Devin Gardner Redshirt Update

Submitted by umhero on

 

As for Robinson's backup ...

At the end of the football season, true freshman quarterback Devin Gardner filed paperwork to petition the NCAA for a medical redshirt year due to lower back problems.

On Wednesday, Michigan football coach Brady Hoke said that process is under way. He did not know the timetable for a decision.

Source: AnnArbor.com

 

justingoblue

February 3rd, 2011 at 3:12 AM ^

Good to hear that he's applied. From what I've heard it'd be unusual for him not to get it; he didn't play pas the deadline and he obviously had some sort of documentation to back up the application. Here's to that being right.

Philbert

February 3rd, 2011 at 7:43 AM ^

I feel dirty.. for some reason this situation feels kind of eh... trust me when i say i want devin in blue for another 4 years but was his injury really prohibiting him from playing? i mean we all hate on bama for 100000 medical redshirts a year with the excuse he had a splinter in his hand but i just never felt he was devistatingly injured. he was num 2 on the depth chart vs miss st. thank god he didnt play and i hope  he gets his extra year. i would love to see him tear it up for a while.

tubauberalles

February 3rd, 2011 at 9:06 AM ^

We don't actually know that Devin wasn't injured.  Just because he possibly could have played (which we only believe, but don't actually know)  doesn't necessarily mean he wasn't also being held out unless absolutely necessary, for instance if Tate was sent home from the bowl game and Denard was injured (and Kennedy or Furha were also injured or passed over).  If we'd had the ability/option last year, isn't it possible that Tate could have reasonably been held out of games for his shoulder injury?  If that had happened, we would have lobbied for him to get a medical redshirt (I'm ignoring whichever game that happened in and assuming for this analogy that he would have been eligible, timing wise) - even though he was able to play to some level.

I agree that it certainly looks like we're living by the letter of the law instead of its spirit in this case, but we're all only guessing that Devin could have played through whatever injury it was that was the cause for him to miss games and likely become eligible for a medical redshirt.  However bad the injury was, the coaches deemed that it kept him out of games and our only real evidence is that he was actually out of games.

MichFan1997

February 3rd, 2011 at 10:45 AM ^

They are doing that against the players own wishes. I'm thinking Gardner wouldn't be pissed at the football program if we "forced" him to have more eligibilty.

Actually, think about it. This is the complete opposite of Alabama. This is MORE playing time as opposed to being off the team.

Philbert

February 3rd, 2011 at 12:45 PM ^

wasn't trying to start the negbang on me so I apologize. I was just saying that it was never announced in the pressers and pregame fluff that he was ever ruled out and I wasn't saying were bama jr. trust me i would become a toledo fan if we ever lost our morals. I know everything is within the rules and im all for taking advantage of it.

Six Zero

February 3rd, 2011 at 6:03 AM ^

This is a recap.

Yesterday Hoke essentially said that Devin's redshirt will be officially reviewed/granted when his eligibility is exhausted.  If this is the case we may not hear the end of this for another three years. Weird.

rbgoblue

February 3rd, 2011 at 9:31 AM ^

I'm pretty sure thats not the case however.  At least thats not how it has been done in the past.  The NCAA isn't going to say, "Well, we dont think you were really injured your freshman year, so good luck in the draft in a few months."  That would not be in the best interest of the student athlete if they were planning on earning their degree over five years.  As has been with everyone in the past, we should know before next season whether or not DG was granted a medical RS.

* I believe in some cases you can earn a 6th year of eligibility if you were given a red shirt, and later lost a season due to injury.  In these cases, medical red shirts are decided at the end of a player's eligibility.  I'm slightly concerned by Hoke's response however.  Please dont screw this up...

umhero

February 3rd, 2011 at 9:33 AM ^

That doesn't make any sense.

Donnell Kirkwood was a freshman RB at Minnesota last season. He appeared in four games in 2010 carrying the ball 27 times for 112 yards. He missed the remainder of season with a leg injury and was recently granted medical hardship waiver. He didn't have to wait until his eligibility was exhausted to find out.

How is his situation different from Gardner's?

http://minnesota.sbnation.com/minnesota-golden-gophers/2011/1/21/1948518/gophers-running-back-kirkwood-granted-medical-redshirt

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/blogs/114249984.html

artds

February 3rd, 2011 at 6:07 AM ^

I wonder if the fact that he was listed as #2 on the depth chart for the bowl game hurts his chances. That basically says he was ready to step in and play at a moment's notice, and had he, that would have burned his redshirt for sure. Luckily, it turned out to not be neccessary, but remember, this isn't a regular redshirt we're talking about.

Quail2theVict0r

February 3rd, 2011 at 6:53 AM ^

This is everything we already knew. The only new peice is during the presser Hoke said that they won't review it until Gardner's eligibility for this year is over. So I'm assuming that until next year's eligibility starts we won't have any real news.

michiganfanforlife

February 3rd, 2011 at 9:30 AM ^

I am happy to announce that there is nothing new to announce. I wanted to take my time, and yours to make sure you knew there was nothing more to talk about. Now, please discuss this further lack of information ad naseum.  As soon as there is any new chance to discuss the lack of information, I will let you know. 

michgoblue

February 3rd, 2011 at 10:19 AM ^

At the end of the day, he will probably get the medical redshirt.  If that happens, then DG got in a valuable first taste of college FB during his RS year, and will now have 4 years of eligibility on top of that first taste, so this would be a huge win for us.  

If the RS is denied, however, then 1 year of Devin's eligibility was flushed down the toilet for only a handful of, ultimately, meaningless plays, while Tate was sitting on the bench available to play.  This would result in Devin - one of the country's top QB prospects - ending up being our starter for a whole 1 season, when Denard graduates (assuming Denard stays healthy, doesn't transfer or isn't ruled ineligible because he is part Cheetah), as opposed to taking over the team in 2013 with two years to be an upperclass starter.