Legends Jerseys - #1 to Roundtree to End the Year?
Since we are giving out Legends' Jersey Patches this late in the season to seniors like Kovacs, what say we give Roy Roundtree the #1 jersey for the last three games of his career (maybe four if something crazy happens)? Is it an insult to Desmond and the 21 patch to do so?
November 12th, 2012 at 10:12 AM ^
that it should be in honor of AC if and when it does happen. After all, if it were not for AC, then by the time Broaylon came around, the #1 jersey would not have had enough cache for Lloyd to be able to use it as a motivational carrot for Braylon (who wasn't exactly the most focused player his first 2 years). For me, when comparing two phenomenal players who meant a great deal to Michigan football, the best way to determine who was best is by asking, "If AC had never existed, would Braylon have reached his potential?"
Of course, he very well may have, but we will never know for sure. We do know that with the "carrot" he was able to reach his rather sizable potential.
(I only refer to Braylon and AC, because they are generally recognized as the two best who wore number one. DA, Greg McMurtry and David Terrell were all very good in their own right, but I am operating under the assumtion that everyone associates #1 with either AC or Braylon)
November 12th, 2012 at 9:43 AM ^
November 12th, 2012 at 9:50 AM ^
I agree, with the addition of the #98 jersey.
November 12th, 2012 at 9:51 AM ^
YES.
After the mocking for my sig for years, someone finally suggests it.
November 12th, 2012 at 10:40 AM ^
When I saw the thread title I immediately thought of you: "I know one person who will be upvoting this"
November 12th, 2012 at 11:40 AM ^
My thought was that he was the guy who created the thread.
November 12th, 2012 at 4:01 PM ^
No I am not RDT but it was that exact tag line i thought of when Roy made the catch - I said to myself "Now maybe he WILL were the #1 jersey before he is done."
November 12th, 2012 at 9:56 AM ^
With all due respect(you can't just say that and then say whatever you want) there isn't anyone on this roster that should be wearing the 1 and I am really just sick of all this number and patch stuff. I love to honor the greats but Michigan has gone nuts with this. Kovacs will always be 32 to me.
November 12th, 2012 at 10:00 AM ^
November 12th, 2012 at 12:10 PM ^
I couldnt agree with you more man, how are these players ever going to be remembered for what they do if everyday they are getting the past shoved down their throats, its ridiculous lets get away from the past so we can move forward.
November 12th, 2012 at 1:55 PM ^
Tradition is something you can’t bottle. You can’t buy it at the corner store. But it is there to sustain you when you need it most. I’ve called upon it time and time again. And so have countless other Michigan athletes and coaches. There is nothing like it. I hope it never dies.- Fritz Crisler
November 12th, 2012 at 12:10 PM ^
Wearing the Michigan jersey should be honor enough. And considering the reverence around here for "the team, the team, the team" it's also rather hypocritical to make such an effort at singling out individuals for extra recognition.
And the patches? Man, to me, that shit is beyond dumb and should remain the domain of scouts, not football players.
November 12th, 2012 at 12:48 PM ^
I think Michigan should have the number changes completed by Week 2 or 3 every year. I think Kovacs wearing #11 for less than half of the season is a little ridiculous. I like the Legends program but I would have expected Michigan to be a little bit more controlled with it.
November 12th, 2012 at 10:00 AM ^
In my opinion, Desmond's #21 is on the same level as Carter's #1, if only because of the Heisman trophy and what Desmond has gone on to do after college. To move someone to Desmond's 21 to Carter's #1 would be silly (even if I didn't think that the #21 is just as significant as the #1 jersey).
November 12th, 2012 at 10:18 AM ^
November 12th, 2012 at 10:23 AM ^
We're going to move Denard to slot WR and give him the #1 jersey for his final 3/4 games.
After being one of the most oustanding, gifted, and prolific quarterbacks and players in the history of Michigan football who if he had the defenses or WR's or RB's of any of the great 90's/00's teams or played in the watered down B1G of the 70's/80's for example Bo's teams with Demetrius Brown and Michael Taylor likely would have won several national titles by now and who was on many occasions the only bright spot in the worst stretch of Michigan football ever evar evar and whose humility and character embody everything great about even the most laughable stereotypes of what a Michigan Man is supposed to be but yes absolutely let's move him to RB/WR absolutely.
November 12th, 2012 at 11:40 AM ^
We need the old points system back so we can get this to the +100 it deserves.
November 12th, 2012 at 12:03 PM ^
That second paragraph is a single sentence, and yet contains only two commas. Talent.
November 12th, 2012 at 10:24 AM ^
November 12th, 2012 at 10:36 AM ^
I know this is completely unrelated but I figured it was worthy to share...
From the mgoblue website, "NIT Season Tip-Off -- The Michigan Basketball team welcomes Bowling Green, Cleveland State and IUPUI to Crisler Center for the NIT Season Tip-Off tournament. The Wolverines will play two games at Crisler Center during the tournament, and your game ticket for the first game against IUPUI will also be valid for the second game! (Second game will be played on Tuesday, Nov. 13, or Monday, Nov. 19)."
Tickets for the IUPUI game are on stubhub and are very cheap. I ended up getting them for $5 and that ended up being for 2 games!
http://www.stubhub.com/preseason-nit-finals-new-york-tickets/nit-season…
November 12th, 2012 at 10:37 AM ^
November 12th, 2012 at 10:43 AM ^
November 12th, 2012 at 10:48 AM ^
Am I the only one hopeless confused about who is wearing what number this year and why? We have Legends, we have endowments, we have normal numbers but they really arent normal anymore because some players are now wearing Legends numbers.
And if I understand the OP, we're proposing taking one of players no longer wearing his normal jersey number because he's been given a Legends patch number and changing his number again to an endowment jersey? Do I have that right?
I'm no expert here but isnt it somewhat customary for players to get their own number and, unless they flip positions or request a change, KEEP that number through their time spent at the school? This whole thing might've looked good on paper but at least for me is confusing as Hell. And FWIW my 9 year old doesnt get it either as he had to ask Kovacs on Saturday what his "real" last name was when he met him.
November 12th, 2012 at 11:02 AM ^
I think they should go to incoming freshman, unless there's a Braylon situation where it happens to be open and an upperclassmen requests it. Honestly, I will not be surprised if, after Kovacs, Ryan, Roundtree, Moore (although Funchess probably gets it, so Funchess), and Morgan graduate they start getting issued to players before they play their first games at Michigan.
This is what happened with the number one for a couple decades, and I don't really get the opposition to it. If someone gets the 21 or 1 and isn't a lights out All-American, does that really hurt any of the legacy behind those numbers? If you're going to make the requirement that the player is looking at an All-American type season as a junior or senior before giving it out, you seriously will not have any other numbers in consideration for honoring. The worse thing is that you also have all these numbers in the weird position of not being worn and not being retired, which I think could hurt the legacies of these numbers.
November 12th, 2012 at 12:07 PM ^
I agree that this would be the best way to handle it, but I just don't see that being Hoke's style. Giving legends' jerseys to unproven recruits rather than those who have worked hard in practice and shown their abilities on the field doesn't seem likely.
I respect that, but it really does muddy the waters. It also eliminates a potentially useful recruiting strategy, if you believe recruits care that much about the jersey #s of folks who played before they were old enough to watch football.
November 12th, 2012 at 2:57 PM ^
in his own mind. From my perspective, these are basically numbers given out for the sake of keeping them in circulation, and getting fans to say, "Wow, Desmond Howard was something special" or "Oh yeah, Gerald Ford knocked fools out in Michigan Stadium back in the day". If they're going to be something that says, "Desmond Howard clone!" or "Next president!" I don't think it's a good idea at all.
If what we're looking for is a reincarnation, Desmond's number likely would have been issued once in the full two decades since he's left, and it's very possible that Kramers number would have been issued three times in the past 57 years.
I'd rather just see the numbers and appreciate the current players honoring their tradition or the numbers painted up on the press box and not issued.
November 12th, 2012 at 12:21 PM ^
Don't forget about Devin Gardner getting the Roy Roundtree legend number this offseason.
November 12th, 2012 at 12:17 PM ^
I believe that the original idea behind even having numbers was in order to identify the players. But if we are going to keep up the musical chairs with them then what's the point of even wearing any numbers? We might as well just send the guys out there with blank jerseys.
November 12th, 2012 at 11:03 AM ^
while i was initially all in favor of the legends jersey program, the rush to re-institute the number has been very annoying. it has actually diminished the recognition of these players. Ii would have preferred that they be unveiled yearly, one-at-a-time, at each season's home opener. that way the player who gets the honor could have had spring practice and summer to "earn" the number on and off the practice field, and it could be given only when an appropriate candidate emerges. it would also be given to an underclassman (preferrably a promising sophomore) so that they could wear it for the majority of their career. i would also advocate that only 2-3 legends jerseys be in circulation at any one time. i would also make the patch smaller with perhaps only the initials of the recognized player (legendary players don't need to be written out fully, and it clutters the jersey). that way, the player could also be told that if they reach a legends status in their own right, they could have their initials added to the patch.
November 12th, 2012 at 12:02 PM ^
First of all, #1 is NOT a legends jersey. It is an endowed jersey.
Second, Roy Roundtree has NOT earned the jersey. The last guy who competently wore #1 had the following stats his senior season:
- 97 rec, 1330 yds, 15 TDs
And the following career stats:
- 252 rec, 3541 yds, 39 TDs
Roy Roundtree? Here's his stats this year:
- 20 rec, 378 yds, 1 TD
And his career:
- 143 rec, 2102 yds, 13 TDs
Obviously, stats aren't the only thing to consider. But the #1 jersey is supposed to be for a player that can dominate a game; Roy is not that player. He was an effective system receiver in RR's offense, but he doesn't get great separation, and isn't an elite player. Do I love him? Yes. Has he shown an ability to show-up in big moments? Absolutely. But the #1 jersey? Not even close.
November 12th, 2012 at 1:07 PM ^
Roundtree was perhaps on his way to the #1 jersey if he had continued producing like he did in 2010. Unfortunately for him, the change in offensive scheme has stunted his production somewhat.
November 12th, 2012 at 2:04 PM ^
But watching this weekend's game, I was wondering...did anyone ever do a breakdown of how many catches Roundtree had from Denard and Tate over the 2010 season? I know he had some big one play TD catches at the beginning of the Illinois game, but the end of Roundtree's signature game was with Tate. And Tate came in a lot that season. So seeing him suddenly be a target again the last couple of weeks I wondered if he was getting more balls thrown to him by Tate in the past. Because QBs get comfortable with safety valves, and maybe Denard 100% of the time means he wasn't looking in his direction when there aren't QB OH NOES. (Obviously not saying he was avoiding him...just that he checks down a different direction). Now maybe there's nothing to it, and if someone did the pass breakdown the opposite is true, and Denard threw a lot more to Roundtree than and Tate hit other guys. Just seemed odd with a QB switch he's suddenly a target all over the place again, playing in an even LESS spread system.
November 12th, 2012 at 2:22 PM ^
I don't know of any breakdowns, but Denard was the starting QB for the 2010 season and Forcier didn't play all that much except for against Illinois that year. Roundtree was a very frequent target of Denard's. I don't think his production had anything to do with Forcier being the QB.
November 12th, 2012 at 5:14 PM ^
Actually Forcier played extensively in several games that year. BGSU, Iowa and Ohio were three others. He attempted 84 passes, which is a lot for a backup QB.
http://espn.go.com/college-football/player/stats/_/id/480264/tate-forci…
November 12th, 2012 at 5:23 PM ^
Yeah...and I guess he played quite a bit against Iowa, but Denard threw 291 passes. Forcier threw 84.
November 12th, 2012 at 12:04 PM ^
No way.. Had a great soph yr, but thats about it..
November 12th, 2012 at 12:44 PM ^
I see where you're coming from, but "upgrading" Roundtree to the #1 jersey is essentially telling Desmond that his jersey wasn't good enough. Wearing #21 is a big enough honor.
November 12th, 2012 at 2:38 PM ^
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November 12th, 2012 at 4:08 PM ^
I say give the #1 to somebody because it automatically makes them awesome.
November 12th, 2012 at 5:26 PM ^
how about Denard vs ohio? fitting conclusion to his career?