Rick Leach (QB - 1975-1978)"The guts and glue of the Maize and Blue," as Bob Ufer used to call him. He was great during my formative years (75-78), and that's why he's one of my favorite Wolverines of all-time. He shattered all the previous Michigan passing records (which have all since been broken). Great athlete.
Mike Hart (RB - 2004-2007)
Sure, the Michigan records he holds are nice: most career carries; most career yards; most rushing yards by a freshman; most 100 yard rushing games; most 200 yard rushing games. But he was my favorite because he was a relentless runner who never fumbled. He rarely went down on first contact, and he even more rarely coughed up the football (lost one fumble his freshman year, and then not again until the bowl game senior year). He gave me the impression that he was a good kid, and a hard worker.
Charles Woodson (CB - 1995-1997)I think this is mainly due to the fact that he was such a stud during the '97 national championship season: his one-handed interception against the Spartans, his clutch catch, INT, and punt return TD against OSU. It was a very exciting year, and he was the main reason.
David Harris (LB - 2003-2006)
While he was only a full-time starter for one year, he was a tremendous middle linebacker. He was all over the field and was just as good chasing down an outside sweep as he was in pass coverage against TEs. I loved watching him play. Currently the starting MLB for the Jets.
Mark Messner (DT - 1985-1988)He was a stud in the middle of the D-Line while I was in Ann Arbor, and even led the team in sacks as a tackle, a pretty impressive feat. He was a two-time All-American. And he rocked a sweet pornstache back in the day.
John Kolesar (WR - 1985-1988)
I swear, he caught more long passes than any Michigan receiver until Braylon came along (in fact, for his career, he averaged 23.4 yards per catch). He was deceptively fast (i.e., he was a white wide receiver) and also was a good kickoff returner and a decent punt returner. This is another one who's on the list primarily because I was in school at the same time as him.
As usual, your mileage may vary. Please add your favorite Wolverines in the comments. I wanted to leave a few for you guys, so I left off some of the more obvious greats from my lifetime.
2 comments:
It is sad that Jimmy Harbaugh no longer rates as one of the all time bests, simply because he consistently sticks his foot in his mouth as a head coach now. Speaking of "back in the day," he was definitely my favorite player when I was in school. Great competitor and a "winner."
Also worth noting: Tyrone Wheatley, Tripp Wellborne, Anthony Carter!, Desmond Howard and Braylon Edwards. And Timmy Biakabatuka's 300-yard game against OSU may be the best single performance by a Michigan player, at least in my mind.
Nice additions. Tripp Welbourne must had blocked ten kicks in his Michigan career. I thought about Harbaugh, but his recent comments made him expendable. He was one of my favorites at the time too.
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