College Football

Hello, A-Rod is rocking a Miami Hurricanes turnover chain while sitting next to J-Lo

This is a fact that the world needs to know.

Nov 5, 2017, 2:47 AM UTC

The No. 10 Miami Hurricanes are currently playing the No. 13 Virginia Tech Hokies from Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday night. Among the more famous fans in attendance were none other than former New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez and his girlfriend, singer Jennifer Lopez. The best part about all this though is that A-Rod was rocking a Miami Hurricanes turnover chain, and it was glorious.

Please note J-Lo aggressively waving a pom-pom here, too. OK, but back to the most important part about this photo: A-Rod wearing a dang Miami turnover chain. Wait, what’s a Miami turnover chain, you might be thinking? Players on Miami’s defense get the chain every time they force a turnover, and it’s been around all season:

The story behind the chain’s existence is a unique one. According to the Sun-Sentinel, two weeks before the season started, UM cornerbacks coach Mike Rumph called a Miami jeweler, Anthony John Machado, or “AJ,” to ask if he could make a rope chain players could wear after forcing a turnover. AJ and former Miami Hurricane Vince Wilfork, who happened to be in AJ’s store when Rumph called, had a better idea:

The initial thought was a rope chain that players would get to wear after forcing a turnover.
“Naw, man,” chimed in Wilfork, recently retired after a 13-year NFL career. “We got to do the Cuban link, AJ!”
The consensus among the three was a collective “Hell yeah!”
“In Miami, what are we famous for? We’re famous for the Cuban chains,” Machado says. “But we need to add a little something to it.
“So we did a big U charm — orange stones, green stones in there to flash it out.”

Miami’s defense has forced two turnovers against Virginia Tech on the night, and the chain went to Jaquan Johnson late in the third quarter for his huge pick of Josh Jackson’s pass on a fourth-down conversion attempt for the Hokies.