How most people remember Tony Brady's time at Michigan.

To many Tom Brady was merely a stopgap falling in the shadow of Brian Griese (who led Michigan to a National Championship) and Drew Henson who was destined to lead the Wolverines to 3 or 4 National Championships, while leading the Yankees to World Championships during the football off-season.

No disrespect to Drew Henson but the hype surrounding him was completely out of control. The spotlight on Henson obscured Brady and many fans couldn’t wait for him to make way for Henson.

While Brady was technically the starter, Lloyd Carr employed the dreaded dual QB system giving Henson ample to time to challenge. At the time it seemed like a concession to keep Henson from bolting and playing baseball full time.

But Brady held on as the starter for two seasons and capped his career with an OT win over Alabama in the 2000 Orange Bowl.

During his time at Michigan no one could have predicted the success he’d have in the NFL.

I always thought that Brady would be successful at something- he had that air about him. A quiet determination and confidence. No matter how obnoxious fans would be, “Hey Tom, how long until Drew takes your job?” he stayed calm, cool, and collected.

Only later did we learn how close he came to transferring.

Brady liked this photo because it included his teammates

But there was one indication of his character. I took this picture during the 1998 season and was determined to get all three players who were featured prominently to autograph it.  At 1999 Media Day fans had an opportunity to meet the players and I quickly tracked down center Steve Frazier (#64) tight end end Aaron Shea (#36) but couldn’t find Brady anywhere.

I went from line to line looking for him. Finally, I tracked him standing practically alone near the sideline. When I showed him the photo his first reaction was to ask how I took it (from my seats) and how cool it was that it showed all three players together in the same shot. I found out later that Aaron Shea was one of his best friends in college which helps explain why he liked the photo so much.

He signed the photo and said, “Go Blue!” and thanked me for taking the picture.

It always struck how classy he was. At the time there was a huge line of people waiting for Drew Henson’s autograph while Brady, the starter, stood by watching.

A lesser man may have been resentful, but Brady was a Michigan Man.

I wondered how he felt when he found himself drafted by the Patriots and was again overshadowed by  another quarterback phenom named Drew (Bledsoe).

I have no doubt that he handled himself with the same class he showed at Michigan.

And his hard work and dedication have made him one the best quarterbacks in NFL history.

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Phil Callihan

Editor-in-Chief, UMGoBlue.COM
Publisher, UMGoBlog.COM, UMGoVideo.COM, UMGoPodcast,COM

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Today the Michigan Wolverines announced the signing of 25 student athletes.

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Phil Callihan

Editor-in-Chief, UMGoBlue.COM
Publisher, UMGoBlog.COM, UMGoVideo.COM, UMGoPodcast,COM

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Joe Paterno, the man, died last night after a short battle with cancer.

JoPa, the legend,  died last November amid revelations that he did little when confronted with allegations that one of his long time coaches had molested a child in the Penn State football showers.

How do we reconcile the man with the legend?

Many say that we put too much stock in our sports figures. But if any person seemed worthy of admiration it was Joe Paterno.

Maybe he started to believe his own press. Surely the excuses he gave for his inaction during his final interview were embarrassing. He certainly wouldn’t have accepted lame excuses from one of his players.

Today we’ll we hear from his former players, many of whom credit Coach Paterno with being major reason for their success.

Let’s honor man while remembering that we’ve learned he’s not quite worthy of being a legend.

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Phil Callihan

Editor-in-Chief, UMGoBlue.COM
Publisher, UMGoBlog.COM, UMGoVideo.COM, UMGoPodcast,COM

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Phil Callihan

Editor-in-Chief, UMGoBlue.COM
Publisher, UMGoBlog.COM, UMGoVideo.COM, UMGoPodcast,COM

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By Andy Andersen

The 132nd rendition of  a Wolverines Football Team (10-2, 6-2) knew that they would have their hands full competing against the Frank Beamer coached Virginia Tech Hokies ( 11-2,7-1)  and they did.

They stopped Denard’s ground game cold.  But Junior Hemingway’s two leaping end zone catches helped make the difference, and earned him player of the game honors.

Here’s Hemingway afterwards: “From the beginning when the coaches first came in we had to buy in and the seniors had to get the rest of the team to do the same thing, Team 132. It was just a hard-fought season. To go out there and do it for the underclassmen who now have a Sugar Bowl championship under their belt and for us to leave with the Sugar Bowl championship, it just shows our hard work, our determination, our resilience. And that’s where most of the emotion came from.”

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Andy Andersen

Andy Andersen, Senior Football Writer

Andy is a Michigan graduate and long time Michigan Football fan, having attended games during the tenures of Fritz Crisler, Bennie Oosterbaan, Bump Elliot, Bo Schembechler, Gary Moeller, Lloyd Carr, Rich Rodriguez, and Brady Hoke. He attempts to present articles consistent with the concerns and interests of Michigan Fans.