Sophomore Captain?
Just read that Kirk Cousins was named one of Sparty's four captains. Must speak to his leadership, however I wonder if it speaks to who will be the starter (or at least get the bulk of the snaps).
"Cousins is the only second sophomore in the program's 112-year history to be named a captain. The last sophomore captain was Robert McCurry in 1946."
Made me wonder if we've EVER had an underclassmen as captain. Anyone?
http://detnews.com/article/20090828/SPORTS0202/908280366/1132/sports020…
August 28th, 2009 at 1:02 PM ^
we've had a bunch who were captains both their jr and sr seasons, most recently jake long in 06 and 07
August 28th, 2009 at 1:10 PM ^
I have a feeling that because of the new captains being decided every week thing, we will have a few times where we might have a true freshman as a captain. Overall though, I think seniors will be named as permanent captains at the end of the season.
That being said, here is a list of the past captains for your reference
http://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/football/fbcapt/fbcapt.htm
August 28th, 2009 at 1:14 PM ^
"Cousins is the only second sophomore in the program's 112-year history to be named a captain..."
I hate to do it, but Grammar much?
Journalists and their ridiculous sentence structuring...
August 28th, 2009 at 1:14 PM ^
To clarify, I meant underclassmen as freshman/sophomores.
There have a been a few two-time captains (Jarett Irons and Jon Jansen are the only other ones I can remember) however "a bunch" is a stretch.
I would guess over 90% of the captains in ~130 years of football have been seniors.
August 28th, 2009 at 3:53 PM ^
we've had at least 4 two-time captains (long, irons, jansen, kirk lewis), and a "bunch" of bananas is 5-7 on average, so it wasn't that much of a stretch.
August 28th, 2009 at 4:00 PM ^
Heavenly or Squaw, I can't quite pinpoint it?
August 28th, 2009 at 5:17 PM ^
it's heavenly. i'm near the top of dipper chair.
August 28th, 2009 at 8:26 PM ^
Dig the helmet. My personal Tahoe favorite is Kirkwood.
August 28th, 2009 at 1:41 PM ^
In most cases (Long, Jansen, Irons - not sure about earlier) the "junior" captains were redshirt juniors, so really seniors when captains. Not sure if we've ever had a true junior captain.
August 28th, 2009 at 1:53 PM ^
I guess that means that Cousins is the starter, not Nichol.
August 28th, 2009 at 1:56 PM ^
That could very well be, but wasn't this a team vote kind of thing? It doesn't sound like Dantonio made this choice.
August 28th, 2009 at 2:09 PM ^
True, but If the team wants him as a captain then that could influence MDs decision and put him in the lead ahead of Nichol.
August 28th, 2009 at 3:24 PM ^
Absolutely. I wasn't disagreeing completely, just saying that it's not definitive.
August 28th, 2009 at 1:54 PM ^
They couldn't possibly name one QB the captain and then start the other and expect him to lead effectively.
In theory, it would work, with the captain functioning as head cheerleader from the number two position on the bench, but theory often gets waylaid on the way to practice.
August 28th, 2009 at 2:06 PM ^
Make that the 1880s and 1890s, Horace Prettyman was captain in 1884, 1885 and 1886. He lettered for eight years, though, 1882-86 and 1888-90. No idea what his class designation was in those years. As Zonker Harris used to say - "sophomore year was the three best years of my life."
George Dygert then captained the team in 1892 and 1893, lettering for four years - 1891-94.
August 28th, 2009 at 5:20 PM ^
He's another guy who had something like an eight-year college career.
If you check out his bio, he played at some college in California under Yost for two years, then came to UM with him and played for four more years.
Man, maybe Heston was a stoner who forgot to graduate or something and stayed around an extra two years?