brandon williams
You know you're a Michigan football geek if you obsess over the weights. The real nerds get into position changes, number changes, and walk-ons. I have updated my big roster file.
Just so you know what you're getting into if you progress any further in this article, I'm going to lead with the thing only I obsess over.
The Curse of B-Will Continues
THE Brandon Williams with the Devin Gardner* jersey I had just bought for my nephew the night before Gardner switched to 98.
With this roster it's official: no player at Michigan will have managed to wear the #12 for his entire eligibility for two entire decades. The last man to do it is the man above, cornerback Brandon Williams**, who donned it in 1999 as a freshman and wore it through his graduation in 2002. Since then:
- QB Matt Gutierrez (2002-'05) got Wally Pipp'ed by true freshman Chad Henne in 2004 and transferred to Idaho State.
- QB David Cone (2006-'08) left with a season of eligibility remaining.
- CB JT Floyd (2008-'10) switched to #8 for his final two seasons.
- WR Roy Roundtree (2009-'11) switched to the #21 Legends Jersey as a senior in 2012.
- QB/WR Devin Gardner (2012) switched to #12 from #7 for the one year he was a wide receiver, then switched to Legends Jersey #98 for the 2013 season opener.
- LB Allen Gant (2012-'14), too slow for safety and too small for linebacker, might have made a good viper, but graduated and left the program right after Michigan hired Don Brown. Gant did come back a few years later as a grad assistant with the vipers, before moving on to coach DBs at Slippery Rock. He was recently named the defensive coordinator at D-II West Virginia Wesleyan.
- P Blake O'Neill (2015) was just a one-year rental.
- QB Alex Malzone (2015-'17) got his degree in 2.5 years and grad transferred to Miami (NNTM)
- RB Chris Evans (2016-'18, 2020) was THIS CLOSE to breaking the curse—he did the hard thing, which was take a year off from the team to serve penance and make up for a gross academic misconduct that got him booted from it with a year of eligibility remaining. Then he went and switched to #9. Bah!
Linebacker Josh Ross is a redshirt junior, so if he manages to stick around and not change digits through 2021 the curse will finally be broken. If Ross heads to the NFL or something, the next shot is QB Cade McNamara, now a redshirt freshman.
*I am being told by the CLC that Adidas did not make #12 jerseys in the summer of 2013 for the presumptive new starting quarterback, because you're not supposed to profit from amateur athletes.
**Brandon Williams is also the namesake of that play when the opponent muffs a punt and you field it on the run, take it to the endzone, and start celebrating before the refs signal the ball was dead where you touched it for some arcane reason.
[After the JUMP: Freshman numbers and what they have to live up to (according to me, an unathletic fat guy with a home office)]
[Reposting for those who missed yesterday]
What? MGoBlog and handful of former Michigan players who are disproportionately cornerbacks about my age are going to be tailgating before the PSU game at Marlin Jackson's Go Blue Bowl Tailgate charity drive. There will be a raffle, and a tailgate Olympics where fans are teamed with former players for maizehole/beer pong/ladder toss, and a Q&A session MC'ed by Brian, and beer.
Where? The North End Zone, 1011 S. Main St., Building B, Ann Arbor, MI 48104. Technically it would be Michigan Stadium's north end zone if the field was 300 yards long. It's the white and green house on Main Street, opposite Pauline, off the northwest gate of the Big House.
When? 3 pm to 6 pm this Saturday. Games will start at 4-ish, probably do the Q&A from 5 pm to whenever it breaks up or it's time to go to the game.
Who exactly? Well, Brian Cook, Seth Fisher, Ace Anbender, Adam Schnepp, Orson, MMMGoBlueBBQ promised to stop by, my 7-month old…oh you meant important people? Confirmed so far are Marlin Jackson, Brandon Williams, Todd Howard, Marcus Ray, Cato June, Chris Perry, and Zia Combs. As these things go, more are planning to come but can't make promises.
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| Looks like this except none of us wear khakis and polos. |
NOBODY under 21 (except babies). They are checking IDs.
What's the cause? The Go Blue Bowl Tailgate and the Go Blue Bowl Football Challenge support Marlin's Fight for Life Foundation, as well as the the Phalen Leadership Academies, the Peace Neighborhood Center of Ann Arbor, the Summer Advantage Program, and Go Blue Then and Now. These all* fund extracurricular and catch-up programs for at-risk kids.
Marlin started FFL in Indianapolis and has expanded the concept up to Michigan. The school systems where these kids live have been dropping such programs and don't have the ability to implement modern teaching techniques (even though we've known they work for 15+ years) so FFL provides that. It's evolved a bit since we started supporting it: the in-school programs are Building Dreams/Field of Dreams (elementary/middle), and RAP (high school). Seal the Deal is the after-school youth flag football program. And they've added Be a Blessing!, which follows up with the kids who've been in their programs, and provides need-based assistance to their families.
Go Blue Then and Now is an umbrella organization for former Michigan players' charities.
The Go Blue Bowl itself is a flag football game for local kids football teams where former Michigan players coach them for a day (or most of a day then hide indoors because their Floridian skin still can't handle Michigan weather; not naming any names that are also a unit of measurement).
I gotta make a donation right? Yes, but what you can afford. We urge you to donate beforehand on Marlin's website, or buy some raffle tickets when you arrive, or be like "here's five dollars" at the gate. I do ask if you're going to drink the beer you donate like $20 at the door so they don't end up taking a loss on the provisioning of said suds. Suggested minimal donation if you're just gonna come by for the Q&A is $5. The point of the tailgate is to raise money for these charities.
There are things you get for donation levels of $100 and above, like access to the VIP lounge where players with weak-ass Floridian skin might be hiding, and signed memorabilia, and corporate sponsorship displays.
Also one sponsor who sends a check ahead of time will get two free tickets to the Penn State game that one of our readers donated to the cause.
The raffle? I'm not sure of everything that will be there; when we did our tailgate last year Marlin brought a jersey signed by Woodley and some footballs and t-shirts, and Six Zero had a drawing of a half-lion/half-Devin Gardner. There's a Michigan Stadium print by Bennie (godson of THAT Bennie) McCready that I'm bringing. And you can win a spot in the tailgate Olympics.
Die, work productivity! Die before the might of The Great Thursday of the Basketballing (also: hockey), and the grilling of former football players on things of interest.
The Celebrity Mods: By seniority, Todd Howard (CB, 1998-'01); Brandon Williams (CB, 1999-'02), who wrangled them all together; Tim Massaquoi (WR/TE, 2001-'05); Jordan Kovacs# (S, 2009-'12); and Michael Schofield (OL, 2009-'13). They'll be in and out 
throughout the day.
# = never gets to live it down.
The Sponsor: As they did last year, our official fantasy game partner DraftStreet stepped up. If you're getting bored between games today, head on over to their dashboard and sign up for any of their games. That link goes to the NBA one I just started. Or just check in on your team for the $40k (or $20k if you came late) tourney we've been on about all week.
The Cause: We've got a bunch of former players coming by today to answer your questions, yap about the ballgames with you, and support the Go Blue Bowl, on April 4.
Flier (click to see list of players attending, etc.):
It's a series of evening flag football games at Pioneer between teams coached by former Michigan players. Two teams will be made up of sponsors and you can still get in on that. The event benefits Marlin Jackon's Fight for Life Foundation.
The Schedule: As we get going it'll be general discussion time while the Ohio State-Dayton (12:15) and Wisconsin-American (12:40) are on, continuing that through Pitt-Colorado (1:40), and Cincy-Harvard (2:10). At 3pm we'll switch to the hockey game vs Penn State, go to Michigan State's game after that, and that should carry us to the Michigan-Wofford game tonight.
The Mitigation of Liveblog Chaos: Read it. Know it. Love it. Be it.
GO BLUE! Always.
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