tom harmon

Each costs $125.

Kramer #87: http://www.mden.com/shopping/product.cgi?TI1202+1014

Harmon #98: http://www.mden.com/shopping/product.cgi?TI1201+1014

OK, so he means Tom Herman, not Harmon.

Well, he might have said it......I mean it's right there in black and white.

"Tom Harmon has one of the bright young minds in college football," Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said of his coach who is, indeed, intellectual enough to be a member of the national high-IQ society, MENSA. "His philosophies are very similar to those of my own."

Tom Harmon at Ohio State 1940:

Since today is Veteran's Day, I got to thinking of Michigan football players who were veterans.  I remember watching Mike Lantry, the Vietnam Vet and FG kicker, on TV as a kid.  I know Tom Harmon also served following his career at Michigan.  Are there other veterans you can think of who played Michigan football (or other sports, for that matter)?

One of the greatest Michigan Men to suit up in the Maize and Blue. 

Some fun facts and stats via wikipedia:

Harmon played college football at the University of Michigan from 1938–1940, he majored in English and Speech, hoping for a future career in broadcasting, and won the Heisman Trophy his senior season. He made his name as a tailback in the single-wing formation, and also excelled as a kicker. Harmon rushed for 2,134 yards during his career at Michigan, completed 100 passes for 1,304 yards and 16 touchdowns, and scored 237 points. During his career he played all 60 minutes 8 times. He also was a member of the varsity basketball team for two years.

Position(s) Halfback Jersey #(s) 98
Born	September 28, 1919 in Rensselaer, Indiana
Died	March 15, 1990 (aged 70)
Career information
Year(s)	1946–1947
NFL Draft	1941 / Round: 1 / Pick: 1
College	Michigan
Professional teams
Los Angeles Rams (1946-1947)
Career stats
Rushing Yards	542
Average	5.1
Touchdowns	9 (3 rushing)
Stats at DatabaseFootball.com
Career highlights and awards
1940 Heisman Trophy 1940 AP Athlete of the Year

Flashback in time:

On this day in 1940, which also happened to be Harmon's 21'st birthday, Michigan faced off UCLA where Tom Harmon scored four touchdowns to lead Michigan to a 41-0 win at Cal. During one of his 4 long touchdown runs, a Cal fan had enough of the Wolverine football star and decided to take matters into his own hands. Here is a news clipping of the incident: (via LIFE Magazine, Oct 14, 1940, Vol. 9, No. 16, Pg 47)

Full size article screenshot

[Ed-M: Bump'ed like Elliott]

Brian got me thinking about who deserves to be in a Michigan ring of honor, so I did the only thing I know:  Dump a bunch of data into a spreadsheet and rank them arbitrarily. I gave a point for being the College Hall of Fame, Michigan's Hall of Honor, Michigan retiring their number, points equal to the number of years being an All American, being in the top four in the Heisman (another 2 for winning it), and up to a point for winning other post-season awards.  One could include other considerations, such as championships, captaincy, or being President of the United States.

The table below presents the data, sorted first by points and then year.

Some comments:

I would think anyone Chappuis and above deserves to be in.

I included only some 2-point guys of interest in the table below, most of whom aren't in Michigan's Hall of Honor or the Hall of Fame.

Coaches aren't included, except Kipke who is there because of his playing, though I don't know how much of his playing versus coaching got him in the Hall of Fame.

Why is Benbrook not in Michigan's Hall of Honor?

Obviously newer guys benefit from the various awards now available. The Heisman was first awarded in 1935. I would think Heston could have won it.

In 1939 Harmon finished 2nd in the Heisman voting to Nile Kinnick before winning it in 1940.

The All of American data are a bit surprising.  Gerald Ford isn't listed.  I had thought Carter was a three-year All American.  There may be other surprises.  I used a list from the NCAA (data source below), which made it easy, but the list may be flawed.

Data Sources: All-American, Heisman and other award data, Michigan Hall of Honor, and College Football Hall of Fame

Tomorrow on BTN, after Michigan's win over Penn State (2:30 pm according to DirecTV), is the newest edition of Big Ten Icon with Tom Harmon at #5 on the countdown.

I watched the Woodson episode for the first time today and thought it was pretty good.  I'm really looking forward to Harmon's.

See original post from MGoShoe: http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/tom-harmon-big-ten-icon-5