Connor Stalions became one of the biggest names in college football history overnight. The former University of Michigan staffer was at the forefront of the sign-stealing scandal. He was cast as a villain.
Despite all of the controversy surrounding his involvement with the program, Stalions was front and center at the College Football Playoff semifinal game on Monday afternoon. Former Michigan defensive end Chase Winovich, who retired from the NFL in October after five years with the Patriots, Browns, Texans and Dolphins, shared his perspective from the Rose Bowl prior to kickoff.
He was seated in the front row, at the 45-yard-line, directly behind his alma mater’s bench.
Wilhelmina model Rebecca Lynn, who is presumably Winovich’s girlfriend, was featured and tagged in the video. As was Stalions. His appearance in the Instagram story was not just a quick clip!
Winovich and Stalions are apparently pretty tight. An old video from 2018 shows the former get a fist-bump from the latter during pregame.
For Stalions to be in attendance at the game is a testament to his passion for the Wolverines. They essentially forced him to take the fall for the entire sign-stealing operation and he still saw it through.
Connor Stalions loves Michigan anyway.
Dedicated would be an understated adjective to describe Connor Stalions, who remains at the center of an NCAA investigation into illegal sign-stealing. Apparent evidence continues to mount against both him and his former employer, though the latter continues to paint the former as a rogue agent.
Over the course of a three-year period, Stalions allegedly bought tickets for multiple people to attend the games of teams on Michigan’s schedule. It was illegal scouting of future opponents.
Stalions, or one of Stalions’ many spies, would then videotape the sideline of future opponents in advance. As the story goes, he would use that film decode the signals, and use them to inform Wolverines coaches of what play was coming when.
The whole thing goes much deeper than the surface-level breakdown. Michigan is currently under investigation by the NCAA and Stalions continues to be the biggest piece of the puzzle.
And yet, there he was — right behind the bench as the team that forced him to resign played their way into the college football national championship.