Grantland Article On DG

Submitted by JimBobTressel on

Worth reading because of the second section.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9506137/devin-gardner-michigan-football-future

 

 

Mouths of babes. Gardner displayed keen situational awareness at a road game at Purdue early in his career: "Me and Jeremy Gallon, neither of us were playing. We were standing on the bench, just chilling out, watching the game, and I hear 'DEVIN! DEVIN!,' you know, from the opposing crowd, and I'm like, 'Nah, I'm not turning around.' And then they go, 'GALLON! GALLON! IT'S FOR MY DAUGHTER!,' and I'm like, 'Don't turn around. Don't turn around. Promise.' Jeremy says, 'I ain't gonna turn around.' So I walk away for a second, and then I hear, 'YOU'RE A GALLON OF … SHHHHH' and I was like" — he sighs here, shaking his head and laughing — "Gallon turned around.

"And ever since then I loved playing there, because that was hilarious. I said to Gallon, 'I TOLD YOU.' He doesn't even turn around at home games now. He kinda got scarred after that."

• It turns out you can't just demand high-profile public figures to hand over their contact information. "People ask me for my number all the time on Twitter. Sometimes I'll give 'em a fake number. Like a 555 movie number. One guy got so mad at me, like, 'I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU GAVE ME A FAKE NUMBER,' and I was like, 'You should know! It says 555! No number in the world starts with 555! You really tried to call that?'"

• Just imagine how much more forcefully he can hurl his phone at a wall than could your average blogger. A Michigan Man strives for excellence in all things, even if that thing is 4 Pics 1 Word. "I actually had to ask Twitter for help yesterday. I don't know how good I am. I mean, I'm decent. But you don't want to seem like you're not that smart. It's like, I graduated from Michigan, I feel like I should be able to do this."

AdamVN1

July 25th, 2013 at 10:34 AM ^

"Gardner's workout habits this spring and summer seek to emulate the elder Manning brother's offseason regime. "We've been throwing every chance we get. Everybody has different class schedules, so I'll come in two or three times a day to get all the receivers in. A lot of people finally understand that every year we've just been so close, we just missed our chance to get the Big Ten championship.""

It's awesome to hear how hard the team is working to get ready for the season before official practices begin.  Every day I get more excited for this team to hit the field next month!

GoWings2008

July 25th, 2013 at 10:42 AM ^

since you got the story in before someone else did. 

Comparing Gardner's workouts to a pro's workouts is very telling.  I really think DG will have a special season and I'm glad he's getting the receivers in synch.  Looking forward to a nice balanced offense this year.

ish

July 25th, 2013 at 10:56 AM ^

there were pictures and videos of gardner posted on the espn.com blog from yesterday's B1G media day.  that's a handsome and well-spoken dude.

Spunky

July 25th, 2013 at 11:18 AM ^

I disagree with the author about Michigan's matte helmets. There should have been more consideration given to placing maize numbers on the Outback Bowl uniform, though. Still, I enjoyed the article. 

Maizenblueball

July 25th, 2013 at 11:31 AM ^

I'm obviously excited about DG the player, but he also seems like a dude with a good sense of humor.  He just seems like a funny guy to be around, but also knows when to be serious and  be a leader.  I'm glad he's playing for Michigan.

samdrussBLUE

July 25th, 2013 at 11:59 AM ^

"...occasional ill-advised detour into matte finishes"

Get off my lawn with the helmet changes

LSAClassOf2000

July 25th, 2013 at 11:59 AM ^

"Denard always told me to just be confident," says Gardner. "Be confident in myself and in my teammates. I'm a confident person already, but it reassured me. He was always telling me things he saw on the field, reminding me 'This is your team, this is your team and you've got to lead us.'"

I remember seeing from my seats late last season that Robinson would often be near Gardner and they looked to be having a pretty good conversation going much of the time. Several articles have been written already about the mentoring of Gardner that Robinson provided, but it seems pretty clear that it has helped immensely. Not only did Gardner seem to find that confidence fairly quickly last year, he's taken a dive into the QB role (and really, a leadership role) through extra workouts and things like the Manning Passing Academy and simply being there and present for the team, especially the offense. Now that he's in the wheelhouse of the OC as well as his own perhaps, I can foresee a very nice year for Devin Gardner. 

gwkrlghl

July 25th, 2013 at 12:38 PM ^

Gardner didn't put on his best offensive performance against a talented, hostile South Carolina defense, but remembers all the time he had to throw that day, free of Jadeveon Clowney's clutches. "Taylor Lewan is the best left tackle in the country. [Clowney] didn't touch me one time. It was one play where he wasn't blocked, and everybody's kinda blowing that up. But every time I looked, Taylor had him in check and I wasn't worried."

Like I've said before, it's a shame that hit happened because it totally overshadowed how great Taylor was against Clowney that day. Even Clowney said as much during SEC media days IIRC

Everyone Murders

July 25th, 2013 at 12:43 PM ^

Glad to see that Holly Anderson (the author of this piece) is working on staff at Grantland.  I think she added a lot to EDSBS, and am happy she's getting an opportunity to work at one of my favorite sports and culture outlets. 

Finally, it was good to see that Devin is not getting overwhelmed with others' expectations.  His own are quite high enough, and it sounds like he is still having fun playing.  I feel like we're in very good hands this year.

Thanks, OP, for posting this.

Yostal

July 25th, 2013 at 1:06 PM ^

In the footnotes, Holly notes:
Recently granted a medical hardship for that season, giving him an additional year of eligibility, Gardner won't say whether he intends to stick around Ann Arbor long enough to use it. "I've just got an eye on this season. I just want to win every game. That's really all I'm focusing on now."
 
Is this the first official confirmation of Devin being granted his redshirt?

Prince Lover

July 25th, 2013 at 2:25 PM ^

There are very few people I would rather he get advice from than Denard. I like his mentors, I like his off season camp circuit, I like his extra work with receivers and I like his confidence. Ingredients for a very exciting season. Now if he can stay healthy....

M-Wolverine

July 25th, 2013 at 4:03 PM ^

 

There was no Woodson-Manning Heisman smack at the Passing Academy. We asked.

 

Disappointed it didn't happen.