• Butch Woolfolk Speaks His Mind (1981)

    Through Tate’s twitter goodbye we got a little reminder of when Troy Woolfolk’s criticized Forcier’s workout habits this summer.   You might recall that later on media day Tate said all the right things about Woolfolk’s words, and he added that, “seniors are the leaders of this team.  Whatever they say, they can say—it’s up to them.” So I thought this was interesting.  My pal Steve Sap sent over a clipping from a September 1981 Detroit News a few weeks back.  In it, T-Woolf’s dad Butch Woolfolk (B-Woolf?) spoke to the media about his concerns about the team a few weeks into the season. Preseason #1 Michigan was upset by Wisconsin the opener but then smoked Notre Dame 25-7 in Ann Arbor.  After a disappointing five point win over Navy many were scratching their heads–and the elder Woolfolk made it known he wasn’t happy with the flaky start: “I have a tendency to speak my mind, and maybe I shouldn’t say this…but this team is just not mentally ready…It’s a mess.” He added, “I don’t like this team right now.  I don’t like it at all.”   While Butch didn’t target a particular player, he did call out his fellow senior teammates saying, “The sad part of it is there are a lot of seniors on this team.  And seniors are supposed…