It was the night before the Michigan-Michigan State game in 2018, and Michigan receivers Nico Collins and Donovan Peoples-Jones, and backup quarterback Joe Milton were hanging out after the team dinner.
They were talking about football and life and cracking jokes. And then the conversation shifted to touchdown celebrations, which was right up Peoples-Jones’ creative alley.
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“I always like to go into a game with a celebration,” Peoples-Jones told The Detroit News. “I think that it helps with scoring a touchdown, too, because you’re already kind of prepared to celebrate, so that means you’re prepared to get to the end zone.”
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Michigan wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones (9) mimics the Paul Bunyan trophy after scoring a touchdown against Michigan State in the third quarter at Michigan Stadium, in Ann Arbor, November 16, 2019.
Milton suggested Peoples-Jones should pose like the Paul Bunyan Trophy, the prize that has been awarded to the winner of the Michigan-Michigan State game since 1953. The trophy will be on the line for the 74th time when Michigan (5-3, 2-3 Big Ten) and Michigan State (2-6, 0-5) play Saturday night, Nov. 7, at Michigan Stadium.
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The four-foot wooden statue depicts gigantic lumberjack Paul Bunyan standing with an axe astride, his feet planted on a map of the state of Michigan, his hands on his hips and his head slightly tilted. Two flags, one with the Michigan “M” and the other with the Michigan State “S,” are planted on either side of Bunyan. It sits on a five-foot base and was considered a locker room trophy, mainly because of its size.
But in 2008, Michigan State players, after snapping a six-game losing streak against the Wolverines, removed Paul Bunyan from the base and celebrated with him on the field. That launched a new postgame tradition as both teams, after a win, have celebrated with it on the field and usually place a helmet on Paul’s head and add football pants.
With Milton’s idea in his head, Peoples-Jones decided he had to replicate it on the field as a touchdown celebration. What he couldn’t have known is that he would launch a new tradition embraced by Michigan players in the UM-MSU rivalry game.
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“I literally saw the image of the trophy in my mind, and I’m like, I’ve never seen anybody do that,” Peoples-Jones said. “There have been, obviously, historical moments with (Michigan receiver) Desmond Howard (doing the Heisman Trophy pose), but nothing like that.”
It was a heated pre-game in 2018 at Spartan Stadium. During Michigan State’s traditional full-field pregame walk, the entire MSU team walked side by side across the field while Michigan players were already out warming up. Michigan linebacker Devin Bush was angered that the Spartans continued to walk across the field, then lashed out by aggressively scraping his cleats on the Spartan logo painted onto the grass at midfield. There was also a 75-minute weather delay.
“There was so much smack talk between Michigan and Michigan State,” Peoples-Jones said. “Going into the game, seeing or hearing Rashan (Gary) and D. Bush kind of get into it with the guys, and D. Bush ripping up the field, that game had some real tension. It was a real beef.”
During the rain delay, Peoples-Jones was in the locker room with his teammates relaxing and listening to music. He visualized having a good game. And he thought about the touchdown celebration.
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With 2:24 left in the third quarter and the game tied at 7-7, Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson and Peoples-Jones connected on a 79-yard touchdown.
“I kind of felt he was going to throw me the ball,” Peoples-Jones said. “I knew that I had a go-route. When I figured that he was going to throw me the ball, gave (the defender) a good move, I was able to have a clean release, looked up, and the ball was right there.
“All the time on film, I would watch whenever someone catches the ball, the defender always tries to go for their legs. I remembered this, and when I caught the ball, I kind of did a little jump right after I caught it, because I knew, ‘OK, I beat him. There’s nobody in front of me. The only way he can get me is if he gets my legs.’ So, I caught the ball, I did a little jump. Once I did that, I was running, and I looked up at the scoreboard, saw nobody was behind me, and I had, like, 30 yards to kind of just coast.”
During those final yards, Peoples-Jones finalized his plan.
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“I thought about that trophy,” he said. “And when I got to the end zone, the cameras are right there, I saw people recording, and I’m like, ‘All right, I’m about to do it.’ And I did it.”
Peoples-Jones ran more than 50 yards after the catch for the score, reached the end zone, placed his fists on his hips like the trophy and dropped his head to the right. Then he turned and joined his teammates to celebrate.
“I think it was perfect, because it was suspenseful. It was dramatic,” said Peoples-Jones of his execution of the pose. “It showed emotion, and it wasn’t stiff like the trophy. A lot of guys, they do it now, they’re standing too stiff. (When I did it), it was more of a stiff, and then I rolled into the posture of it. That’s my favorite part, and I don’t see people do that.”
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A limited-edition autographed card of Peoples-Jones’ first Paul Bunyan Trophy pose, as part of a new “Michigan Memories” series through the Champions Circle NIL Shop, was released this week. The “DPJ Strikes the Pose” card sells for $60, and there are two T-shirts depicting the pose called: “Axes to Grind” and the shirts range from $45-$50.
Peoples-Jones had the opportunity to perform the pose again in 2019 against MSU in Michigan Stadium and he loves that Michigan players have continued to carry on the tradition. Several Michigan players have done the Paul Bunyan pose since, including running back Blake Corum in 2022 and tight end Colston Loveland in 2023. Mike Sainristil also struck the pose in 2023 after returning an interception 72 yards for a touchdown. Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood did it last year after a 13-yard touchdown run at Spartan Stadium and was joined by receiver Channing Goodwin and fullback Max Bredeson with matching poses.
“It’s always a joy to see Blake Corum and all of the guys who did it after me,” said Peoples-Jones, who, for the record, thinks Underwood’s version was the best outside of the original. “It makes me feel good.”
Will anyone strike the Paul Bunyan pose Saturday night? Will a Michigan State player try it? The beauty of the pose is that it doesn’t mock either team.
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“It’s purely just fun,” Peoples-Jones said. “I mean, college football is fun. It’s the rivalry.”
How to watch Michigan State at Michigan
▶Kickoff: 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 7, Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor
▶ TV/radio: Peacock/94.7 FM
▶Records: Michigan is 5-3, 3-3 Big Ten; Michigan State is 2-6, 0-5.
▶Line: Michigan by 12.5.
▶ Series: Michigan leads 75-38-5 (Last meeting: Michigan won, 31-20, on Oct. 25, 2025, at Spartan Stadium. This will be the fifth straight night game in the rivalry).
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: How Michigan Wolverines’ ‘Paul Bunyan’ pose came to be
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