question to the board about M legacies who played football elsewhere
Who are your top 2-3 (maybe "bottom 2-3" is a better way to put it) football legacies who spurned Michigan for other schools? Old timers (especially), please weigh in.
One governing rule of this post: any mention of Mr. Plow down in Ohio shall receive three demerits and double secret probation! A close read of Dante has him in the 8th circle of Hades already, so no reason to waste time on that joker.
Related question: is it true that OH congressman (and former OSU wideout) Anthony Gonzalez was a M legacy? I heard that somewhere along the way, but can't recall the specifics.
December 22nd, 2020 at 12:07 PM ^
Mark Harmon to UCLA (after junior college) pops out to me although I'm not sure we would've traded him for Dennis Franklin
December 22nd, 2020 at 2:17 PM ^
RULE #1: Never screw over your legacy.
December 22nd, 2020 at 12:16 PM ^
Chris Spielman.
He wanted to go to Michigan but his Dad told him not to come home if he went to Michigan.
In his 1st game as a true frosh OSUs defense was getting run by Oregon State. He paced the sidelines like an animal behind Earle Bruce yelling he should be in the game it’s why Bruce brought him there. He came off the bench for 11 tackles, two sacks and a fumble and turned the game around.
Two time All American and he would have been great in the winged helmet.
Vernon Gholston out of Detroit- OSU,6th overall pick by the Jets. 1986.
Jerome Bettis out of Detroit-ND, 10th overall pick by the Steelers. 1993
December 22nd, 2020 at 12:29 PM ^
I don’t believe any of those guys were Michigan “legacy” kids
December 22nd, 2020 at 12:33 PM ^
If limited to true legacies, then it has to be the Boren Bros., right?
December 22nd, 2020 at 12:42 PM ^
Whoops. Was not paying attention.
Grant Irons to ND was a tough one to watch as the brother to Jarret.
December 22nd, 2020 at 12:46 PM ^
Isn't a 'legacy' when someone's parent(s) went there, rather than a sibling? I dunno, man, asking...
December 22nd, 2020 at 1:28 PM ^
I’m clinging to “other relative” it’s all I got..
US
an applicant to a particular college or university who is regarded preferentially because a parent or other relative attended the same institution.
"being a legacy increased a student's chance of being accepted to a highly selective college by up to 45 percent"
December 22nd, 2020 at 12:31 PM ^
Spielman's, Gholston's, and Bettis' folks went to UM?
December 22nd, 2020 at 12:45 PM ^
In what alternate universe was Bettis selected by the Steelers? Also didn't Gholston get drafted in 2008? This post confuses me.
December 22nd, 2020 at 12:51 PM ^
This is clearly the alternate universe where Michigan just signed the #1 class in the country for the 5th straight year on their way to 5 straight playoff appearances and 5 straight championships with Michigan greats Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence leading us to victory.
December 22nd, 2020 at 1:04 PM ^
Yes, Eddie Gonzalez grew up in Cuba, moved to Cleveland when Castro's regime took over, and played for Bo in the '70s. Michigan was recruiting Anthony but the week he came up Stan Parrish had just left and Michigan didn't have an offensive coordinator or recruiting coordinator.
Eddie owns a big steel company in Cleveland and came to an alumni association event that Bacon, Brian, and I spoke at.
December 22nd, 2020 at 1:15 PM ^
you can't trick us seth. castro's regime did NOT play for bo.
December 22nd, 2020 at 2:16 PM ^
Thanks Seth. I generally remembered some of that, but the confirmation and details are much appreciated.
December 22nd, 2020 at 1:18 PM ^
Tony Gant's son Anthony played here but his nephew Dallas Gant is a rotational LB at Ohio State. I would have liked to have that one.
Seth Herrnstein, who played for Ohio State under Earl Bruce, is the son of 1958 captain John Herrnstein and great grand-nephew of Point-a-Minute star Albert Herrnstein. I spoke to Seth when we did the 1901 podcast.
December 22nd, 2020 at 1:42 PM ^
A couple more bits of trivia that float to mind:
This isn't a recruiting loss but a commanding officer of the Band of Brothers company was the younger brother of then-Michigan Hockey head coach Vic Heyliger. Vic's little brother Frederick, nicknamed Moose, was with the battalion through Market Garden, succeeded Dick Winters as Easy Company's commander, and led the company for Operation Pegasus, which rescued over a hundred British paratroopers caught behind German lines after the Battle of Arnhem. The operation is shown in the series but it's glanced, as the episode focuses on Winters's feelings about his new position off the front lines. It was a big deal in the War, however, and Heyliger was honored with the British Cross for leading it.
Extra bit of trivia: another player from Yost's Point-a-Minute teams, Paul J. Jones, became an important federal judge. He married Caroline Bonnell, a survivor of the Titanic, and their daughter Mary Jones Chilcote was a Grand Life Master in bridge, as well as a friend of my grandma.
December 22nd, 2020 at 1:27 PM ^
MSU just had a Michigan legacy graduate in the last couple of years. We recruited him but he was no great shakes. Cannot recall his name he played linebacker I think.
December 22nd, 2020 at 1:53 PM ^
Right, Tyriq Thompson is former safety Clarence Thompson's son. IIRC Clarence was the safety who was supposed to be over the top on Michael Westbrook on the Kordell Stewart Hail Mary.
December 22nd, 2020 at 2:13 PM ^
That play was not Clarence's fault. Lloyd (DC at the time) had ILBs Steve Morrison and Jarret Irons (both great players in their own right) drop to and stand on about the 50, guarding nobody in no man's land. If you go back and watch the replays, you can just barely see them sprinting as hard as a mid-90s ILB could back toward our goal line as the ball sails past.
I will never forget sitting (actually, screaming like a crazy person) in the north end zone just dumbfounded at the presnap personnel and alignment. And then exactly the worst scenario played out.
We were, by design, playing our 9 vs their 11 against the only imaginable risk on that play.
December 22nd, 2020 at 3:45 PM ^
I have been yelling at the TV about watching Steve Morrison lumbering into the screen as the play unfolded for 26 years. What then-DC Lloyd Carr was thinking at the time is a mystery for the ages.
December 22nd, 2020 at 4:38 PM ^
And we rushed three big lineman against max protection. Kordell could have pitched a tent to wait for his receivers to run the length of the field. Just awful.
December 22nd, 2020 at 1:54 PM ^
Tyriq Thompson was ok at MSU, not a big star.
December 22nd, 2020 at 1:52 PM ^
I'd have to see a complete list before doing any ranking, but here are some that I haven't seen posted:
- Mike Mallory's son Will: https://miamihurricanes.com/roster/will-mallory/
- Not sure if Darren Conklin was a scholarship football player for Bo, but his son did OK: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Conklin
- Side note: Jack's mom swam at Michigan.
- Not sure if a basketball player can count as a source, but here's one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Heuerman
December 22nd, 2020 at 2:56 PM ^
There was a guy named Tyrone Wheatley, Jr. who had a pretty famous dad.
He finished his career by making 6 catches for 36 yards at Morgan State.
December 22nd, 2020 at 10:34 PM ^
Mark Harmon strikes me as the most illustrious given who his father was and how successful he became as an actor.
December 22nd, 2020 at 10:34 PM ^
Mark Harmon strikes me as the most illustrious given who his father was and how successful he became as an actor.