Meeting Former UM players in other cities..

Saw Marques Slocum at Redskins camp years ago. Favorite non-impact UM player ever.

Didn't want to create a thread for it, but since you asked I ran into Coach Carr in the parking structure behind Palio in A2 on Wed.  Even though I'm a grown man, I still had a 4 year old OMG moment and felt compelled to say hello and shake his hand. 

He asked me my name, where I was from and then all I could muster was "What happened to your beard?".  He laughed and turned to his wife and said "I decided to shave it." in that wink wink nudge nudge way that only a married man could understand.  Coach Carr is beard-less again.  He's a classy fellow 

A few years ago in Chicago I was waiting for a friend on Oak Street to go get a beer when there was this 6'4" 280lb.  @45 year old black guy with a UM plate on the front of his beamer and a ring the size of my head on his finger --- he was waiting in the same area I was to pick up his wife from work.

When I noticed the plate I said "Go Blue" and he responded "That's right!"  I noticed the ring and asked if he went to UM.  He said "yes, I played for Bo".   It was a Rose Bowl Ring - 1981

We talked for about 5 minutes -- all about Bo.  He said he was "the best damn man I've ever met in my life"

I'll never forget how when I asked if he went to UM his response wasn't "I played football there" or "Yes, see my Rose Bowl ring" --- it was "Yes, I played for Bo"

And, no, I can't remember his name.  

not really 'another city' or former players, but had Denard, Mike Martin, and Kevin Koger walk right up behind me in the security line at the airport on thier way to Chicago for Media Day. I also had UM gear on and they went out of their way to say and introduce themselves, even though they need no introduction. Martin even remembered kicking my ass in high school ball.

I am going to the Houston Texans open practice this Saturday (not a fan just have friends that are going) and am going to try and see Tim Jamison.

I met Leroy Hoard in a service elevator in the Minneapolis Hilton the night before a Vikings playoff game.  I asked him about playing for Bo....He had thighs a thick as my waste.   My best friend's older brother was a walk on fullback and played with Leroy.  He seemed to get a kick out of talking Meeechigan in Minneapolis the night before a Viking game.

I have randomly met a couple former Michigan players in my time.  Ian Gold was behind me in a long security line in Baltimore one time and seemed to be a pretty good guy.  Obviously talked a lot about Michigan football and even as a Pro he was carrying this Michigan bag that was pretty sweet.  Also met Dough Marsh in St. Louis when randomly some guy noticed I was wearing Michigan gear and said that he knew him.  So he called him and we all met up to watch a Michigan game a couple weeks later.

Butch Woolfolk and Scott Driesbach go to alumni watch parties in Houston.

http://houston.umclubs.com/index.php?page=watch-parties

I was, as always, wearing my Michigan gear a couple of years ago on a flight to Minneapolis.  A guy asked if I was a M fan and, come to find out, it was Bo's son, Schemy.  We walked and talked football all the way to car rental..

I met Alan Branch at a bar in Arizona.  A popular bar that all the college students go to.  He started talking to me because of my Detroit hat.  I knew he looked familiar and then realzed who he was.  He laughed and bought all of us shots.  Pretty good time.  The end.

OT since it wasn't Michigan players, but a few years ago my family took a trip to New York to see the Tigers play at Yankee Stadium in it's second to last year before closing. We were on the subway, wearing all our Tigers gear when I looked down the car and saw another guy wearing a Tigers hat. He looked really familiar and smiled at me and gave me a thumbs up. It took a while to register and I leaned over to my dad and told him it was Jeff Jones, the bullpen coach at the time. As we were getting off the subway the whole group he was with came over to us, and the whole coaching staff except Leyland was there. They were a really nice group, walked off the subway with us all the way until they entered the stadium. Thanked us for our support and even signed some autographs. Made it tough for me to get so frustrated with their coaching decisions some days.

I would also always see Breaston at the gym in Arizona wearing either Michigan or Cardinals gear every time.

Not a player but I was walking outside with a Michigan shirt on and a lady stopped to talk to me.  Turned out it was Judy Van Horn.  She was moving her kids into their place to attend ASU.  This was just before she left Michigan.  Very nice lady.

I was in Florida with some people in the spring. Walking around in a shell/trinket shop saw a large male machine with light hair in the aisle. Looked strangely familiar, and then I walked around to see his face. Mark Messner, the Mandarich pancake maker. I was thrilled, spoke briefly with him, was impressed by his kindness, and left. One of my favorite UM players of all time and I bump into him in a place like that. Wish I had some UM gear with me at the time, nothing but suit and sandals though, I would have asked him to sign something.

at a Fiancial conference In Chicago...I was at the NCAA Reg Final in 94 against Arkansas when he played..Great guy...He said he was "just a suit now"..He was a presenter at a finanical breakout session with high level people in the field..Met Condoleeza Rice there too

A few days after we hired Rodriguez back in '07, I was getting my hair cut in a barber shop in Ypsilanti. There was a big dude in there wearing a Block M varsity jacket. I asked him if he played football at U-M, and he said "yeah, back in the 90's". I asked him what he thought of the Rodriguez hire, and he said, "I was disappointed we didn't get Les. Les was my position coach, and that's who I wanted." I asked him why he thought Les Miles didn't come and he said, "Because they probably lowballed him or some bullshit. Bill Martin is an asshole." He didn't explicitly say he disapproved of the Rodriguez hire, but he said he was uncomfortable with the fact that Rodriguez was a total outsider. He also said, "He wants to run the spread offense. We ain't got the horses for it, so we'll see how it goes." I didn't get his name, but he was obviously an offensive lineman since Miles was his position coach. 

Also, I currently work a couple of blocks from San Jose State's campus, so I'm on the lookout for Tate Forcier. 

Also, I met Juwan Howard and a bunch of other Washington Bullets players back in '95 when they came to play the Pistons (unfortunately, Chris Webber was injured and didn't make the trip). The game itself was canceled because of condensation on the court, but we had media passes and I got to go in the press area. I talked to Juwan Howard about random stuff in Ann Arbor (not much I could really talk about as a 14 year-old kid), got my picture taken with him, and got his autograph on a Michigan basketball. He's a really nice guy. Other players I met were George Muresan (really nice guy), Grant Hill (nice guy), Johnny Dawkins (nice, family-oriented guy), and Scott Skiles (asshole; typical Spartan). 

I used to see Aaron Shea all the time at a golf course I used to work at in the cleveland area...and I once met Charles Woodson and Russell Bellomey at a Cavs game.

I met Rick Leach when I was a kid. Were from the same hometown (Flint) and a couple years after he left UM he was visiting a family in my neighborhood. Got his autograph but lost it over the years.



Many years later I met (and actually worked for) Bob Wood, UM's kicker in the mid-70s. He became a successful executive at a Fortune 500 company where I worked.

attended a semi-pro football game in SE  Michigan a number of years ago...a guy my wife worked with was playing for the team...when they introduced the starting offense, Major Harris at QB and...RICKY POWERS at tailback..talk about two guys with incredible physical potential that just blew up in the hole...They looked like men among boys in a semi-pro game. Don't know what ever happend with Ricky but he just never became the BMOC like he was expected...

Funny with Woodson...I HATED that KID when he was at Ross. I was coaching HS football in the same conference. Our gameplan was literally don't throw the ball if he's on the field because one of three things was going to happen

1- he would intercept the ball and score- CHECK x2

2- the reciever would catch the ball, Charles would separate his head/body/ball in one fierce strike-CHECK x infinity all night long...

3-the reciever would miss the pass and Charles would simply light the kid up for being near the ball in his 3/4 of the entire field...yeah..don't even need to explain this one...

scary part, I honestly think he was a tougher tailback than corner...and that says an awful lot about his ability to truck guys with a ball in hand. I think he became a top shelf DB instead because he simply liked hitting kids...

sidenote with Wheatly...still remember leaning on the kid when he was in HS at a state championship track meet at UM.  Really tried to confirm that UM was ideal for him as he was a top caliber long jumper and sprinter/hurdler. At that time Thomas Wilcher was also the hurdles coach as a GA before heading to Cass Tech... and speaking of Thomas, he and I developed a pretty good relationship both at UM and in the coaching fraternity. We'd always see him at Regional meets and joke about trading off my throwers for a few of his slower sprinters...he's always been a good guy in my book. Incredible athlete as well just never seemed to stay out of Bo's dog house.