I had to share a few short clips of former Michigan football All-American Ed Muransky. This was part of “Virtual Tailgate” presentation produced by the Football Alumni of Michigan and the U-M Alumni Association held last Saturday, November 14, 2020.
Big Ed talks about the changes in football from the early 1980s to today, including the common use of “negative reinforcement” in the Bo/Woody era. Big Ed, an All-American mind you, admits that he actually feared losing his job each week.
And of course Muransky discusses something that hasn’t changed – his Lawry’s Beef Bowl competitive eating triumph. As a freshman out of immediate sight from Bo, he downed 8 (eight!) 2-lb prime rib meals prior to the 1979 Rose Bowl. And washed those down with a pizza later that night. The record still stands. Here’s the clip:
Great work by FAM and the Alumni Association for putting this together. You can catch the entire Virtual Tailgate panel discussion here.
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Detailed interview notes (with timing):
0:00 – Intro to Ed Muransky and the Virtual Tailgate
1:43 – Differences in football today vs. the late 1970s/early 1980s
2:10 – The speed of the game today and the commitment required of the players
2:57 – On Coaching, how Bo/Woody-era coaches used negative reinforcement
3:33 – On how athletes today require a positive-reinforcement coaching style
4:23 – The Beef Bowl, the record he set as a freshman seated with Bubba Paris before the 1979 Rose Bowl.
4:55 – What Bo Schembechler told Ed and Bubba on the way to the 1981 Rose Bowl
