Pit2047

February 20th, 2015 at 6:59 PM ^

But seriously though the hate he receives on this blog is overboard imo. I mean maybe he catches a few more balls and we win a couple more games and go to a crappy bowl game, then maybe Hoke is still hear and the tire fire is never put out. Personally I wouldn't change much about this past season.

johnthesavage

February 20th, 2015 at 11:38 PM ^

Not sure what the "good of the team" means if not wins and losses. That's how the performance of the team is measured. At any rate, I think the quote was a turning point for how U-M fans looked at him.

I get that you think he was standing up for all the guys in the room. But if you don't think winning or losing matters, I don't want you on my team. This is a competitive endeavor. And it puts a certain unflattering context on his later, apparently disinterested, performances.

Danwillhor

February 21st, 2015 at 1:30 AM ^

I'll admit that. It makes me a bit sad that he wasn't given proper opportunities to truly showcase what a talent he was. At the same time, he flat out gave up in many people's eyes and admission of anonymous teammates. Having seen the guy around campus & hearing stories about him that are absolutely unquestionable in their honesty/believability, it's likely better he left for the team's sake. Sad considering his insane physical talents/potential but while not a "bad guy" he just doesn't have a "team first" attitude. I've heard some that know him question how much he even cared about winning more than the perks of being who he was & was going to be. So, personally a mix of sadness over wasting such a great talent but indifference due to it likely being his fault as much as anything else. I wish him well.

GoBlueInNYC

February 20th, 2015 at 5:33 PM ^

Man, this board has really turned on the guy. So very bitter. I still wish the guy luck in the draft and NFL. Hopefully he reaches the potential he flashed briefly while he was at UM.

ST3

February 20th, 2015 at 6:39 PM ^

Instead, we got a 733 yard season with 310 of those in the first two and the last games of the season, and very little in between.

I think Gardner was hurt all year, couldn't throw a deep ball and that torpedoed the season because of Hoke's inability to find a competent backup QB. Hoke paid for it. Let's all just move on.

EDIT: and blocking, I would have gladly accepted some blocking.

tolmichfan

February 20th, 2015 at 7:25 PM ^

So your saying our offense by the ND game knew all the plays and didn't need to actually be run by the guys who were supposed to play all year. Injuries happen when you play football, it's part of the game. Does it suck yes, but to blame the coaches for keeping guys in who obviously needed to learn how to run the offense is stupid.

tolmichfan

February 20th, 2015 at 7:56 PM ^

Your right it was late in that game and I believe he was either blocking or receiving a bubble screen. We were incredibly young especially on offense and guys needed the experience of running the offense. It really wouldn't surprise me if next season And Harbaugh was in a similar situation he would do the same thing.



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PurpleStuff

February 20th, 2015 at 7:06 PM ^

He led the team in receiving by an enormous margin.  55% more receiving yards than Darboh (the #2 WR) and 376% more than Chesson (#3 WR).  He had the only catch over 34 yards and twice as many TD as Darboh (Chesson and Norfleet didn't have any).

His numbers were also virtually identical to the year before when he had a healthy, functional QB some of the time and Gallon on the other side. 

If Funchess wasn't trying, I'd hate to know what everybody else on the team was doing.

gwkrlghl

February 20th, 2015 at 5:36 PM ^

but at just 6'5", you need to be a good shooter too. He'd probably be a 3, maybe a 4 (For comparison's sake, THJ is 6'6" and is much quicker than Funch). I'm skeptical he had the game to play D1 ball.

Side note now: I miss THJ. Loved watching him play for us

The Shredder

February 20th, 2015 at 5:36 PM ^

Funchess: "I could have played with more effort". I find it pretty interesting how his time at Michigan will now be known for packing it in during Michigan's darkest hours. His legacy is pretty much tarnished imo. People point to the drops but it was his effort and body language that did it for me.