John U Bacon- Denard Article
It's hard to believe we have to be told to appreciate this kid. Yeah, he may not make the perfect pass every time however I can't imagine any M fan not just loving this kid. We couldn't ask for a better face to represent our team, the university, and even our state.
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120921/OPINION03/209210313/Some-Mi…rilliance-Denard-Robinson?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE
September 21st, 2012 at 8:05 AM ^
the sentiment. I find myself getting critical, probably more than deserved. But then he has a moment of pure brilliance, and all is forgotten.
September 21st, 2012 at 8:15 AM ^
Good article. Denard will be missed once he is gone. Sometimes it takes not having something to make you appreciate how awesome DRob16 really is.
I love the piece toward the end of the article...Carter, Howard, Woodson, Robinson...BAM!
September 21st, 2012 at 8:19 AM ^
And that, to one caller, was the problem: "I'm tired of living and dying with Denard." In other words, Robinson was too good for that fan's taste.
I don't think the caller was complaining that Denard is too good, and I think the caller has a very valid concern (maybe moreso after the first two games, rather than UMass). I like Bacon and love Denard as much as the next guy, but this article is a pretty fluffy straw man.
September 21st, 2012 at 8:33 AM ^
Is that complaints that "Denard is the entire offense" somehow get conflated with complaints ABOUT Denard.
I sort of understand the complaint; the thinking is that it is because of Denard's style of play that we rely on him so much, and that with a Henne/Navarre/Shane Morris type we wouldn't be so reliant on one guy. But while true, it obfuscates the reality that we rely on Denard so much because he's the best quarterback AND the best athlete we have, and that "let Denard do ridiculous shit" remains the best offense we have, and it also happens to have produced two-plus years of the most prolific Michigan offenses in memory.
We don't rely so much on Denard because of Denard's limitations. We rely on Denard so much because of Denard's level of Colombian Awesome.
September 21st, 2012 at 9:38 AM ^
How did we do in 2007 when Henne was injured with true freshman Mallett?
What about 2004, when Henne was a true freshman? The only reason he wasn't terrible was the "let's throw it up to Braylon and pray" play. Braylon was the offense.
A lot of college football is about a single dependency. Look at the Gators post Tebow (even with Urban and his uber recruits), look at Auburn post Cam, look at OSU last year, without TP.
Denard is the entire offense, because the other guys are limited (and I love them). I mean, who is an NFL player (maybe Lewan, probably some of the freshmen, but that's a long way away).
Junior Hemmingway, who was amazing last year isn't even NFL material.
Bottom line, is that all criticism of Denard is just...stupid.
September 21st, 2012 at 10:56 AM ^
September 21st, 2012 at 9:55 AM ^
Denard is definitely sometimes annoying in that he is high risk/high reward. Backed up on our own goal line? 99 yard TD run where no one even touches him, something we'll all miss in future QBs. Simple passing route? Pick six, something that rarely happened in the DeBoring offenses.
Going beyond that though I think part of the frustration people have is not at Denard, so much as the concept that was in place when he first took over the offense. If Denard worked, the offense put up 400 yards and at least 30 points. If Denard didn't work or was knocked out, things tended to grind to halt unless Tate could pull some magic out. Denard was not surrounded by talent. The non Denard running game has historically been problematic. The WR core was decent but lacked the Terrell/Edwards/Manningham type guys. It wasn't so much as living and dying by Denard so much as "The QB has to be amazing or we're fucked." It's not so much bitching about Denard as it is about the system leaning so heavily on one posistion. I'm glad to see us getting away from that.
Basically in the future I hope we get dynamic athletes like Denard as QBs. I also hope they run for ~80 yards on a couple big runs and pass for ~200 every game as a result of the weapons around them, as opposed to us needing them to put up 400 yars because nothing else works. The day the designed QB run becomes something we just do every so often as opposed to a staple play will be happy day for me.
September 21st, 2012 at 8:21 AM ^
I think this should be mandatory reading for that little douchebag who sits in the row behind me at games yelling about how terrible Denard is. He even yelled we shouldn't be cheering on Denard's 90 degree angle cut and TD run. You can't please some people I guess.
September 21st, 2012 at 9:06 AM ^
You had to have been sitting near me at the UMass game. There was some teenage brat screaming complaints about Denard's passing. Eventually after a throw he criticized where Jeremy Jackson's route was sloppy I called him out on his bs and he canned it.
September 21st, 2012 at 8:23 AM ^
I'm not sure what those fans expected after 3 games, but as Bacon said in the article, some people aren't happy unless they're not happy.
September 21st, 2012 at 8:43 AM ^
If that's the case (and I say this with all respect) those people need to sit quietly.
- 269 yards and 14 points against Alabama are more yards and as many points as they have given up to a FBS team in any game (before or after us) since they played eventual national champion Auburn in November of 2010.
- 31 points and 422 yards in only 10 possessions against Air Force.
- 63 points and ALL THE YARDS against UMass (I know, it's UMass, but the players can't choose their baby seals, they can only club the one in front of them)
I suggest people who question Denard's performance thus far this year take a good look at the UFRs.
September 21st, 2012 at 8:59 AM ^
September 21st, 2012 at 9:03 AM ^
This is not a new phenomenon.
Fun fact: last week, one guy in the live blog "officially gave up on Denard" after the pick 6. In a game in which he went for almost 400 yards in three quarters, and in which Michigan put up 63 points. I was tempted to publish the comment for sheer mockery, but was distracted by a shiny object and forgot.
September 21st, 2012 at 9:35 AM ^
Bacon just said it on WTKA, "The two hardest jobs in the State of Michigan is being the goalie for the Red Wings, and the QB for Michigan. You can win Stanley Cups, Big Ten Titles, and people will still be calling for a new guy"
September 21st, 2012 at 9:41 AM ^
Just a question, but mods please delete if you would like.
September 21st, 2012 at 9:53 AM ^
I'm going to neg that comment as it didnt need to be asked and the simple answer is NO. I think with the support Willis Ward has recently recieved from the M Football family that it should speak for itself.
September 21st, 2012 at 10:13 AM ^
September 21st, 2012 at 12:09 PM ^
September 21st, 2012 at 10:30 AM ^
September 21st, 2012 at 12:28 PM ^
Race relations are not a black and white topic. (I did not mean that pun at all, and I kind of hate myself for leaving it once I caught it...) You have to approach it under the pretense that is about shades of gray. There is ALWAYS racism when you have a group of 112,000 people on any given weekend. That is too large a pool to have 100% civility. It's easy for most of us to say "No, racism doesn't play a part in this," because for the most part, we don't see it in our everyday lives. However, just because it is not a factor for me or any of my associates, it does not mean that we don't have anyone in the stadium cursing his dreads under their breath.
September 21st, 2012 at 10:30 AM ^
I don't know. I don't think there is any simple answer to that question or that the "M football family" is any one thing or speaks with one voice. There's been an outpouring with the Willis Ward story. Denard's probably the most beloved player in at least recent memory. And as I said earlier, Michigan fans love to complain about their QBs, and Denard's shortcomings can be frustrating. At least no one's cheered when he's been injured, as they did with Henne.
At the same time, I can't say that I haven't heard fans around me complaining about "that hair," or running qbs, or "Florida guys," in ways that at least seem like proxies for race. I guess that they no longer feel able to articulate those complaints directly in terms of race, and have to use code words, is actually a sign of progress.
September 21st, 2012 at 10:49 AM ^
Navarre, Tom Brady... make sense. I know it's a delicate issue and the answer is not going to be a simple yes or no. However, I do feel that a bit of the anti-Denard sentiment is due to race. Your point of proxies seems correct too.
My wife (not a Michigan grad and only a passing football fan) thought race was a factor when we went to a couple of games during Denard's 1st and 2nd years just by observing the crowd and people's attitudes.
I also thought more about race after the Iowa game 2 years ago (Denard was the starter, got injured and Tate came in for a few series) the fans seemed overly enthusiastic regarding Tate.
Anyway, we're playing the Irish tomorrow and I'd rather talk about how Denard will make their fans cry for a 4th year in a row.
September 21st, 2012 at 11:33 AM ^
I also thought more about race after the Iowa game 2 years ago (Denard was the starter, got injured and Tate came in for a few series) the fans seemed overly enthusiastic regarding Tate.
Eh . . . on practically any football team, who's the most popular player? The backup QB.
During Navarre's first year (2001), I recall him being pulled a couple of times for Jermaine Gonzales. The racial context was reversed (white guy getting pulled for black guy), but the fans reacted the same way. The backup QB is always a blank slate that the fans project their hopes and dreams on. (But then if he comes in and sucks, they want the starter to come back in.)
September 21st, 2012 at 11:31 AM ^
1. Tate always got people talking animatedly, whether he was on the field, throwing on the run, or whether he was misbehaving off the field.
2. Tate had been a starter. And flip-flopping of QB starters, the return of past starters, etc., always gets people talking. Can you say, "quarterback controversy"?
September 21st, 2012 at 6:15 PM ^
Or maybe those are shots at the Rodriguez era.
September 21st, 2012 at 10:31 AM ^
September 21st, 2012 at 10:55 AM ^
I've never heard such a comment in my area of the Stadium, but it seems pointless to argue with you about whether some dullish people might have said such a thing as you suggest. If you heard it, then so be it.
Prior to Denard Robinson, as chance would have it, it had been a while since we had a black QB. But I remember very, very well Dennis Franklin and Demetrius Brown. Along with every other Michigan QB I have ever watched in person. And I suppose that I have to say that I recall clearly that Michigan fans' criticisms of their quarterbacks is exactly as John U. Bacon suggests. It is pretty much constant, and completely cross-racial. Being white or black as a Michigan QB won't save you from the wrath of fans who expect Michigan to win every game, with no interceptions.
Woody Hayes reminded us that when you throw a forward pass, three things can happen and two of them are bad. Michigan fans have a very hard time understanding that.
September 21st, 2012 at 7:51 PM ^
September 21st, 2012 at 9:50 PM ^
September 21st, 2012 at 10:57 AM ^
Being a biggot doesn't have to do with your level of higher education. It has to do with how shitty of a person you are.
September 21st, 2012 at 11:08 AM ^
are often part of a very homogenous, insular demographic, that can make it easier to perpetuate ignorant attitudes & stereotypes.
September 21st, 2012 at 10:21 AM ^
This is a pattern that started before Denard and will continue after him.
Exhibit A: Tom Brady and Drew Henson. Drew Henson was the "next best thing" and way too many fans couldn't understand why we didn't start him.
Exhibit B: Shane Morris. Already, there are way too many fans who think he should be given the starting job next year, and move Gardner and Bellomy to backup positions. This really grinds my gears.
I love Denard, and doubt we'll EVER see another like him.
One thing that some coaches don't seem to get is that someone can be a great college QB even if their NFL potential is limited. Denard may be one in that category.
September 21st, 2012 at 10:50 AM ^
I don't see why it is not a fair question. If the answer is no, then fine, but the question is fair.
I think that for most of us, any complaints about Denard obviously have nothing to do with race. The only real complaint that I have is that he is somewhat inaccurate at times and does miss some critical reads. These are fair football comments.
But, I would be lying if I said that I have not heard fans at games who have said something to the effect of "I love Denard and all, but I can't wait until we have a more traditional QB. He just doesn't look like a Michigan QB."
So, I think in answer to your question, the vast majority of complaints about Denard have nothing to do with his race. He does throw a ton of picks and he does miss a bunch of open receivers / reads, and these are things that will cause fans to complain about a QB. But, there probably is a small percentage of fans who have an inherent predisposition against Denard because he is a black QB.
September 21st, 2012 at 11:18 AM ^
But, I would be lying if I said that I have not heard fans at games who have said something to the effect of "I love Denard and all, but I can't wait until we have a more traditional QB. He just doesn't look like a Michigan QB."
I've heard things along those lines, but I don't know if it's fair to assume it's a racially-charged comment. Under Moeller and Carr we had a very efficient passing game, with QBs who generally had high completion percentages and threw few interceptions. I love Denard to death and will miss him terribly, but there have been a few times the last couple of years where I've missed the super-efficient 2-minute drill we used to run. At the same time, I (and many other people) used to be frustrated back then at how our QBs were always statues who could never scramble for first downs. In the future everyone's going to miss Denard's ability to take it to the house from anywhere. The grass is always greener on the other side.
September 21st, 2012 at 1:55 PM ^
One of the most uncomfortable and disappointing experiences in my long history of MIchigan fandom was watching the ND-UM game in 2010 at a house party in the Ann Arbor Twp/Saline area. A friend had invited me over, as he had recently moved into the neighrborhood and he was having a TV watching/house warming party, so there were ~100 people there in this huge house, mostly on the middle-aged side (30-50 years old). I didn't know the vast majority of these folks, but judging by the apparel, almost all were UM fans.
This was before Denard was "DENARD" and, of course, his performance in that game was unbelievably awesome. But instead of people being happy we have this guy as our QB for the next 3 years, the amount of complaining & racial code words being tossed around about him was infuriating. It really turned me off of a portion of the Michigan fan base, as I've occasionally heard similar talk from a similar "class" of people in tailgating situations over the past few years.
As stated in the title, I have no idea the % of people who harbor these racist feelings (it is assuredly a minority), and it can be easy to conflate Michigan's unholy love of "traditional" football with many fans problem with a QB who wears long braided hair and runs for almost as many yards as he passes.
Complaining about Denard is, as pointed out, completely understandable. He's far from perfect (e.g., way too many INTs) and other QBs (esp. Navarre) were complained about just as much. But the WAY some people (particularly, in my experience, the older, high-roller crowd) complain about Denard does not make me feel happy thoughts about society.
September 21st, 2012 at 7:54 PM ^
September 21st, 2012 at 11:31 AM ^
I don't know. Maybe there are people uncomfortable with a black QB (although we had several under Bo), but experience has shown that almost anyone who plays QB here catches a lot of flak from fans. Henne and Navarre are 1-2 on our all-time passing charts, and I can't say either one was beloved by fans (especially Navarre - he really took a beating from the fans that first year).
The other thing to remember is that at this school, a key metric for evaluating QBs has been the number of Big Ten championships they won. Denard doesn't have any yet. I'm not saying it's his fault we haven't won one, of course, but that's just an accomplishment his teams haven't attained yet.
September 21st, 2012 at 1:01 PM ^
None of those qb's lead michigan to a victory in the rose bowl, or to a national championship.
September 21st, 2012 at 8:47 AM ^
Every fan base has these "not happy unless they're not happy" crowd. The ones with more indicate low emotional intelligence. I'd put teams like the Philidephia Eagles, Raiders, and Man U in this category and perhaps a good portion of the MSU crowd. I think we're in the middle and the ones who criticize Denard are a smaller portion of the fans that booed Santa Claus.
September 21st, 2012 at 8:25 AM ^
My family loves Denard today and how he represents the University and how he plays the game.
As time goes on the fanbase that aren't particularly high on him will pull out their rose colored glasses and tell their kids/grandkids, "I remember when he would break a tackle and run 50+ yards for a TD. I remember how he'd elude the rush and chuck a homerun ball to Roundtree/Gallon/Gardner/Hemingway. I was lucky to watch one of the greatest players in Michigan football history."
September 21st, 2012 at 10:40 AM ^
No question. The fact that Denard Robinson is a kid that people will remember in the same breath as Anthony Carter, Desmond Howard and Charles Woodson is a testiment to how loved and great he is as a Michigan Wolverine. Say what you will about the offense or Rodriguez or Borges or how Denard is utilized (too much, too little), the fact remains that Denard has been the bright shining light in an otherwise tough past 3 years and he should be honored just like the greats of the past. We will likely never see another like him for many years to come.
September 21st, 2012 at 8:27 AM ^
He is absolutely electric as a player and, even more important, he is an incredible person. He's not perfect (no one is), but he works his ass off everyday trying to get better. No attitude, no sense of entitlement. We are very lucky to have him.
September 21st, 2012 at 8:41 AM ^
The thing that pisses me off about people complaining about Denard is look at his supporting cast!!! He has had average at best receivers the past 3 years, hasn’t had a premiere back to take some of the load except for Fitz last year and even then Fitz was hardly a premiere back, he's just good. Plus not to mention he's switched offenses and is playing in the B1G where we actually play defense most of the time. All the while he has compiled better or comparable passing stats to all of the Michigan greats of the past and has run for a few thousand more yards than any of them!
Trust me I get just as frustrated when he has his OHGODNO!!!!! throws, but overall he is a hell of a player. Just imagine if he had an Adrian Peterson in his back field, or a Braylon to throw to!!
September 21st, 2012 at 8:54 AM ^
September 21st, 2012 at 9:39 AM ^
I would not call Junior Hemingway average at best. He was clearly a big security blanket for Denard last season.
September 21st, 2012 at 8:51 AM ^
Since a lot of Denard articles are posted on this board, I motion to shorten the term to "Denardicles" to save everyone time and keystrokes. Who's coming with me?
September 21st, 2012 at 10:17 AM ^