Chat GPT Ranks All Time Michigan Football Players
Chat GPT ranked the 10 best Michigan Football Players of All-Time. Taco Pants is the only glaring omission.
It's fine to let it rank football players. Just don't give it the nuclear launch codes.
Somewhere there’s a 21 year old National Guard dude with the codes.
I feel safe as long as said dude limits distribution to 20 or so teenagers on Discord. Any more than that and I would get concerned.
Also raises eyebrows if the AI system starts calling itself "Joshua" and expresses interest in playing Tic-Tac-Toe.
"Also raises eyebrows if the AI system starts calling itself "Joshua" and expresses interest in playing Tic-Tac-Toe."
+1 for an obvious reference to a Michigan Marching Band halftime show from 1983.
April 14th, 2023 at 10:10 PM ^
I'd piss on a sparkplug if I thought it'd do any good.
April 15th, 2023 at 12:30 PM ^
The only winning move is not to play.
April 15th, 2023 at 10:00 PM ^
Don't worry the government will arrest anyone who exposes their lies and the media will help hunt them down too.
No way. it's not a fine list.
Charles Woodson has to be #1. No offense to Harmon, but the best player has to at least play a similar game during the TV era and well... also has to play in an era after integration.
Can't be a GOAT if you didn't even play black people on the turf. (not that it's Harmon's fault)
April 15th, 2023 at 11:35 AM ^
The sample size is too low for Harmon and really all of the old timers. One would think Chat GPT would have taken that into consideration.
This top 10 will get no argument from me. In fact, I think I agree with the sequence.
This list is horrible IMO
Charles Woodson would be #1 for me. I agree with top 3.
Rick Leach was a big time winner, almost beat a #1 ranked OSU squad as a freshman and beat them the next 3 years, twice in the toilet bowl, a shutout in one of them.
I think I would replace Ford with Rick "the peach" Leach. One of the most prolific offensive players at Meeeechigan. Also a multi sport athlete who went on to play major league baseball.
Co-signed. Any list of Michigan greats that doesn’t include quicksilver lighting is a flawed list.
To this day I think about how Ricky would’ve fared in a Rich Rod offense. He was WAY better than Denard IMO
April 14th, 2023 at 10:32 PM ^
Henne, Brady, and Denard were all better. Henne far better, just had much tougher competition. Henne actually won games with his arm. Brady, better clutch and better numbers, just didn’t get the playing time. And Denard a far better runner and probably a better passer too compared to Leach.
Any of the running backs during Leach’s years were better. The defense and running backs won all those games during the Leach years. He was only exciting when you saw him run the option.
Dude you have some ax to grind against Leach - did he pee in your cornflakes when you were a kid, or something?
As far as passing goes, he was the first QB that actually made passing a thing under Bo. Yeah, Franklin threw passes, but only as a change of pace. Leach was the first to try making it an actual part of the games. But Bo's pass coordination (if you could call it that) was so bad that it didn't really catch on until Anthony Carter came along and forced him to improve it. I mean, did Bo even recruit WRs before AC? Comparing Leach to Henne or Brady is a completely unfair thing to do, and tells us unambiguously that you have something personal against Leach. Two losses/yr, each blamed on Leach? Look at Bo's record - it includes 2 losses most years, even when Leach was nowhere to be seen...
April 15th, 2023 at 12:13 PM ^
Because he was overrated. And because I had to watch all his shitty passes.
Stop making excuses. Bo had great receivers. He just didn’t have anyone he could trust throwing the ball.
And it’s not the era. Plenty of great QBs in that era. Montana played for ND in that era. And right after Leach we had Wangler. Leach was not Bo’s first QB that would make passing a thing. That was Johnny Wangler. Wangler completed almost as many passes in his one and a half seasons as Leach did in his four full seasons. Wangler completed 57% compared to Leach’s 46%. And Johnny Wangler in his one full season did something Leach never did, he won the Big 10, he won the Rose Bowl, and he finished the season ranked in the top 5 at number 4.
You don’t have to change eras to find a better QB, you only have to go to the next QB.
I watched Wangler and I had to endure watching Leach. There is no comparison.
And stop throwing out stupid generalizations. You can blame Leach and his turnovers for the big losses. 5 turnovers against OSU, one led to their game winning TD. Two turnovers against USC in the Rose Bowl that gave them 10 points. That and a phantom Charles White TD lost the game at 17-10. And 3 interceptions to an unranked MSU in 1978.
I appreciate Rick Leach, but we should also mention Jim Smith (WR, All-American, Wolverine record holder, and future Steeler) played with Leach at the time.
Much of today’s fan base never had the opportunity to see Leach play. Here is trip down memory lane.
Note the modern presentation. It was certainly a different game back then.
April 15th, 2023 at 11:15 AM ^
That’s his highlight reel over 4 years. Only 4 minutes out of 50 hours of football.
April 14th, 2023 at 10:17 PM ^
Responding to your point that he beat OSU three times and almost led an upset of #1 OSU. OSU averaged only 3 points per game during Leach’s 3 victories. The Defense won the games. And Leach absolutely did not almost beat OSU as a freshman. He was the one who lost it by throwing an interception on the M 32 with about 2 and a half minutes left which led to Ohio’s winning TD. Overall, “Michigan out-gained the Buckeyes by 361 yards to 212 yards. Rick Leach completed seven of 20 passes for 102 yards and three interceptions (two of them in the final two-and-a-half minutes).”
Edit: to add insult…Leach was also responsible for 2 fumbles in the OSU game he lost. As a runner, he only had 18 net yards for a 1.1 yard per carry average.
Leach was a terrible passer. Only completed 46%. He threw one interception for every 7 completions.
Lost two games every year and always the last game of the year. Someone said Leach always ended up leading Michigan to a top ten season. Yes, but Michigan would start the year ranked in the top 4 and end up in the bottom 5.
When we watched him go back to pass, the entire stadium went silent praying it goes into the hands of a Michigan player. Watch some of his games where he threw the ball. His throws were all over the place.
He was good at running the option. Definitely not a top 10. JFC
April 14th, 2023 at 11:51 PM ^
Leach finished third in the Heisman voting. The voters of his era thought highly of him. Judging him by today’s standards is not fair to him. I’m biased because he was the first QB I watched. He defined the position for me until Grbac came along and started the long run of 6’ 5” immobile passing QBs, which lasted until Denard.
Yah, it’s really amazing how overrated he was remembered. He was a better college baseball player statistically. Maybe it was the 4 year starter. Maybe it was the winning records (which were not due to him). Or maybe it was the great athleticism. But based on actual facts he was not that good even in that era. He was just lucky to be the best athlete, on a winning team of athletes, with a bad arm.
i was there too and my memory is the nightmare every time he threw the ball. Then we had Anthony Carter and (ed: Wangler). Wangler’s throws were so much more accurate and Carter was absolutely electric.
I think what elevated him was his leadership and that he was a winner (3 in a row against OSU etc.). But the stats are what they are for him as a passer. Certainly a great option runner and a physically/mentally tough guy - but not really a passer,
Steve Smith was worse. It is amazing what AC did with Smith at QB.
April 15th, 2023 at 12:31 PM ^
Agree about Steve Smith.
What AC did was mostly with Wangler at QB. Wangler almost wasn’t the next QB after Leach. He had to battle it out with BJ Dickey. Dickey was the next Leach type QB and Bo wanted to go with him. But half way through it was Wangler.
BJ Dickey - those options tosses that got the RB crushed were hard to watch. Watching Bo cringe on Michigan Replay was painful.
April 15th, 2023 at 11:38 AM ^
Woodson is clearly 1, there really isn't a significant argument that can really be made against him, especially if you look at his NFL career as supporting evidence.
Opinions are like having an asshole, apparently even Chat GPT has one.
With that I'm agreement, IMO Ricky Leach belongs in the conversation. Bashing him is just absurd...not JMO.
I'm ok with the top 9 and the order of them...I think that there are multiple options better than number 10 (strictly as a player)...Throw a dart at Jamie Morris, Mike Hart, Braylon, Hutch, I mean Griese won a NC... There are other options as well...
I asked chat gpt the same question (each answer is unique) and it included:
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Ron Kramer: Played for the Wolverines from 1954 to 1956 and was a two-time All-American. He went on to have a successful career in the NFL and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1978.
Ranking football players is always an apples/oranges thing, but have only one defensive player on the list isn't right.
Harbaugh was very good, but our best QB in school history? Not sure if I'd go that far.
Ford was team MVP in 1934 ... but that team went 1-7. He's on there because of what he did after his career, obviously.
ChatGPT seems to use post-Michigan accomplishments as a factor (at least based on the article). I'm surprised, then, that it didn't throw Brady in there somewhere.
maybe once TB starts earning some of the $375 million contract he signed it'll help ChatGPT to elevate his ranking.
I would have replaced Harbaugh with Bennie Friedman, Jake Long with Willie Heston, and Gerald Ford with Ron Simpkins. Sorry, Mr. President, you weren’t even the best player on your team.
Username checks out
April 14th, 2023 at 10:01 PM ^
Chat GPT talk has me wishing for more info on Tim Tebow and Brett Favre.
April 14th, 2023 at 10:03 PM ^
#10 piqued my curiosity. Apparently, six US Presidents have played football quite well.
This is from https://www.profootballhof.com/news/2020/02/presidents-who-played-football/
"1. Gerald Ford (Michigan): There really wasn't any other option for No. 1 on this list. Not only did Ford play at Michigan, but was a team MVP with the Wolverines after being named all-state in high school. He also had offers to go pro following college, but instead chose to coach at Yale while attending law school there. Then he ended up as President, which probably doesn't happen if he signs with the Green Bay Packers instead Gerald Ford was all-state at South High School in Grand Rapids, MI, and went on to become an MVP for the University of Michigan (even playing against the Chicago Bears as a member of the 1935 collegiate all-star team). After turning down several pro football offers (including one from the Green Bay Packers), Ford took a coaching position at Yale and applied to its law school."
I was surprised Warren G. Harding wasn't on the list since he was a dangerous two-way threat with great muscle twitch and hip rotation at Ohio Central College.
Not a president, but Supreme Court Justice Byron White is really interesting in the same way. He was an all-american at Colorado. And before he became a lawyer, he was the highest paid player in the NFL at one point.
April 14th, 2023 at 10:12 PM ^
Charles,Taco, and Tom is awesome in Michigan football
South Park has a brilliant episode on ChatGPT
April 14th, 2023 at 10:19 PM ^
It was before my time, but crazy to think that it was only a 6 year difference in heismans between Desmond & Woodson. It would be the equivalent of Jake Butt (2016) and Blake Corum (2022).
April 14th, 2023 at 10:40 PM ^
A nice list. I'm sure some will remind us of names that should have been included but all 10 of these players are good.
April 15th, 2023 at 12:07 AM ^
I’ll throw Mark Messner’s name into the mix. 4 year starter, UM all time sack and TFL leader, 4x all B1G, All America 1988.
He was a holy terror
April 15th, 2023 at 12:19 AM ^
None of us saw Tom Harmon play, so I can't speak to him, but Anthony Carter will always be the best Michigan player I ever saw. He's still, I believe, the all-time NCAA leader in yards per touch (run/reception/return), and despite how rarely Bo got him the ball he still dominated.
The 1979 final play against Indiana is iconic, but rarely discussed is the way he kept his balance on that play. Just flat-out insane. I wish I could convey to people who never saw him play ... how insanely exciting it was/he was every single time he touched the ball.
I love Desmond. I do. But ... I'll take AC ten times out of ten. In my now 55+ years, the most exciting player I've ever seen play college football.
I think it was the ND game for Carter’s last season on the ABC (Keith Jackson, R.I.P.) broadcast, where ABC kept putting up AC’s career stats on every offensive drive. An embarrassment of riches. I couldn’t stop cackling with glee. (Until Michigan lost)
Wait.. what happened to Keith Jackson??
AC is probably #1. I've debated is he or Charles Woodson #1. It's a tough choice. But as far as AC being on a level all his own, its true. He made receiving look easy. Not even Jerry Rice made it look that easy.
April 15th, 2023 at 11:53 AM ^
I know I rant about AC below, he was the most exciting player I ever saw, but Sir Charles was the most complete player I ever saw in a Michigan uniform. There wasn’t a position he played that he didn’t dominate. Watching Woodson play must have been like watching Harmon, I can see why he (Tom Harmon) was listed at #1. Makes you wonder about how many fantastic African-American athletes we missed in the first 90 years of college football.