How Texas football's Michael Taaffe's Big 12 title pregame outfit honored Jake Ehlinger

Before Texas won the Big 12 Championship against Oklahoma State and secured a spot in the College Football Playoff, Texas safety Michael Taaffe walked in wearing a crisp black suit with a white shirt and an orange tie. A fairly normal, classy pregame outfit.

The thing that stood out? A pocket square embezzled with the No. 48 in his left breast pocket right on top of his heart, honoring the death of former Longhorn Jake Ehlinger, who died in 2021 to an accidental drug overdose.

The brother of current Colts quarterback and Texas alum Sam Ehlinger, Jake was known on the field as "Fearless No. 48." A Westlake graduate, he and Taaffe were both UT defensive walk-ons who played for the state title-winning Chaparrals.

Dealing with Ehlinger's death as one of the pallbearers at his funeral was one of the most difficult moments of his life, as it came 67 days after he had to say goodbye to one of his best friends, Jackson Coker, who died in a car crash. Taaffe's No. 16 jersey is an ode to Coker, who wore the number in high school.

"So 67 days apart, I was in the back of two funerals, having to say goodbye to two of my best friends and one of the guys that I've looked up to and wanted to play with him in the future," Taaffe said the Monday before the title game.

More: Family, friends, teammates pay last respects to Jake Ehlinger

Ehlinger never made it onto the field of play for Texas. But a piece of his and Coker's legacy was with Taaffe as he and his team walked into AT&T Stadium last Saturday. In the end, he walked out of the stadium as a Big 12 Champion with the knowledge that he couldn't have made it there without 48 and 16.

"You know, things happen for a reason. I trust God's plan," Taaffe said.

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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas' Michael Taaffe honored Jake Ehlinger before Big 12 Championship