Ole Miss wearing No. 38 on its helmets in honor of Chucky Mullins (Photo)
Ole Miss players will have No. 38 decals on their helmets against Memphis Saturday in honor of former player Chucky Mullins.
In 1989, Mullins fractured four vertebrae while making a tackle against Vanderbilt and was paralyzed. He was paralyzed from the neck down after the hit,
Mullins returned to Ole Miss and graduated in 1990. He died a year later at 21 because of a pulmonary embolism.
The helmet decals aren’t the only part of a celebration of Mullins’ life. Ole Miss is renaming Coliseum Drive on campus “Chucky Mullins Drive” in a ceremony on Friday.
In 1990, the Phi Beta Sigma faternity established the Chucky Mullins Courage Award, which has been given to an Ole Miss defensive player since 1990. According to the Clarion-Ledger, all 25 of the award’s recipients are expected to be in attendance at the ceremony honoring Mullins.
His No. 38 is one of two numbers retired by Ole Miss. The other is Archie Manning’s No. 18. The recipient of the Courage Award is allowed to wear Mullins’ number and in 2014, Deterrian Shackelford is wearing it. He’s the first two-time Chucky Mullins Courage Award winner after missing the 2011 and 2012 seasons because of knee injuries.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
