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VIDEO: Quarterback Jim Harbaugh halts 1987 Rose Bowl to protest crowd noise

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What's your deal, all of you?

via r/cfb

Jim Harbaugh, Super Bowl head coach, was a star quarterback for the Michigan Wolverines in the 1980s. In the 1980s, nothing but Guns N Roses was permitted to reach a certain decibel level. It was kind of like how buildings in Paris can't be taller than the Eiffel Tower.

Seeing a college football game held up until the crowd calmed down used to be a not-unfamiliar occurrence -- here a referee asks the PA announcer to explain the NCAA rule against excessive crowd noise, which can result in a time out penalty against the home team. Here Michigan does the same filibustering at Notre Dame in 1988, a school which last year released a campaign meant to stir fans into actually cheering.

Note how Harbaugh's Academic All-Big Ten bona fides are cited by the announcers as he dilly dallies. This is, technically, smart football, even though it only riled those Sun Devils up more.

The rule is still on the books, but no longer really enforced. These days, only Mississippi State and its cowbells are known for drawing threats from the rule book. So let us imagine a referee telling the LSU crowd late in last year's Alabama game that it should be more considerate of the offense's communication attempts.

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