Who's Your Favorite Michigan QB?
Being that I had a rare Friday off and absolutely nothing better to do, I watched the BTN special on the 1997 Michigan National Championship team. I had always had a lot of respect for Brian Griese, but I think he moved into the top spot for me in terms of my favorite Michigan signal callers. He will never go down as the most talented Michigan QB, but he just used everything he had to be as good as he could be on every snap. With that being said, I'm curious which QB the MgoBlog community would have as their favorite Michigan QB.
Several were better. None were more electrifying than Denard. But Griese is my favorite.
For all the reasons you mentioned (do we have any other QB that beat OSU three times?), plus the following:
* Griese actually got kicked off the team for getting into a bar fight. He then set his schedule to work out at the same time the team did and worked his way back onto the squad as the pooch punter. THE POOCH PUNTER. Then he leads us to an undefeated season and the first national title in 50 years?!
* As a senior, he was just plain heady. Cool as a cucumber. The '97 Iowa game stands out. We went into the half down 21-7. Griese came out in the 2nd half and threw for 2 TD's and ran for another. Game won, perfect season preserved.
* 3 TD passes, two for 50+ yards, in the 1998 Rose Bowl with the national title on the line. Also, on that last drive he converted something like three 3rd and longs, at least one of them be spinning out of a sack, taking off, and lunging to pick up the 1st down by half a yard. What tough customer. No points on that drive, but it ended with WSU pinned on their own, what, 7 yard line?
* Watching his dad call several of our games that year with Keith Jackson (including the Rose Bowl) as everything came together for young Brian and the rest of the squad was a really unique experience.
¡Viva el catorce!
Griese, quite honestly, wasn't very good until his senior year. And even then, while he had an efficient, mistake-free season, he was not required to win us many games himself, other than the Rose Bowl. He had the great luxury of having one of the all-time great defenses on the other side of the ball. Our other QBs haven't had that.
Harbaugh. Guaranteed victory over OSU and delivered.
BOOM.
....followed closely (in no particular order) by Tom Brady, Rick Leach and John Harbaugh. Dennis Franklin was Michgan's QB when I first fell in love with UM Football. Back in the glory days of the Big 2/Little 8 and the 10 Year War, he had an astounding 30-2-1 record as a starter yet never went to a bowl game. Unfortunately, the 2 losses and 1 tie were all against Ohio, with the two loses by a combined total of 5 points. He didn't have gaudy stats, but was a great leader and clutch performer - a true Michigan Man.
Agreed. Dennis Franklin was amazing
I'm pretty sure he was Bob Ufer's favorite Qb...
"Dennis Franklin! DENNIS FRANKLIN! TOUCHDOWN DENNIS FRANKLIN! HE FOOLED EVERYBUDDY! He fooled me! He fooled the umpires! OH MY GOD DENNIS FRANKLIN! TOUCHDOWN MEEEEEEECHIGAN!!"
Interesting article about recent Michigan QB's.
http://maizeandgoblue.com/tag/john-navarre/ -- Theres a little bit to love to go around for all our Michigan play callers.
2. Grbac - loved the way he demanded respect w the team and the opponents. 4th and 1 audible will always be one of my top 5 plays ever.
3. Henne - just thought he was nails throughout his whole career.
4. Denard - saved Michigan Football w his electrifying runs.
5. Henson - probably would of been #2 but he broke my heart when he left us hanging for the $$$, don't think I will ever get over that situation or that decision.
2. Grbac
3. Henne
Robinson prob 4, to many high light reels and records to not have him in top 5
Denard is my favorite.
Like, subs crazy. Denard Freaking Robinson, man.
I must be really getting old. . . .
Griese
Wangler
Denard
Brady
Grbac
Franklin
Leach
Henne
Harbaugh
Collins
* and an honorable mention to Tate Forcier, who I think could have been something really special if he'd had his head screwed on right with the right HC.
Elvis Grbac. Led the team to an undefeated record and a Rose Bowl win the year after the loss of Desmond Howard. A certain Mr. Wheatley had a lot to do with it (and Derrick Alexander and an amazing defense), but they were totally thrilling. If only overtime had existed back then, we might have national titles in both '92 and '97.
I'm going with Grbac, because the '97 offense is kind of unwatchable, while the defense is wildly entertaining. The '92 offense was too much fun.
Unwatchable? That's a bit strong. Yes, the defense was the strength of that team, but we wouldn't have gone undefeated without Griese and the offense. We had to come from behind in at least 4 games that year, as I recall. The Rose Bowl MVP was Griese, not Woodson.
I'm saying I tend to tune out during the offensive stretches of rebroadcasts of 1997 games. DeBord just makes me snooze. 1993 was wide-open and fun. Much closer to a proto-passing spread.
His passing/decision making caused me to drink heavily and punch/throw times at times. He had some great moments. "Boom, Denarded" in the UTL and "that's six" against UConn in his coming out party game stick out.
Perhaps it is Fred Norcross. During his 3 years the team record was 33-1-1 and we outscored our opponents 1627-30. Oh yeah this was from 1903-5. They won 2 National Championships.
My two favorite Michigan Football memories are: 1) winning the '97 national championship, and 2) upsetting undefeated Ohio State in Columbus in '96 and ruining their perfect season. So, the answer would have to be Brian Griese.
Clayton Richard. He could throw that speed ball by ya...Make ya look like a fool boy...Glory Days!!!
Always dependable. All he did was win B1G titles.
Rick Leach was far and away my favorite until...Denard.
1. Denard
2. Leach
3. Dennis Franklin
4. The two-headed Demetrius Brown/Michael Taylor
Brady.
Bo's first Rose Bowl win, best QB cheer in Michigan history outlined above, our first passing QB in my lifetime, the 45 yd TD pass to AC to beat Indiana with 6 seconds left, the excitement in the stadium when he came in to replace BJ Dickey, seeing our QB actually be able to truly throw the ball.....So, my favorite by far!
All of us students loved Wangler when he was playing, but it is hard to list him among the real greats. We loved him because he was a cool guy (in contrast to his predecessor #7) and he could throw the ball (in contrast to his predecessor #7), and we were tired of three yards and a cloud of dust. And, yes, I still love Johnny Wang.