Funchess: "I could have played college hoops"
February 20th, 2015 at 5:26 PM ^
I think maybe he thought he was this year...
February 20th, 2015 at 5:26 PM ^
It's funny, because a lot of people thought he could've played college football too.
/s
February 20th, 2015 at 8:29 PM ^
Wa is the story behind this one?
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February 21st, 2015 at 10:41 AM ^
when he saw that he ran a 4.7 this morning at the Combine.
though last year, Benjamin ran a 4.6 and seems to be off to a good start to an NFL career.
February 20th, 2015 at 6:59 PM ^
But seriously though the hate he receives on this blog is overboard imo. I mean maybe he catches a few more balls and we win a couple more games and go to a crappy bowl game, then maybe Hoke is still hear and the tire fire is never put out. Personally I wouldn't change much about this past season.
February 20th, 2015 at 7:08 PM ^
So...we have Funchess to thank for the Harbaugh?
February 20th, 2015 at 7:30 PM ^
Yeah, that's a stretch....
February 21st, 2015 at 8:17 PM ^
...shh, we've already met our NCAA permitted number of stretch minutes.
February 20th, 2015 at 7:54 PM ^
I am ambivalent about him. I wish him no ill will and hope he represents Michigan well moving forward.
I just don't want to hear about him anymore; it does my fandom no benefit.
February 20th, 2015 at 8:33 PM ^
disliked his overall effort. He dropped a lot of passes for sure but his blocking wasn't good either. I can't say that was all his fault or a product of having to block small fast/quick guys over slower, bigger guys as a TE.
February 20th, 2015 at 9:43 PM ^
Did you miss that quote? It's not about the performance, it's about the attitude, and the general feeling we all got that he just didn't give a damn about the team.
February 20th, 2015 at 11:25 PM ^
That quote literally illustrates your point. He was saying that the end result didn't matter as long as everyone played together for the good of the team and kept trying. Did you read the rest of the interview?
February 20th, 2015 at 11:38 PM ^
Not sure what the "good of the team" means if not wins and losses. That's how the performance of the team is measured. At any rate, I think the quote was a turning point for how U-M fans looked at him.
I get that you think he was standing up for all the guys in the room. But if you don't think winning or losing matters, I don't want you on my team. This is a competitive endeavor. And it puts a certain unflattering context on his later, apparently disinterested, performances.
February 21st, 2015 at 10:17 AM ^
I think he did not display a lot of effort, people don't care if you are great, but they want you to give a crap. That is why one Devon will always be loved and the other not-so-much.
February 20th, 2015 at 10:39 PM ^
not to have been online at 5:25 pm.
That was just waiting to get crushed. Well done.
February 20th, 2015 at 5:26 PM ^
I always thought he could have played college football.
February 20th, 2015 at 5:26 PM ^
Word has it that that sport requires catching as well.
February 20th, 2015 at 5:30 PM ^
Statistics are meaningless in basketball man.
February 20th, 2015 at 6:03 PM ^
It's hard to give 100% effort when the coaches aren't. Imagine how frustrating it is to be an NFL caliber true deep threat, yet hardly ever get thrown fade routes or jump balls. They also played him when he had nagging injuries. The people calling him out in this thread are embarrassments.
February 20th, 2015 at 10:39 PM ^
Don't blame the coaches for playing a kid with nagging injuries. Either you're injured or you aren't, but I dont think Funchess was ever too hurt to play. And if he was, the trainers wouldn't have cleared him. Football's a tough sport, sometimes you have to play hurt.
February 21st, 2015 at 1:30 AM ^
I'll admit that. It makes me a bit sad that he wasn't given proper opportunities to truly showcase what a talent he was. At the same time, he flat out gave up in many people's eyes and admission of anonymous teammates. Having seen the guy around campus & hearing stories about him that are absolutely unquestionable in their honesty/believability, it's likely better he left for the team's sake. Sad considering his insane physical talents/potential but while not a "bad guy" he just doesn't have a "team first" attitude. I've heard some that know him question how much he even cared about winning more than the perks of being who he was & was going to be. So, personally a mix of sadness over wasting such a great talent but indifference due to it likely being his fault as much as anything else. I wish him well.
February 21st, 2015 at 8:41 AM ^
Even in the business world, this is true. I work for a company crippled by poor leadership and lack of accountability and it starts to permeate through the entire sales force. If you have bad leadership, your culture will ultimately fail. Michigan football was no different.
February 20th, 2015 at 7:08 PM ^
Quit being a dick.
February 20th, 2015 at 7:14 PM ^
Does being a devotee require sniffing jock straps of every Michigan athlete far more talented than you along with being eerily obsessed with UM?
February 21st, 2015 at 8:39 AM ^
The wrong "word" in your saying above.
February 20th, 2015 at 5:27 PM ^
First thing I thought of:
February 20th, 2015 at 9:05 PM ^
remind us about what you're doing these days? There is nothing more charming than a bunch of lazy posters whipping up on some athlete who didn't meet their exalted standards.
February 20th, 2015 at 5:27 PM ^
is a requirement in basketball right?
February 20th, 2015 at 5:34 PM ^
HA! I out gif"d the master.
February 20th, 2015 at 5:39 PM ^
but I'll be back!
February 20th, 2015 at 8:04 PM ^
You changed your avatar....
February 20th, 2015 at 5:33 PM ^
Man, this board has really turned on the guy. So very bitter.
I still wish the guy luck in the draft and NFL. Hopefully he reaches the potential he flashed briefly while he was at UM.
February 20th, 2015 at 6:10 PM ^
This board is an echo chamber. I still can't figure out why people are so upset with him. They act as if he had personally promised them a 2000-yard season and they lost a bet because of it.
February 20th, 2015 at 6:39 PM ^
Instead, we got a 733 yard season with 310 of those in the first two and the last games of the season, and very little in between.
I think Gardner was hurt all year, couldn't throw a deep ball and that torpedoed the season because of Hoke's inability to find a competent backup QB. Hoke paid for it. Let's all just move on.
EDIT: and blocking, I would have gladly accepted some blocking.
February 20th, 2015 at 6:51 PM ^
I mean, for all of people's complaints about his lack of heart and effort, didn't he suffer a pretty serious injury during the ND game that hobbled him for weeks because he was blocking during a screen play after already injuring his ankle?
February 20th, 2015 at 6:52 PM ^
Shhh don't mention that Hoke left him in far too long in the ND game causing the injury in the first place.
February 20th, 2015 at 7:25 PM ^
So your saying our offense by the ND game knew all the plays and didn't need to actually be run by the guys who were supposed to play all year. Injuries happen when you play football, it's part of the game. Does it suck yes, but to blame the coaches for keeping guys in who obviously needed to learn how to run the offense is stupid.
February 20th, 2015 at 7:36 PM ^
No I'm saying Hoke left Funch in way too long after it was already a blow out and no way we were coming back.
Funch got hurt real late in the 4th if I remember correctly. It was a stupid coaching decision, which looking back on the season I can say I'm not surprised.
February 20th, 2015 at 7:56 PM ^
Your right it was late in that game and I believe he was either blocking or receiving a bubble screen. We were incredibly young especially on offense and guys needed the experience of running the offense. It really wouldn't surprise me if next season And Harbaugh was in a similar situation he would do the same thing.
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February 20th, 2015 at 7:06 PM ^
He led the team in receiving by an enormous margin. 55% more receiving yards than Darboh (the #2 WR) and 376% more than Chesson (#3 WR). He had the only catch over 34 yards and twice as many TD as Darboh (Chesson and Norfleet didn't have any).
His numbers were also virtually identical to the year before when he had a healthy, functional QB some of the time and Gallon on the other side.
If Funchess wasn't trying, I'd hate to know what everybody else on the team was doing.
February 20th, 2015 at 7:26 PM ^
I believe he also was the second leading receiver in the big ten.
February 20th, 2015 at 8:37 PM ^
7th in yards. Considering he played on a team that threw 10 TD all season long, not nearly as bad as people make it out to be, especially with the injuries factored in.
February 20th, 2015 at 5:36 PM ^
but at just 6'5", you need to be a good shooter too. He'd probably be a 3, maybe a 4 (For comparison's sake, THJ is 6'6" and is much quicker than Funch). I'm skeptical he had the game to play D1 ball.
Side note now: I miss THJ. Loved watching him play for us
February 20th, 2015 at 6:57 PM ^
while I think he still would have been faster, THJ played at like 6-6 205. Funchess probably would not have played basketball at his listed 6-5 230.
February 20th, 2015 at 8:34 PM ^
rebounder on our team though. and maybe he could actually block some shots.
would want.
February 20th, 2015 at 5:36 PM ^
Funchess: "I could have played with more effort".
I find it pretty interesting how his time at Michigan will now be known for packing it in during Michigan's darkest hours. His legacy is pretty much tarnished imo. People point to the drops but it was his effort and body language that did it for me.