(State of) Michigan connections in this year's Super Bowl
Here's a Detroit Free Press (*FREEP*) piece on the Super Bowl rosters' connections to the state of Michigan:
https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2021/02/07/super-bowl-55-michigan-ties-kansas-city-chiefs-tampa-bay-buccaneers/4415168001/
In addition to the numerous UM guys, there are an impressive number of players from second-tier (or worse) schools ... Ron English must've had some good or lucky recruiters on his EMU staff in 2012:
https://247sports.com/Player/Andrew-Wylie-13810/high-school-11157/
https://247sports.com/Player/Pat-OConnor-17282/high-school-28314/
February 7th, 2021 at 9:01 AM ^
Whatever happened with that Eric Fisher recruitment? Was it just a huge miss on our staff’s part or something more nuanced?
February 7th, 2021 at 9:04 AM ^
I wondered about that. Fisher was a no-name recruit in 2009 (the same year that Michigan got Taylor Lewan and Michael Schofield):
https://247sports.com/Player/Eric-Fisher-31097/high-school-50625/
February 7th, 2021 at 9:10 AM ^
That could be it. But Fisher’s profile seemed like a perfect Greg Frey tackle recruit. Tall lanky, and ready to put on tackle weight.
February 7th, 2021 at 9:18 AM ^
https://www.sportscasting.com/signing-day-10-of-the-most-underrated-football-recruits-of-all-time/
sportscasting.com/signing-day-10-of-the-most-underrated-football-recruits-of-all-time/
February 7th, 2021 at 11:00 AM ^
He was heading towards D2 basketball. He literally learned OL stuff right before a camp (he was a TE in HS). He wasn’t on anyone’s radar. He got camp offers from Eastern and Central.
February 7th, 2021 at 11:49 AM ^
Isn’t this basically how Wisconsin recruits OL? I once heard they really aim to get TEs With massive frames to support ~320 pounds, then get them in the gym for 2-3 years before they see the field.
February 7th, 2021 at 12:09 PM ^
Like Frey, I think they look for athletic guys with a certain kind of frame (tall, not chunky).
Chances are, those guys are TEs (inline / flex) in HS. Ryan Hayes and Karsen Barnhart (an extreme example) were HS TEs.
It makes sense to get the ball to guys who have a size / speed / both advantage over defenders. In most HS games a guy who's 6'6" and 230 with maybe a 5.0 40 time will meet spec.
February 7th, 2021 at 12:33 PM ^
The truth is some kids are also late bloomers and have massive development between ages 17 and 22. Most of those kids don't hit the major schools, but later become solid to great pros.
Others are awesome until they are 17 - but peak at that age. Former Mr. Basketball and high school scoring machine Foster Loyer now looks like he belongs in Division II. But I like seeing him running around aimlessly in that ugly ass green and white.
February 7th, 2021 at 1:43 PM ^
I was that was in HS. 6'1 and 165lb. No matter how much I lifted, I could not put on weight. I ended up quitting because I just didn't have the mass to play.
In college I went up to 200lb and I was still athletic enough to dunk a basketball. Sometimes genetics just sucks.
February 7th, 2021 at 2:41 PM ^
I graduated high at 5' 9" school weighing 135. I honestly worried I would get picked on in high school until one of the bullies was nice to me and told me there would be no sport in picking on me because I was too small.
Then in college I gained 3 inches and 50 pounds by the end of my sophomore year, with most of it being muscle. My college roommate's girlfriend "appreciated" him more the better shape he was in, and asked me to work out with him.
February 7th, 2021 at 4:24 PM ^
Semi-seriously, where did you go to HS?
I'm pretty sure the average U.S. male (across all ages) is 5'10". So, you weren't short.
$1.35? I'm guessing you weren't that light relative to your peers, either, depending on when you finished. (America is getting bigger by the year. I can't believe how heavy the average collegian is these days.)
I'm suggesting you were close to the mean and not someone who'd be at high risk for being shoved in a locker.
February 7th, 2021 at 9:45 AM ^
One more; Chiefs LB Coach Matt House is from Harrison (Clare County, not Oakland County) and a graduate of MSU.
February 7th, 2021 at 10:38 AM ^
Harrison Township is in Macomb County.
February 7th, 2021 at 10:42 AM ^
When I would tell people I was from Harrison, they assumed Farmington Hills Harrison High School. I guess Harrison Twp would make sense, too.
February 7th, 2021 at 12:00 PM ^
So . . . Harrison in Clare County, not Harrison Township in Macomb County or the defunct Farmington Hill Harrison High School.
I was lost for second.
On a different note, I am disappointed that Eric Fisher is out with an achilles injury so it may be a while before we can watch him play again.
February 7th, 2021 at 10:08 AM ^
Good for Matt Wile still hanging on to an NFL job, if just barely.
February 7th, 2021 at 10:13 AM ^
Beats working at a desk like the rest of us.
February 7th, 2021 at 11:13 AM ^
Matt Wile also has a degree in Industrial and Operations Engineering so he'll be set even when his football days are done.
February 7th, 2021 at 10:20 AM ^
So we should have hired Ron English?
February 7th, 2021 at 10:39 AM ^
Because he'd never been a head coach, Michigan never would have hired him except possibly as an interim coach (i.e., if Lloyd had had to step down in 2006 or 2007 due to health problems). I think the Ron English era would have ended up like the Brady Hoke era did, but he would have done better out of the gate than Rich Rod did.
At the same time, I briefly thought he might be a success. That 6-6 season at Eastern was the best season they'd had since 1995, but he wasn't able to build on that.
February 7th, 2021 at 11:04 AM ^
Through all the ups and downs of this program its nice to see players from Carr, RR, Hoke, and Harbaugh eras all represented in the SB.
February 7th, 2021 at 11:51 AM ^
SIAP...
That's a lot of Super Bowls...#MadeInHappyValley#WeAre pic.twitter.com/4k2OyXuvEM
— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) February 5, 2021
February 7th, 2021 at 12:20 PM ^
you guys hear about that joke where Jo Pa entered a police station?
I haven't either.
February 7th, 2021 at 12:24 PM ^
Remember when he had to get to the toilet asap?
February 7th, 2021 at 2:21 PM ^
I have it on good authority that he was running to the showers and not the toilet.
February 7th, 2021 at 12:22 PM ^
So did any other universities put out a graphic that said “except for five since 2016”?
February 7th, 2021 at 1:09 PM ^
Drew Stanton???
I didn't think he was still alive. . .
February 7th, 2021 at 8:30 PM ^
One of my family members either played in or watched every Super Bowl since 1967.