OT: What is your football related background?
It is a boring Friday night seeing as many people are off campus for Spring Break, so I figured I would take advantage of my new posting capabilities to have this question answered.
This is a question I have often pondered since I began frequenting Mgoblog. What football background do most people have around here? To what degree is the Mgoblog community made up of just plain old football fans, ex high school players, ex college players, coaches (etc)? This is just out of plain curiousity. Feel free to include other sports experience as well since this is not exclusively a football blog.
I guess I will start. I played high school football and also a bit of amateur/semi pro ball before tearing my ACL and MCL which brought my fun to an end. I played an outside linebacker / hybrid, inverted safety position at both levels. I don't have much experience with other sports other than simply being a well informed fan. Been a huge football fan since the age of six or seven, like most people here I imagine.
1964. I'll be honest, I looked it up. That is an impressive amount of time to have season tickets.
Also QBed an intramural team to the Michigan residence hall title freshmen year...no big deal.
4 years in HS...2 on varsity. All League-All Area as a senior Safety/Linebacker/Corner. Been a varsity coach at Lowell High School for 13 years. Coach RB's.
Mark Catlin was awesome
in football but I have played a lot of other sports growing up and have watched a ton of Meeechigan games over the past 30 years.
If I were about a foot taller and 100# heavier, I would have been a defensive end, 'cause damn I was/am strong and quick!
4 years HS as a lineman. Listed as a C/DT, but I went to a small school, so I could (and did) play guard, tackle, and DE. Also played 4 years of baseball.
Now officiate HS football and baseball.
Played football all my life. Played one year college hockey. Missed football so much I started coaching football my second year in college, and stopped playing hockey. Coached one year freshman. One year JV. And going on my 4th year at the varsity level. So I'm 25 and I have 6 years of coaching experience. Attended many clinics. I was present at a clinic when coach Mattison explained his base defense for 3 hours. I could have sat with him talking football for a week though. He had so much football knowledge it really wasn't even funny. I don't know that everyone is aware of how lucky we are to have him. I have also watched countless college football and pro games. If you actually pay attention to the game and strategy being employed you can learn a lot. So I don't think you even necessarily need to be a coach or play to have a good sense of football if you are a serious fan and you really pay attention to whats going on. And attempt to analyze offensive/defensive strategy and technique. Michigan football has always been my number one passion ever since I was a little kid. I love this site because we seem to have a lot of intelligent people having really good and level headed football discussions. Unlike other sites that fans of Ohio and little brother frequent which just seem like a bunch of drunk idiots who don't use spell check and are basically just ripping other peoples programs. I also noticed on other sites the actual football knowledge and realism of the users seem to be extremely limited. I am a die-hard Michigan fan, but I also like to be realistic in my opinions and thoughts.
0 years playing football
28 years rooting for Michigan alongside my dad who is also an alum.
I was a soccer guy when it came to playing sports.
I've been an arm chair QB for about 35 years. Never played the game. Born and raised a Michigan fan... two degrees, and a 23 (whoa, I'm old) year season ticket holder.
3 years on varsity HS football team - punted and kicked all 3 (kicked soccer-style with a square toe shoe). Avg'd over 40 yards per punt as a junior. 2nd team All conference as a senior OLB in a 3-4 defense. Spot time as TE on offense, career total of maybe 3 catches - basically a 3rd tackle in unbalanced formations.
10- for roughly 15 career on PAT's (we ran for 2 90% of the time), and 2 field goals inside of 30 yards. Hit a 35 yarder on a play flagged for defensive offsides, we accepted and scored the next play which secretly crushed me.
Career highlight - Knocked an all-state tailback out of game (and season) guessing right on an option pitch (technically a bad play because I had QB contain). Intercepted a pass playing ILB that same game, and kicked a couple PAT's.
Had no real love for playing the game to be quite honest. And probably played like it.
First love was golf, which was also a fall sport, but too peer-influenced to follow my heart.
Hit my growth spurt before the rest of the guys, so I was a beast of a lineman for all of a season. However, once they all caught up, I was 5'3" and couldn't punt or kick, so I switched to field hockey for varsity, where I played defense my junior year and forward my senior year. I played some hockey growing up too, so it was a little weird only using one side of the stick and not being able to check.
Later on, I played in (at CB and QB) and coached my sorority's mudbowl team for two years until our international HQ told us to please stop before someone got a compound fracture.
When I was in the seventh grade, my dad forced me to play football. I resisted but had the time of my life and continued to play all through high school.
I attended a college that has a very good football team and attended all the home games.
Since graduation, the obsession with college football has only grown.
Played OLB / DE on a nationally ranked Football team in High School. Also threw shot put, discus and javelin on the track team.
Undersized Power Forward on an IM Champion Basketball team @ UM! :D
Weekend warrior b'baller until I ruptured my Achilles tendon at the NCRB.
Now I play golf as much as I can.
Good times!
football coach for 26 years now in the state of Oregon. Started out coaching freshman football, moved up to jv assistant coach as the defensive coordinator. Became the head jv coach and called the offense. Finally became a varsity assistant as the defensive line coach plus the running backs coach plus the special teams coach. I am finally back to head freshman coach. Only positions I have never coached are wide receivers and linebackers. It is funny that I finally view head freshman coach as the best job in the program. Get to be in charge but not a lot of film breakdown or meetings etc.
Pretty good high school LB (192 tackles my senior year). Just did not have the size or speed for D I level. Always wanted to coach . . . maybe when I retire from my full time job!
I never played any organized footbally, but watched on TV!
I have none. My neurologist suggested that I not play because I had epilepsy. Ruled out football and hockey. Think I could have been a solid interior OL in high school. I grew a bit more after I graduated and wasn't the 6'3" I am now. I played baseball so I never bulked up in the weight room because I didn't want to ruin my pitching arm. I ended up having tendinitis in my throwing elbow my last two years anyways, but I did alright. /bitching about what could have been
Ran track and cross country in high school. Wrestled one year (at 119) and decided those guys were nuts with their obsession about losing weight while getting stronger. I played sandlot and flag football, and had my knee dislocated the summer after high school. The elderly family doctor said to wear a knee splint for awhile and my knee would be fine. After a couple years the knee problems were just getting worse and worse, and after another injury, my girlfriend insisted I go get it checked out. I had state of the art surgery (for the time) at UM Medical center which involved moving a muscle to stabilize the knee and six weeks in a cast from my toes to the top of my thigh. Now I pretend to know a lot about football when I post on blogs and websites.
Edit: While in grad school at Purdue, I taught several football players. My general observation regarding football and academics at that level is that the better players were intelligent. Having said that, most of the players were only concerned about staying eligible to play football. Classes to them were a required distraction from what they wanted to do, and as long as they made a C- or in some cases a D, they were happy. And most schoarship players were convinced they would play in the NFL after college so they didn't really care about getting a degree.
Only played football for three years (7th thru 9th grade) but have always been a football fan, even after getting lost in the Big House at the 1990 Maryland game as a 7 year old.
Basketball was my favorite sport, earning team MVP honors as a senior in high school. Continued playing IM ball in college (champions senior year) and still play twice a week.
did Children's Theatre with a family member of one NFL owner and had boyhood home bought by GM of another NFL team.
Did stats for football in junior high and played basketball back then (but then, in a class of 28, PE class was basketball team practice so what the heck). Mostly just a fan.
Never went to a HS or college football game (an all-girls HS and small college were good reasons why).
My first experience with Michigan football was as a kid, asking an older sister if she knew what the rules were when I joined her in watching Michigan in a Rose Bowl. She told me, no, I'm just watching these guys in their tight outfits and cool helmets. I was too young to get excited about them then, but became a huge fan of Michigan football when I started grad school here. I had season tickets for many years until my kids activities took over my Saturdays and we were giving away most of the tickets.
Now that they're grown, I'm back to being a football season ticket holder and following them closely. This past year I fell in love with Team 132, and I've been super excited with Hoke's recruiting success. My husband complains about the time I spend keeping up with things at MGoBlog.
Played football since the 6th grade. Primarily OT with some goal line DT mixed in. On varsity for 2 years, making the all area second team both years, Over on the west side of the state.
Threw Shot and disc for 4 years also. Did that because the varsity football coach told me it was a good way to work with Varsity coaches extra for S/C. Loved the track years made all area hm a couple of times.
Ended up playing a season at GRCC got moved from OT to C. at 6'1 270 I had been a big fish and quickly found out what it meant to be a practice dummy. Stayed on all year, evenually made the travel squad.
before middle school, but was never my thing. Probably because I was built like those marathon runners from Kenya but whatever. I was born and raised Blue, wacthing every single football game possible and listening to my dad rant and rave whenever a bad call/play happened. I ran Cross Country and Track for 4 years (PRed at 17 flat for the 5k), Soccer for 2 years where I played center/left mid, specifically my junior and senior years. During my last 2 Cross Country seasons, I ate about 4000 calories a day and gained nothing so if anyone wants a serious workout, start running. I played basketball sparingly since middle school, I've since picked it back up these last 2 years.
I played flag football in the IM league in college. Does that count?
Now I take pictures of it.
with some playing time at safety at small school on w. side of state. Also played basketball and despite my love for the other bb during my childhood, somehow got into track instead, and as a result was only one of two athletes in my graduating class to letter all 4 years in h.s.
Got into coaching accidentally when my son began playing youth fb. The coaches -hey they're all volunteers so good people- didn't have a clue, so I placed my name in the hat for the next season so the kids would at least get the basics. Probably due to the talent level I inherited,coupled with a group of kids that were pretty damn intelligent as a whole, I was able to do things w/this group that is normally taught years later. Success was instant and after a couple of years doors were opened for me and I stepped up until I was on the high school sidelines, first as an asst and then h.c. Had no idea youth fb would lead to over twenty years of coaching the sport. Damn, that was fun teaching kids, not just about fb but trying to steer them to making the correct decisions in far more important matters. Took great delight when any of them would get an education based on their combination of talent and intelligence, and was equally disappointed to watch tremendously talented kids barely graduate h.s., when they should have been playing on Saturday at the D1 level.
But probably the most interesting aspect of the game since I first began playing JV ball as a freshman in '66 was the tremendous increase in fan interest and just how important h.s. fb became after MI introduced the playoffs. Many of the teams that used to dominate the ratings when it was all on paper were quickly exposed as "posers" when they were able to beat up on the same teams year after year. I recall, and I realize 99% of the members are younger than I, the same year MI introduced its playoff system, SI did an article on the Monroe fb team for achieving the national all-time, longest winning streak at something like 70 games. They were promptly beat in the first round of the playoffs that year, and I don't know if they ever rebounded.
When I played, our weight training consisted on one kid who enjoyed lifting. but remember Bo was the first D1 coach to hire a full-time strength coach, so the lack of such was not so unusual. In those early years almost all the Upper Peninsula teams that made it to the Dome took home the trophy and I think it was due in large part to the type of work they did in the off-season. When the majority of schools realized the financial success and prestige this could bring to your community, the level of coaching soon rose exponentially as seminars, weight training and year around conditioning became the norm. What was once just an opportunity to play the game you grew up loving soon became a very competitive business, even at the h.s. level and this lead in large part to many kids deciding, far too early in my opinion, the one sport they would concentrate on instea of being able to enjoy playing at minimum two, sometimes three.
Soon high schools were poaching head coaches from small colleges who were serving as assts. Teams like Farmington Hills Harrison, Ravenna, EGR, Belding, Muskegon Catholic and others were known by anyone who read the sports page. Many schools would experience short periods of success only to see their head man take a job as AD/Coach at a larger school, sometimes even higher paid administrative positions and soon these schools would become equally as well known as those mentioned above. A few traditional powers pre-playoff, such as Muskegon and some of the parochials were able to maintain their proud fb traditions, but even these experienced some lean years. Hell, we even witnessed a few coaches like Seigler and Annese get gigs as hcs at small colleges due to the success their teams had during playoff runs.
I realize evolution in h.s. sports is as natural as it is in most other facets of life. Even organized religion becomes more progressive with the times. However, the magnitude of change seen in h.s. sports, fb most significantly is still mind boggling, especially to those of us who not only witnessed, but took part in what the game was and what it has become.
Fully realize this is slightly off-topic and you can begin tossing the grenades now. Just thought some of you might find this piece of MI high school fb history an interesting read.
Played 8th grade through JV. I played TE and DT. All the other kids finally grew and had more speed than me. Decided to get a job after school than play varsity football!
Oh well, the dreams of playing Michigan football were dashed. But I did end up going to school there and had a lot of fun going to games in the early to mid 80s! I first became a Michigan football fan the same year Bo was hired...I was 6 going on 7 and have been a Michigan fan ever since!
Started at C and DE in the U.P. back when there were just four classes of schools. Went to Michigan and was crushed to learn that Coach Carr had no use for a 160-lb center.
Other sports: baseball, basketball, track, tennis. Small school = you make the team in everything.
Came to UM and caught Obssessive Fan Disease. Married into a UM family which cemented it. Still don't know much about football but thanks to MGoBlog I know a lot about the players.
Freshman year was a blast with Bo in place and the 24-12 victory over Ohio.
New poster here, but been reading/enjoying for a while.
Played HS football (same conference as Kyle Bosch), four years of D3 football, one year as a D3 assistant coach. Then I had to get a real job. I didn't go to Michigan, but have been a lifelong fan on account of my family being from Michigan. I decided I'd rather play football in college, but was too small for any D1 offers. So now I guess I'm a "Walmart Wolverine". Whatever.
Looking forward to being a part of the community. You dudes are hilarious.
Never coached football. Never played football (except for flag football in junior high gym class). I can barely throw a football. But I can watch football like nobody's business.
If coach would've put me in in the 4th QTR we would've been state champs, no doubt in my mind.
If things had been different I would've gone pro. Making millions. Living in mansion, soaking it up in a hot tub with my soul mate.
I used to play football like you guys, but then I took an arrow in the knee.
Besides the personal privilege of my 5.2 40, 160-lb frame blocking for a 4.6 40, 215-lb TB, some family connections...great-uncle played at UM FOR coach Bennie Oosterbaan before in the NFL, like me, blocking for a superior TB, except for him it was blocking for Jim Brown.
My uncle played WITH Lloyd Carr. When I left the U.P. for college in 1992, my uncle said, if you ever get in trouble down there, call this friend of mine, his name is Lloyd Carr, do you know who he is? I said yes, I know who he is (DC at the time), and no, I won't be calling him.
I did get to see 28-0 and Biakabatuka over Ohio State for my two undegrad Big Games. As soon as I left, we won our first NC in 50 years. Then was part of at-the-time biggest crowd in NCAA history during B school for Chris Perry, Tyler Ecker on 3rd down and 35-21 over those truck drivers. Will Smith tried to manually detach Jason Avant's ankle but it failed to turn the outcome.
March 16th, 2012 at 12:44 PM ^
Been a U-M fan my whole life, going to games w/ parents, etc. Played football from 5th grade through high school, winning a MHSAA State Championship my senior year (1993 season).
Played lots of IM flag football in college and med school. Even won a campus-wide 4-on-4 flag football competition at Vanderbilt (med school)--had the chance to represent them at the SEC tournament in Atlanta, but we had exams that week (damn).