Michigan Football History Will Be Televised…What’s Next?

Stunt3 Multimedia, the folks behind the upcoming Gerald Ford/Willis Ward documentary, is asking for input from U-M fans on what other stories you’d like to see produced.   It looks like the hype over the Fab Five film got their juices flowing:

“We saw with the ‘Fab Five’ film on ESPN just how much hunger there is for Michigan documentaries,” said Brian Kruger, President of Stunt3 Multimedia. “This is going to satisfy that hunger.”

They’ve got four pretty interesting ideas to extend their series and they’re asking you to contact them with your choice.  

The nominees:

Tom and Drew: The Battle to be the Starter

Drew Henson came to Michigan as perhaps the most celebrated recruit ever, but when he arrived in Ann Arbor, there was another quarterback holding on to the starting spot – a lightly regarded beanpole from California named Tom Brady. In 1998, Brady was the starter and Henson was the backup, but in 1999, Coach Lloyd Carr came up with a system where they’d alternate as the starter. That decision split Wolverine Nation in 1999 – and the debate continues to this day.

Wangler to Carter: The Most Exciting Play in Michigan Football History

With just six seconds left in the 1979 game between Michigan and Indiana, the heavily favored Wolverines found themselves in a 21-21 tie with Coach Lee Corso’s Hoosiers. Enter Anthony Carter, a rail-thin freshman from Riviera Beach, Florida. With the Wolverines 45 yards away from the end zone, quarterback John Wangler hooked up with AC for the most exciting play in Michigan football history – a touchdown pass that resulted in broadcaster Bob Ufer’s most famous call ever.

Heisman Pose: Desmond Howard’s Magical Season

Through the years, 74 players have won the Heisman Trophy. But none of them ever showed as much flair as Desmond Howard. The flanker from Ohio was known as “Desmond Two-Two” for much of the 1991 season, because it seems he was scoring at least two touchdowns in every game. He became the Heisman front-runner early in the season when he laid out for an unbelievable touchdown catch against Notre Dame. But Howard really became a legend after scoring a touchdown on a punt return against Ohio State. He struck a Heisman pose in the end zone – and it’s a moment no Michigan fan will ever forget.

Leach v. Montana: The Michigan-Notre Dame Rivalry Resumes

The Michigan-Notre Dame series had been dormant since 1942, but in 1978, the teams finally resumed their rivalry. On a sunny Saturday afternoon in South Bend that September, two of the country’s best senior quarterbacks led their teams to battle – Michigan’s Rick Leach and Notre Dame’s Joe Montana. The game lived up to the hype, as the Wolverines and Irish bashed heads all afternoon. Notre Dame took a 14-7 lead before Leach and the Wolverines came storming back, blasting Montana’s team off the field to take a 28-14 win.

I’m interested in what you think so vote now:

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To “really” vote, simply e-mail your choice to info@stunt3.com. You can also include information on why you think that topic would make a great documentary.

The full press release is after the jump:

Following “The Fab Five”: Which Michigan football story would you like to see made into a documentary? Here’s your chance to vote

On the heels of Sunday night’s hugely successful “Fab Five” documentary on ESPN, Michigan fans now have the chance to vote on which U-M football story they’d like to see told on film.

Stunt3 Multimedia, the Detroit-based producer of the upcoming “VICTORS” documentary series, is asking Michigan fans to help select the topic for one of the films in the series. The “VICTORS” series – sort of an all-Michigan version of ESPN’s 30-for-30 films – will explore 10 great stories in Michigan football history, and will air over the next two years during football season. The first five films will air in the fall of 2011, with the second five airing in the fall of 2012.

In addition to airing on TV, the series will also be available on DVD and digital download later this year.

Most of the film topics have already been selected, starting with “Black and Blue: The Story of Willis Ward, Gerald Ford and the 1934 Michigan-Georgia Tech Game.” When Georgia Tech came to Ann Arbor for a game that fall, the Yellow Jackets insisted that Michigan bench the lone African-American on its team, Willis Ward. Michigan eventually agreed to the demand, and the decision infuriated many of Ward’s teammates, including his best friend on the team, a lineman from Grand Rapids named Gerald Ford. Ford threatened to quit the team in protest and agreed to play only after Ward insisted that he had to. The incident left an impression on Ford that stayed with him for the rest of his life, all the way to the White House, shaping his opinions on civil rights and equality.

Other films in the “VICTORS” series will cover a host of great games, players, and stories from Michigan’s past – everything from the Wistert Brothers and Ron Kramer to the 1969 Michigan-Ohio State game and the 1997 National Championship.

“Since we announced the ‘VICTORS’ series, we’ve gotten an unbelievable response from Wolverine Nation,” said Buddy Moorehouse, Senior Creative Director at Stunt3 Multimedia. “They can’t wait to see these films. And what we’ve heard from so many fans is that they’re saying, ‘Oh, you should do this story, too!’ or ‘You should do that one! You have to do that one!’ So we finally decided to let the fans help select the topics we’re going to cover.”

“We saw with the ‘Fab Five’ film on ESPN just how much hunger there is for Michigan documentaries,” said Brian Kruger, President of Stunt3 Multimedia. “This is going to satisfy that hunger.”

Michigan fans are invited to select one of the following four films they’d like to see included in the “VICTORS” series. To vote, simply e-mail your choice to info@stunt3.com. You can also include information on why you think that topic would make a great documentary.\