UNLV jerseys reflect coach’s goal of ‘team first, me second’

By Rob Miech

Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008 | 12:01 a.m.

Casey Flair didn’t get it. In 2004, the wide receiver left Anchorage and joined the UNLV football team. The players wore their surnames on the back of their jerseys that season.

Then Mike Sanford took over the program and he ripped the names off those jerseys.

“Coach came here and changed that,” said Flair, now a senior. “I wasn’t a big fan of it at first. I was young. I didn’t quite understand what the idea behind that was.”

Running back Frank Summers landed at UNLV out of junior college and oh so delicately asked Sanford about putting names back on the back of jerseys.

Sanford told Summers, "for what? So everybody can know who you are if you play like you’re supposed to? Everyone will know who you are anyway."

“I work real hard,” Summers said, “try to make plays out on the field so people can be like, ‘Hey, who’s No. 4?'”

Did you notice anything interesting about the spectacular touchdown catch that Phillip Payne, a freshman out of Western High, made late Saturday night that forced overtime at Arizona State?

The photo that might have run ’round the world is from the back of the end zone, showing Payne reaching up with one paw to make the reception.

No name on the back of his jersey.

After a victory that could alter the course of a football program –- which, at 2-1, matches UNLV’s total wins from each of the past four seasons –- the theme around Rebel Park has been team.

When everyone at Sam Boyd Stadium on Saturday night will want to know the names of the Rebels who have turned the future from bleak to bright, they’ll have to rely on programs to know who’s doing what.

Just how Sanford wants it.

“One thing I want to have is a team,” he said. “Our deal is all about team first, me second. That’s the reason why we don’t have names.”

It’s deeper than just a whimsical cliché. When Sanford reviewed the program and met with players in his first few months, he found a similar thread among them that concerned him.

“There was a lot, I don’t know what the best words are,” he said. “I guess selfishness was the main word. Guys worried about ‘me,’ about ‘how I look.’

“A lot of guys had their own way, the way they wore their uniforms, trying to look different than everyone else. Yeah, I could just see it. You can tell when you’re around a team.”

Sanford, 53, played at Southern California for John McKay and John Robinson, and the Trojans never have worn names on their jerseys.

So, no, he’s no boyhood fan of Penn State, a program that might first come to mind in relation to no-name jerseys, no-frills fundamentals, teamwork and winning.

“In those days, nobody had their names on their jerseys,” Sanford said. “They started doing that at certain programs, but ’SC and Penn State didn’t change.

“I just kind of looked at the situation and got a feel for the situation. It felt like it was the right thing to do.”

In the Mountain West Conference, only UNLV players do not wear names on their jerseys. Among this week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll, only four programs wear nothing above the numbers on their backs.

No. 1 USC is the most visible of those squads, followed by East Carolina, Penn State and Fresno State.

Notre Dame players do not wear names on their jerseys.

“Now that I’m older, I understand it,” Flair said. “It’s just to make us a team. There are no individuals. You let your play speak for itself.

“Everyone first comes in as a freshman and they’re all real big about, look at me. Who am I? You make plays, people know who you are. You don’t need your name on the back of your jersey. I think it’s real big.”

Friends and peers have asked Summers about the novelty of the Rebels’ numbers-only jerseys.

“People ask us if we’re going to get names on them,” he said. “But it’s just something coach Sanford and the staff is for. We’re fine with it.

“Once you get into a game, you don’t think about not having your name on the back of the jersey or what you’re wearing. All that matters is playing against the people across from you.”

Sanford understood that a growing number of people will want to know the names of the Rebels.

“Once again, it’s all about putting the team first and the individual second,” he said. “That’s one of the ways you win.”

Sanford was in a rush. He had to review tape of Iowa State. He had meetings with coaches and players. He smiled when asked if he’s old school.

“That’s right,” he said. “Exactly.”

Injury updates ...

Sanford gave an update Wednesday afternoon on three of his big guys in the trenches battling injuries this week.

Right tackle Evan Marchal, who's suffered two separate sprains on the same ankle in the past two games, practices Wednesday, but is still sore. He'll be a game time decision Saturday.

A more definite on the offensive line is center John Gianninoto, who is dealing with a knee sprain suffered at Utah still. He played most of last Saturday's game, and is a full go for this weekend. Also a go is defensive tackle Isaako Aaitui, who was the team's defensive player of the game at Arizona State. He had an MRI on his knee which revealed a sprained MCL, but he is practicing and should be good to go Saturday.

UNLV Football Luncheon series begins Friday

The RAF UNLV Football Luncheon series begins with a noon session this Friday, where fans can come for food with some of the players. Joining the fans this week are Las Vegas natives Ronnie Paulo, Nate Carter, Phillip Payne, Beau Orth, Chris Jones, Perry Eppenger and Ben Jaekle.

The luncheons take place the Friday before each home game in the Si Redd Room inside the Thomas and Mack Center. They are open to the public. Tickets cost $15 per person, and $10 for RAF members, UNLV faculty, alumni, staff and current students.