OT: HS tales of Super Bowl stars (ESPN)
Super Bowl coming up with two teams I don't care about. That said, ESPN put out a little feature with stories from the pasts of some of the players in the big game and one of those players is Jake Moody. Here's the relevant tidbit:
Moody's kicking honors are well known: two-time All-American and Lou Groza Award winner at Michigan, third-round draft pick of the Niners and the NFL record holder for longest kick by a rookie (57 yards).
His coach at Northville (Michigan) High School, Matt Ladach, takes no credit for Moody's success in football, but Ladach can take some credit for helping him along at another sport.
"The games of badminton that Jake and I used to have were phenomenal," Ladach said. "I would hit the drop shots, he would dig them out, then I would hit it clear to the baseline, and there was not a shot that he could not get to."
Ladach said Moody has one skill that might come in handy if the 49ers call for a fake field goal.
"He was our emergency quarterback his senior year, and I would not have hesitated to put him in a game to play quarterback," Ladach said. "But early on, we made the commitment to Jake that we were moving him up to the varsity to be a kicker. ... The intent was always for him to just be our kicker. But could he have played other positions? Absolutely." -- Katherine Terrell
If he's that good at badminton, I bet he could also rock it on the pickleball court.
There are also stories about former Rutgers RB Isaiah Pacheco (kinda boring) and Purdue DE George Karlaftis (apparently played in his first ever football game in 8th grade).
Just a reminder that the following Michigan players will be participating in the Super Bowl:
San Francisco:
- Ronnie Bell
- Ambry Thomas
- Jake Moody
Kansas City:
- Mike Danna
February 8th, 2024 at 9:47 AM ^
Speaking of going back in time:
If Ambry Thomas and Nico Collins had played in 2020, Michigan goes 4-2 FWIW. If just Ambry Thomas had played, 3-3 because the MSU game never goes down like that.
No particular reason to bring it up, but seeing Ambry's name reminded me of that.
February 8th, 2024 at 9:58 AM ^
Then maybe Jim never does his hard reset and the last 3 years look like more of 2015-2019 than the glory we have known. What ifs are fun to consider
February 8th, 2024 at 11:18 AM ^
Could very well be right. Little reason to fire Don Brown if you go 4-2 (though if the Wisconsin game was still roughly as bad as it turned out, might not have mattered), no Mike MacDonald...thank goodness Ambry Thomas and Nico Collins sat out!
February 8th, 2024 at 1:41 PM ^
My What IF:
Does Jim go back to the NFL if he won the Superbowl in 2012?
I'm going with no, but maybe he retires.
February 8th, 2024 at 3:22 PM ^
I don't think there's any way he'd consider retiring at this age. I'm sure he thinks he has at least 20 more years of coaching (or as he said once, until he dies).
February 8th, 2024 at 10:36 AM ^
Michigan didn't play in 2020. Michigan didn't play in 2020. In fact, Michigan's first season since 1997 was in 2001.
February 8th, 2024 at 11:49 AM ^
I'm sure this is a great read, but I just can't get into all the SB stuff because I'm still not over the NFC Championship Game. It's probably 95% out of my system. I hope it's 100% by Sunday because I would like to tune in for the second half. I'm so upset I allowed the Lions back in my life this year.
February 8th, 2024 at 12:04 PM ^
Hey, I'm right there with you, hence my caveat that I really don't care about this SB. Also why I snipped the Jake Moody piece since it's the only relevant part for this message board ;)
February 8th, 2024 at 12:58 PM ^
Likely sitting this one out for that very reason, hurts my heart too much. Had they lost as expected I would’ve been fine, but I had let myself mentally put the Lions in the SB after they were up 24-7 at half. TS is mildly irritating and puts it over the edge. Pass.