Best stories of meeting UofM personalities

Submitted by UMdad on

In response to the car accident story from yesterday, I was wondering what good stories people have of meeting some of the schools big names. I was golfing at the U course one time and the group ahead of us was Bo, Lloyd, Brandstatter and an old player (don't remember his name, but he was in his 70's) The play was slow that day and I had a chance to talk with them at almost every hole. All I kept praying for was a hole in one so I could have those three sign my card as witnesses. Note: all three were pretty big hitters, and the funniest moment was when Brandstatter was talking during Bo's drive and he yelled at him, "Damn it Jim, your mouth is as big as your ass!" I laughed for two holes.

turbo cool

August 19th, 2009 at 8:30 AM ^

I had the opportunity to hang out with Bo on several occasions and every time the conversations ended up lasting at least an hour or so. The conversation would range from life at mich, growing up in a2, but rarely ever football. For that amongst many other reasons, my first born will be named Bo hah. I knew Don Canham well for a bit and he was an absolute legend. His influence on the AD still shows today and he was easily the best AD ever. Everyone else haven't really compared to those two...

JimBobTressel-0

August 19th, 2009 at 8:23 AM ^

I walked into the Michigan Union once to go to Wendys and about half a foot behind me, at a table, was Mike Hart and another guy I didn't recongize.

I said "Mr. Hart?"

He grinned and nodded.

I shook his hand.

.............You had to be there.

Route66

August 19th, 2009 at 8:28 AM ^

Mine is two-fold....both having to do with Carr on the same day. I visited a spring practice in 2003 with a high school coaching staff. We were outside watching practice and my wife called. I answered, of course, bragging to her how close I was to everything and then just as I started my second sentence with her a manager of the team comes over to me and says that coach would prefer that I put that away. He said if I didn't want to do that I could leave. I didn't hesitate(hung up on my wife) only because Carr was looking at me with a stare that could kill. Kind of like that Grandfather stare when you knew he was disappointed.

The next run in was only minutes later. We were headed in as practice was over and Perry was bad mouthing someone and just goofing off. I hear a scuffle and look behind me and Carr is right up in his grill against a wall chewing him a new one. Once he realized he was in the hall with a bunch of people, he grabbed Perry and dragged him outside. It was one of those "teaching" moments I think. Must have caught coach on a rough day.

I think I might have seen the moment when Chris turned the corner with his attitude and turned into a workhorse and great leader for the team.

Blazefire

August 19th, 2009 at 8:37 AM ^

I don't have one personally, but my cousin has a great photo of Jake Long and himself. My cousin goes pretty well sized, about 6 feet, and broad, probably 220 or so. (I'm taller but I'm a freakin' beanpole). Anyhow, you'd never claim he was a small guy. But this photo with Jake Long is hilarious. It looks like some kind of joke or trick of distortion. My cousin says he's never felt so small in his whole life.

GOBLUE4EVR

August 19th, 2009 at 9:01 AM ^

bunch of the michigan picture/media days and have talked to a few players and coaches but here are the 2 that stick out in my mind. in 94 gary moeller made fun of me for wearing a white sox hat(still this day i have no idea why i was wearing it) and in 97 i got to have a 5 min conversation with my all time favorite michigan football player, jamie morris. when i was a kid and would go to the spring games when he was playing i could never get close enough to him to get a autograph, so on that day in 1997 i finally got to talk to one of my michigan heros and get his autograph.

BlueVoix

August 19th, 2009 at 9:13 AM ^

Freshmen year, I was talkin to Eugene Germany and he asked for my number. He then pulled out four cell phones, two of which were pink before he found his.

I wish I was kidding, but this did indeed happen.

ameed

August 19th, 2009 at 9:13 AM ^

I was dumb enough to run across the street for a solo snowball barrage during the West Quad v South Quad snowball fight my freshman year. Turns out I ran right into Braylon, Marlin, and some more of their friends and players and I was out of ammo.

I sort of did this double back, slipped, and people were jumping everywhere (by then I did get some support from my fellow nerds from South Quad).

Long story short: Marlin Jackson jumped me during the snowball fight, and when I got up I picked up Braylon's Nike football glove with a #80 in black marker, which i still have. (If only Lloyd had given him #1 when he was still a sophomore)

Still in AA

August 19th, 2009 at 9:23 AM ^

A few weeks ago at the alumni hockey game, I bought an old locker from when the Yost locker room was remodeled in 1996 and loaded it into my Jimmy. Brendan Morrison was at the game and I convinced him to come back to my car, crawl in the back, and sign my locker. I was worried my wife was going to slam the door shut and drive off with him.

BlueBulls

August 19th, 2009 at 9:25 AM ^

A girl I know gave Manningham her number and he signs all if his texts "Tha Cho$en One."

I was also on the field before the 2005 Ohio State game and got hit with an errant Garret Rivas field goal during warm ups.

Flood

August 19th, 2009 at 9:52 AM ^

My senior year's Athlete Scholar awards or whatever took place in Fowlerville's gym, and I only went because Lloyd was speaking. As I was parking, I saw him walking into the school, so I quickly ran up (then walked, of course) and shook his hand.

He was as genial as I could've imagined, and he talked to me about going to Michigan the next year. He even said that I shouldn't hesitate to stop by and say hello, although I have a feeling he says that to all the students at the University.

Sandler For 3

August 19th, 2009 at 9:33 AM ^

This is a strange sequence of events to do with Jake Long:

Me and one of my friends were heading to Backroom after a fun night out our freshman year after watching the Notre Dame game(the 2006 season). When there we came upon 3 huge guys each with a pizza in hand and immediately struck up a conversation with them. My friend knew his shit and despite us being in school a few weeks, told me that he thought it was Jake Long. I wasn't sure but as he and his friends turned around to leave he saw his tattoos and we called out a very freshman-like "You're Jake Long!" He turned around and laughed and said no no no I'm just a tennis player and then Adam Kraus, who was with him, went off on a tangent about how he was a tennis player from NY (his Louisiana accent kind of sounded New Yorkish). We all had a good laugh and then talked to them for a while about the Notre Dame game telling them how great it was to watch and asking them questions (my friend asking about the zone blocking scheme.. only an MGoBlogger..). The whole exchange lasted around 45 minutes, the entirety of which they seemed to enjoy talking to us. We said our goodbyes and that was that.

Until a couple weeks later we saw a guy lift someone up and begin shoulder pressing him on the corner where Magic Gate is. We were walking in that direction (had to get the bus back up to Bursley) and noticed that it was Jake doing the lifting. We couldn't believe our luck at seeing him again and were even more astounded that he recognized us as we gaped at him shoulder pressing a human. He said something along the lines of "hey I remember you guys!" and talked to us for a minute before we ran to catch the bus.

During the freshman season we painted our bodies and painted numbers on us, and after these chance encounters I had been painting 77 on my back. Later in the season, I forget which game, I had been separated from my friends in the concourse of the stadium and was waiting to meet back up with them for a ticket swap. While waiting an old man and woman came up to me and one of my friends and said "ohh do you know my nephew?" and we were kind of confused. So responding, "who's your nephew?" got us the response "Well, Jake!" Turns out we had stumbled into his Aunt and Uncle who were there for the game (I think it was homecoming). We shared a good laugh and she gave me her thanks for supporting her nephew.

Just a really small world, and in hindsight, looking at that year it's crazy to think how it all happened.

UMdad

August 19th, 2009 at 10:43 AM ^

Another couple of quality guys I have met were Jason Vinson (punter from 97) and Marcus Knight. I met Jason volunteering in a children's program at the U hospital and Marcus dated my girlfriend's roomate. Both of those guys were really easy going and friendly. I had orientation with Tai Streets, on the otherhand, and he was a dick.

Sandler For 3

August 19th, 2009 at 10:57 AM ^

My sentiments exactly. I don't know if you know who Kenny Britt is, but he played WR for Rutgers got drafted by the Titans in the 1st. Well I was on a flight with him (about 20 people) and he was trying to talk on his cell phone while we were taking off. The attendant said shut it off and he said "don't you know who I am?" I'm glad Jake wasn't like that. One of my favorite players of all time.

treetopflyer

August 19th, 2009 at 9:46 AM ^

Tailgaiting on MSU's campus - I yelled GO BLUE to Brandstatter, who appeared shocked, confused, raised his and in ackowledgment, and then went back to drinking what appeared to be scotch. It was funny, trust me.

Maceo24

August 19th, 2009 at 10:00 AM ^

I worked at Crisler and the Stadium when I was in school. In the summers, some of the incoming football players would work with us to earn some extra cash. It just so happens that David Terrell was one of the players who worked with us. We were pretty pumped, since we new his resume, and couldn't wait to meet him.

Two things stand out. One, the kid was an idiot. Not surprising, but it still blew my mind that a player could come off as that stupid. Or, it could be that he didn't care. Who knows.

The second, and more impressive part, was his strength. The stages that get set up for graduation are these huge folding tables. They are about 4' x 8' and weigh a good 100 to 150 pounds (very awkward to carry). We always carried them in twos in order to move them around. This freak of a kid, would fling them over his head and carry them wherever we wanted them.

PS. He could also fly when playing basketball, but had no jumper. Woodson was the same way.

GRBluefan

August 19th, 2009 at 11:00 AM ^

called a fucking avatar, asshole. If you're going to use the god damned internet, at least know what the fuck you're talking about.

(note...clearly joking, but I had someone respond to me in this manner once when I didn't know what the picture thingy was called either, so I thought I would try it out and see how it made me feel. I feel like a douche.)

Nick Sparks

August 19th, 2009 at 10:08 AM ^

At a party one time and saw Garrett Rivas using the same line on girls over and over which consisted of: "do you know who I am, I'm Garrett Rivas". He just broke up with his gf so that could explain the deusheieness. My friend also watched him eat an entire large pizza from Bell's in one sitting. No joke.

Talked with Lloyd when I did this fundraising thing for his wife's charity. Ridiculously nice and genuine of course.

Walked around the court of a Michigan B-Ball game to get Bo's autograph after the ushers wouldn't let me into his section - during a stoppage of play of course, and well worth it.

Ran into Braylon after he graduated and asked him how he did what he did in that State game. His reply: "Because man, they're fucking State, they can't beat us." I also played basketball against him in highschool, but he didn't remember me.

Also watched Kevin Grady drink an insane amount at Skeeps after his knee injury. He was low.

Finally, saw one Brian Cook at Old Town. Proceeded to do an awkward, "hey, I really like your blog". Felt like a creepster afterward.

Eric

August 19th, 2009 at 10:21 AM ^

A guy that I know was a tutor for the football team and knew just about every player. I met Jake Long when he was a freshman at a b-day party for my friend at Studio 4. The same guy showed up at my house in Erie with Ernest Shazor one time. All I remember thinking was, holy shit, this guy is a safety?

EDIT: My brother was friends with Pat Sharrow, whom most may not be familiar with. He was injured when the house he shared with Jake Long caught on fire and he had to jump out of the upstairs window. He broke his ankle and was never really the same again. My only real experience with him was playing power hour with him one time out at Central Western weekend on a weekend that he didn't travel with the team to an away game. It was weird watching the UM game with a current member of the team with us.

MGoScene

August 19th, 2009 at 10:20 AM ^

i saw braylon at a kfc in ypsilanti once. he was with an M bball player (i forget whom), and some little asian dude.

he and i both ordered the mashed potatoes, but only one of us got drafted by the browns.

Blazefire

August 19th, 2009 at 10:54 AM ^

"The rain, thick with sleet, spattered on the freshly cleaned window panes with a crackling sound, like millions of knuckles cracking at once, ready to deliver a beating. It was a cold, hard night; the kind that set even the toughest of men shivering, either from the cold or something worse.

In contrast, I stared at the bright, warm, soft mounds of mashed potatoes that had been piled on my black, plastic plate. The server had given me a blank stare as she dumped not-quite-enough gravy onto the starchy lumps. The man in front of me had done much better, earning big, doe eyes, a pouty lip frown, and enough gravy to overflow the entire potato compartment and well up beneath three pieces of chicken. White meat, extra crispy.

Of course, I expected no different. I knew the man. He did not know me. I was jealous, but only for a moment. I would never earn millions of dollars. I would never see pouty lips for no reason. I would never be known by those I didn't know. I would never get extra gravy.

But then I remembered; I would never have to take orders from Brady Quinn.

The rain sounded slightly less depressing.

But only slightly."

Blue2000

August 19th, 2009 at 10:24 AM ^

My freshman year (1996) I was standing outside of South Quad smoking a cigarette when Lloyd Carr walked up the ramp to the entrance. As he approached, I said "hey Coach Carr!" (I was 18, and far too excited.) He smiled at me and said "son, you need to quit smoking."

It was awesome. I didn't quit smoking then (although I did eventually), but I've been a huge Lloyd fan ever since.

mejunglechop

August 19th, 2009 at 10:33 AM ^

This past year I went to see this girl I was seeing at her job in the basement of the union. She came over and we were talking when I noticed Peedi, Manny and Zack Novak at the other counter behind her. Anyway after a few minutes it was time for me to say goodbye and I made sure to get a hug and a kiss and as I do I see Peedi giving me a serious eye. Immediately I knew I might be in trouble because this girl was very pretty (prettier than I deserved) and sure enough later I got a call from her telling me how Deshawn was spitting hard game at her and Manny a little bit too. This continued for a couple weeks with him trying to work his game, and at the end of it I guess you can say I was pretty relieved that she doesn't know the first thing about sports (not that that stopped her from beating my ass in our tournament pool, but I digress.) The story has a happy ending, we soon thereafter started dating and we're still together.

Big Boutros

August 19th, 2009 at 10:33 AM ^

I can cosign the physical absurdity of meeting Jake Long. I'm a tall guy, and indeed I felt minuscule next to him, but the bigger shock was shaking his hand. Generally when you shake another person's hand, both participants are able to wrap their fingers around the hand. Jake Long's hand eats yours. It doesn't matter what handshake position you use, or how firm your grip is; it will simply be swallowed up by the black hole of his gigantic mitts.

The only potentially interesting interaction I've had with Michigan athletes was when I had an impromptu dance-off freshman year with Chris Graham and Johnny Sears. But I never actually met them.