Brenda Tracy is Honorary Captain for Home Opener
Rape survivor and survivor advocate Brenda Tracy has been selected as an honorary captain for the home opener. She spoke to a few Michigan athletics teams this summer and Coach Harbaugh has brought her back to serve as the honorary captain.
While we are all lamenting a less than stellar start to the season and some are questioning the direction of the program, I think we can all agree that this is something we can celebrate. When she visited, she singled out Harbaugh as one of the most involved and responsive coaches she’s encountered when she’s come to speak. Wins and losses matter, but not as much as creating a culture of that develops our student athletes into quality human beings.
https://twitter.com/brendatracy24/status/1036994528576565248?s=21
September 4th, 2018 at 5:27 PM ^
Could be. I don't keep track of what Zach Smith has or has not said so I was surprised by some of the takes in this thread.
September 4th, 2018 at 6:00 PM ^
add "/s" so you don't get negbanged.
Otherwise people think you really mean this.
September 4th, 2018 at 5:26 PM ^
I’m all for bringing her in every year to speak to the team, I know there were many people both coaches and players who said her message was outstanding this past summer. That said, I find this to be an odd choice for a team captain when guys are about to go out and smash each other. Harbaugh was probably trying to take another shot at his rivals, doesn’t work as well coming off last week’s game.
September 4th, 2018 at 5:47 PM ^
No, I think this is Harbaugh genuinely recognizing Tracy's work and her message, which she has indeed shared with the team. I find it really unfathomable that anyone would believe that this is simply a shot at OSU - Jim Harbaugh does not strike me as that sort.
September 4th, 2018 at 6:08 PM ^
This is the Athletic Department putting the fear of God into the football team..........
September 4th, 2018 at 5:29 PM ^
When I made the thread, I knew it was only a matter of time until Section 1.fuckoff came and dropped his unwanted bullshit. Apologies to all that have to read it. Should have provided a trigger warning for his victim blaming
September 4th, 2018 at 7:45 PM ^
It still amazes me that so many people get upset and respond to posters that are just looking for a response. My younger sister never figured that out either, just ignore and the troll (or older brother) will get bored.
September 4th, 2018 at 5:31 PM ^
Should’ve asked her for MSU NEXT YEAR.
September 4th, 2018 at 5:49 PM ^
No, we shouldn't make this a rivalry thing. She should be honored because what she's doing (talking to athletes, particularly male athletes, about what they can do to prevent sexual assualt) is sorely needed in our society. Not to tweak our rivals, or to try and claim some sort of moral high ground. Doing that would only trivialize her message and make it easier for others to dismiss it.
September 4th, 2018 at 5:31 PM ^
I wonder when Braylon will get his chance.
September 4th, 2018 at 7:24 PM ^
He blew it, all of his chances...
September 4th, 2018 at 5:34 PM ^
Thanks for posting this. I'm proud of our team, coach and school for honoring her and trying actively to make ours a program that is part of the solution, not the problem. Especially on the heels of this offseason, it's important for a major college football program to do something like this, and I'm proud that it's ours.
September 4th, 2018 at 5:40 PM ^
Cmon man. There are so many awesome things about this you can’t list them all.
This is good. Bravo.
September 4th, 2018 at 6:01 PM ^
Good stuff and a savvy choice. It is fascinating and also embarrassing that rival fans continue to be jealous of us even when they beat us on the field. It is good to be leaders in a positive way - and when we finally get on top on the football field again, it will be that much sweeter.
September 4th, 2018 at 7:12 PM ^
I knew as soon as I saw the thread title that the trolls were going to come out and play. +1, informative
September 4th, 2018 at 7:29 PM ^
this thread got wonky real quick!
September 4th, 2018 at 7:37 PM ^
Most people most of the time interpret messages as simple. Here, the AD is sending the message that sexual assault is bad and that working to stop it is good.
Is there nuance or sophistication to this? No. Is there virtue signaling involved? Sure. Does any of this make the message unworthy of sending? No.
September 4th, 2018 at 9:01 PM ^
Didn't Jim Harbaugh and several members of the Michigan football team express their appreciation for Brenda Tracy after she met with the team last month? LINK While it might've been more appropriate to have Denard Robinson serve as the honorary captain for the upcoming game against Western Michigan, those who've expressed displeasure with Harbaugh's selection of Ms. Tracy as the honorary captain for the game might want to express their anger directly to the coach and members of the team.
As important as Brenda Tracy's work in discouraging date rape and domestic violence is, and those of us who've got sisters, daughters, granddaughters, nieces or cousins who could be victimized by those acts might have no objection to Harbaugh's decision to shed light on the subject to the wider audience of Michigan football fans and college football fans, offering the honorary captaincy to "Shoelace" would've been a far less controversial option. After all, let's not forget what happened nine years ago tomorrow.
September 4th, 2018 at 10:54 PM ^
Brenda Tracy is as relevant to Michigan as Hank Aaron, but no one complained about his honorary captaincy. Considering the school allowed Deja Vu banners to fly around Michigan Stadium for years, this is not the most controversial thing to happen around that stadium.
September 5th, 2018 at 12:01 AM ^
I don't think the school has any say about those banners flying around the stadium, and think the DejaVu banners may even be flying this weekend.
September 4th, 2018 at 11:03 PM ^
I'll never forget it. I was there. I had given away my four tickets, but after the events of that week, I had to go. I sat on the West sideline, with a view not unlike that camera angle.
It was the Saturday after Stretchgate appeared on the front page of the Sunday Detroit Free Press. And in the reporters' roundtable of predictions for that week, Mark Snyder predicted Michigan would be upset by Western. (Western featured Tim Hiller at QB.)
Lulz. Mark Snyder, now the Director of Communications and Marketing for Lake Orion Public Schools.
September 4th, 2018 at 11:58 PM ^
It’s worth reading this to get sense of what happened to her and why the MRA explosion here is so disgusting. She was terrified, traumatized, and regrets not doing more to help the DA.
September 5th, 2018 at 1:09 AM ^
"While we are all lamenting a less than stellar start to the season and some are questioning the direction of the program, I think we can all agree that this is something we can celebrate"
I read about half of the comments on this so far and I'm blown away that we CAN'T all agree that this is something we can celebrate.
September 5th, 2018 at 9:59 AM ^
While we all want our team to win every game, I believe that Coach Harbaugh is doing so many things to make us proud of our alma mater that the outcomes are overshadowed by the accomplishments. I also believe we have a good chance of winning all the rest of our games, but if we fall short in accomplishments BUT NOT EFFORT, I will still be happy with the coach and the team.
September 5th, 2018 at 4:30 PM ^
Good luck to Brenda and Michigan this weekend!