A few words from me before quoting Tate. This guy stood in here today and got hammered with questions about missing wings, expectations and being called out by Woolfolk. He handled it all like a pro. He was humble, apologetic, and most of all, kept getting back to do whatever’s best for the team. Whatever happens from here give him credit for manning up and embracing this adversity. He certainly won points with me today. Here’s Tate: Does he feel like he’s been challenged? "Yes..He told me he was going to. And I think Coach Rod has done a great job at it and it’s only making me better. I can’t be made at it." What did he do to earn his helmet wings back? "Something my dad always told me, action speak louder than words. I just stayed quiet…and did all the work, and make sure everyone saw me doing the work…first one on the practice field and the last one off. Whatever it took. I got them back and I’m happy." His answer to the skeptics, that this team won’t improve: "People can think what they want. They don’t see what’s going on every day like all of us players do." Did he think he didn’t have to work as hard (during the off-season)? "I wouldn’t say that,…
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Denard’s Day
I took a load of photos but during the Michigan Spring Game but the best were of Denard Robinson doing his thing. It was his day and consider Brian’s take seconded: Robinson looks like a quarterback now. A running quarterback with rudimentary passing abilities, but a quarterback. There were zone reads and screens and rollout passes and a number of zippy seams that hit players between the numbers. When the offense broke down, Robinson made the concept of "pursuit angles" humorous. Putting him on the edge, as suggested by the coaches’ clinic tea leaves, puts the defense in a bind. His throws were all on a line but they were accurate aside from a couple mediocre bubble screens. Here’s sixteen in action. Please save the “Why don’t you marry him?” as I’m happily married. Wait, is he available? Ironic that everyone is blurry except the guy flying through the scene. [Ed. A few folks asked for a high res copy.] As Brian noted, he tossed a pair of soft screen passes but beyond that the passes were solid. That said, the follow through here is awkward unless he’s demonstrating that the Denard Meter is on high. He ended up turning this up field for a nice gain, but in this shot consider that he’s facing…
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Post Alumni Game: ‘64 Captain Jim Conley (audio)
I caught up with the oldest player on the field after the game, Jim Conley of the ‘65 Rose Bowl champs. He roamed the defensive backfield for the Maize team this morning and shared a few thoughts. Worth a listen, heavily tongue-in-cheek from the salty veteran: [display_podcast] Notable: I asked Conley about the lack of a QB on the Maize team: “It met my dreams, you understand? Because I hate referees, kickers and quarterbacks.” On the refs, who seemed to give the Blue QB (John Navarre) more than the allowed 5 seconds: “They had that Spartan Bob clock…they had 8 seconds sometimes.” On playing safety: “I moved better than I thought I was going to, to tell you the truth. I just wanted to show the fans that an old man can play free safety. If you’re a safety, you gotta sit back, look at the field, read the quarterback and go to the ball. And as you saw nobody threw in my area because I was there.” On the leap he offered up during his introduction: “I wanted to show people that I have that 42” elevation…”