All-Time Top 5 "I Didn't See THAT Career Coming" U-M Team
In honor of Duncan Robinson tipping off in the NBA Finals on Wednesday (in case you didn't hear, he once played D3 basketball), here's my top 5 "I Didn't See THAT Career Coming" Team:
1. Tom Brady
Not just No. 1 on the U-M list; No. 1 on any list.
2. Caris LeVert
Under the right circumstances, thought he could be a rotation guy - maybe 5 or 6 ppg. Not this.
3. Duncan Robinson
Didn't even think he could be a rotation guy.
4. Jamal Crawford
He only played 17 games for us. He's played 1,327 games in the NBA, and he's probably not done yet. Scoring machine and one of the top ball-handlers in league history.
5. Barry Larkin
Lots of folks might disagree with this one. He was a great college player, and I thought he'd be a very good pro. But a Hall of Famer? No, didn't see that coming.
Honorable mention
Jim Abbott, Tim Hardaway Jr., Steve Hutchison
Who's on YOUR list?
September 30th, 2020 at 12:00 AM ^
The entire Glasgow Family.
September 30th, 2020 at 12:10 AM ^
Great one.
September 30th, 2020 at 12:50 AM ^
I wish there were more. There must be cousins or something.
September 30th, 2020 at 11:40 AM ^
Maybe children! Play the long game!!
October 13th, 2020 at 7:22 PM ^
Coach Jay Harbaugh III will be thrilled to field a team of Glasgows!
September 30th, 2020 at 10:30 AM ^
Bingo
September 30th, 2020 at 12:04 AM ^
Mike Hart (didn't see his Michigan career coming)
If you mean only guys who blew up in the pros, Cato June had a very solid NFL career (including starting every game in the regular season and playoffs for the Super Bowl champion Colts in 2006) after a largely unspectacular time at Michigan. Thomas Rawls looked pretty good for a minute with the Seahawks, don't know what happened after that.
Patrick Omameh was a 2-star who went undrafted but still has carved out a 7-year NFL career starting for at least 3 different teams (including 16 starts for the Bucs in 2014 and a 3-year $15M deal with the Giants with $5.5M guaranteed in 2018) and is currently on the Raiders' active roster. That's a very solid NFL career for an afterthought recruit.
September 30th, 2020 at 10:23 AM ^
I wish I carved out a 7 year career in the nfl. I wouldn’t be sitting here thinking I need to buy cheaper coffee
September 30th, 2020 at 2:16 PM ^
To be fair, even after a 7 year NFL career, you might consider cutting down on the cost of coffee, depending on how bougie your coffee habit is.
September 30th, 2020 at 3:21 PM ^
That would be a difficult decision
September 30th, 2020 at 12:13 AM ^
Robinson #1 if he keeps it up
LeVert definitely
Chase Winovich absolutely
Jim Abbott no question
The Glasgows
Not on the list:
Larkin was a known commodity
Everyone knew Brady was an excellent QB and should have been a multi year starter. Now nobody knew he would be the NFL goat. But these other guys on the list started from much further back.
September 30th, 2020 at 12:27 AM ^
Nitpicking here: Disagree with Brady being considered a multi year started since he was drafted by NE in the sixth round when they had Bledsoe.
September 30th, 2020 at 6:59 AM ^
Solid reasoning.
September 30th, 2020 at 9:21 AM ^
I assumed he meant at Michigan. And technically, he was a multi-year starter at Michigan, although that only resulted in 16 starts over 2 seasons. So he wasn't a multi-year full-time starter, which is probably what he meant (or how I interpreted it, anyway).
September 30th, 2020 at 12:40 AM ^
Brady WAS a multi-year starter.
September 30th, 2020 at 11:19 AM ^
I see your point, but people in the know had Brady behind Chad Pennington, Giovanni Carmazzi, Chris Redman, Tee Martin, Marc Bulger, and Spergon Wynn. Can you get much further back than Giovanni Carmazzi?
September 30th, 2020 at 3:52 PM ^
"Can you get much further back than Giovanni Carmazzi?"
Only if you consider noted CFL QB Spergon Wynn.
September 30th, 2020 at 4:58 PM ^
Brady had a season—at most—of playing at a high level, though. If he’d played for both his seasons as a starter at the level he finished at, he would have been drafted much higher.
(Pennington at least was a legitimate NFL starter, if a bit injury prone. Those other guys....)
September 30th, 2020 at 1:22 PM ^
oh, i don't know about abbott. i mean, obvious caveats aside, he was an elite high school player (don't forget that he was drafted out of high school but came here instead.
he was also a very good quarterback - if i recall correctly, flint central made the semis with him as the starting qb. i'd love to see his stats as a qb.
September 30th, 2020 at 12:14 AM ^
Kelly Baraka
Kevin Grady
Mitch Mcgary
Ryan Mallet
Prescott Burgess
You didn’t say the surprise had to be good.
September 30th, 2020 at 5:50 AM ^
Well, McGary was a big part of a team that almost won the national championship.
September 30th, 2020 at 7:19 AM ^
He also authored perhaps the greatest motivational message ever!
September 30th, 2020 at 7:58 AM ^
Block was clean
September 30th, 2020 at 7:24 AM ^
Sadly I think that’s cuz this list would be substantially longer than the “good” list
September 30th, 2020 at 8:26 AM ^
I gotta add Demar Dorsey to the list.
September 30th, 2020 at 9:32 AM ^
I almost did, but I considered him ineligible since he never played for UM. Also, I kinda did see that one coming.
September 30th, 2020 at 10:22 AM ^
I don't know about Prescott Burgess being on that list. Yes, he was a big time high school player, but he did end up being a starter and finished his career here while making a good contribution.
September 30th, 2020 at 12:17 AM ^
Greg Mattison
September 30th, 2020 at 6:55 AM ^
I lol when I read this, and it is so true. Don't be a hater.
September 30th, 2020 at 8:07 AM ^
I'll never forgive him for that.
September 30th, 2020 at 11:26 AM ^
I swore I would never forgive him when he left us in 96 for Notre Dame. Then we won a National Championship and it was more like good riddance. I was able to forgive him that time because we did so well without him. I can only hope I am give a reason to forgive him again this time.
September 30th, 2020 at 12:19 AM ^
Gerald Ford centered the 1933 National Championship team and then became President of the United States of America.
September 30th, 2020 at 8:26 AM ^
Bob Ufer was a track star at Michigan and went on to a rather unique media career.
September 30th, 2020 at 9:26 AM ^
Dave Brandon was a defensive end at Michigan and went on to a rather unique brand perversion and destruction career.
September 30th, 2020 at 11:51 AM ^
He has six honorary doctorate degrees. Who'd a thunk it.
September 30th, 2020 at 12:20 AM ^
Denard Robinson has to be up there. In 2009 Tate showed a lot of promise as a true freshman first-year starter. The coaches didn't even trust Denard to throw passes that year when he went in during blowouts. Then 2010 happened.
September 30th, 2020 at 12:30 AM ^
So I think this exercise is for those who made the jump from college to and had something of a professional career.
September 30th, 2020 at 8:29 AM ^
He really only beat ND. Beat the worst OSU team in like 100 years and couldn’t beat state
September 30th, 2020 at 8:46 AM ^
Those games still count, don't they?
September 30th, 2020 at 10:26 AM ^
...and couldn't beat state"
Just glossing over 2012 then? The next year State had one of the best defenses in modern CFB history.
September 30th, 2020 at 12:24 AM ^
Jim Harbaugh
September 30th, 2020 at 12:24 AM ^
Madonna
September 30th, 2020 at 1:06 AM ^
Larry Page
September 30th, 2020 at 7:00 AM ^
Ted Kaczynski
September 30th, 2020 at 9:05 AM ^
Jack Kevorkian
September 30th, 2020 at 9:32 AM ^
Naked Bootlegger
September 30th, 2020 at 11:14 AM ^
Yeah JEETS
September 30th, 2020 at 12:28 AM ^
Honestly, some of the more recent safeties that have gotten some decent run in the league.
September 30th, 2020 at 6:51 AM ^
Ryan Mundy comes to mind as one of those. I remember a “Yards after Mundy” stat From UFRs and then he went on to win a super bowl as the Steelers starting safety.