorial Day, was created by Murphy as a workout that could be performed almost anywhere and with very little extra equipment necessary.
The jersey Penn State wore on Thursday was navy blue, with three white stripes around the shoulder yoke and a white star on each shoulder to mimic an enlisted sailor’s Dress Blue neckerchief. Three angled stripes on each sleeve represent service stripes on a Navy uniform; each stripe represents four years of service, so the three stripes stand for 12 season of Penn State varsity hockey.
The front of the jersey featured Penn State’s traditional lionhead crest. The three stripes around the waist of the jersey combine with the three stripes around each sock to honor the six branches of the U.S. Armed Forces.
Inside the collar is a “valor blue” panel with the inscription “With it, or on it” in Greek, referring to a soldier’s shield. This same inscription is found on a memorial to Lt. Murphy at Veterans Plaza on the Penn State campus. The front of the collar has 13 stars arranged in the same way they appear on the Medal of Honor.
An American flag is embroidered on the back collar of each jersey. Numbers on the back and sleeves were one-color white and set in a block font. The nameplate was navy blue with contrasting white stitching around it and one-color white letters.
The jerseys were worn with Penn State’s standard navy blue pants and gloves, along with their white helmets with a navy blue stripe down the middle. The helmet design mimics both the university’s football team helmets and “the white cover that is standard in the Navy Dress Blue uniform.”
Inside the jerseys, there is a sewn-in “wear tag” with the date and location of Sunday’s game against Army West Point, along with the imagery of Murphy’s Purple Heart alongside the Penn State lionhead and the inscription “Worn in honor of Lt. Michael P. Murphy, Penn State Class of 1998.”
“I love this sweater and the tribute to Penn Stater Lt. Michael P. Murphy and his team. The Navy references and military touches throughout create a very subtle and sleek nod to our Armed Forces.Our equipment team once again did diligent research to create a bold sweater while giving a stick tap to the ‘Protector’ Lt. Murphy and all the brave members of the United States Navy with this design.”
— Penn State men’s hockey head coach Guy Gadowsky
Game-worn jerseys will be auctioned off in the near future, with proceeds benefitting the Lt. Michael P. Murphy Memorial Scholarship Foundation and the State College Coyotes Sled Hockey program.
