The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1133482
THE WOLVERINE 2019 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 33 Jansen still smiles about the California kid overcomer. "We're all a product of our experience," Jansen said. "He had an experience where he had to fight for everything that he has ever accomplished. "I see him now on Instagram and social media posts where he's working out all sea- son long, and you hear about the diet and the training, how much he dedicates to being the quarterback he is. And not just the quarter- back, but the leader and the teammate he is, getting other guys to buy into making that same sacrifice. You can definitely look back to how he had to work at Michigan as the launching point for his career." There are no hard feelings in Jansen's estimation. "I've talked to Tom a number of times. Tom loves Michigan, and he loved his expe- rience here," the two-time captain said. "We all look back and think, should I have played in this quarter? Should I have played earlier? Should the coaches have made this decision? "We're all human beings, and we always want more for ourselves. But when Tom comes back to Michigan and he talks to the team, there's no animosity about any decisions that were made. You hear him talk about Coach Carr. You hear him talk about what Michigan football has meant to him and continues to mean to him. "He looks back on it and says, 'This made me who I am, and I'm happy for it.'" Carr appreciates Brady deeply for keeping the vow he made in the head coach's of- fice one fateful day. It resonates even now. "Part of life is disappoint- ment," Carr said. "Some- times, we fail, and those are always challenging times. The decision, a lot of those times, is to take the easy road and quit. "Tom is a great story, in so many ways. Certainly one of the ways is that when his toughest days came, he always stood up and faced what- ever it was. I look back on that as really a defining moment for him at Michigan. "He made up his mind that he was going to stay and compete every day. In the pro- cess, he developed into an incredible leader, team player, all the things you want to be called. He did it all." He's still doing it, with six Super Bowl championship rings and few betting against him regarding another. "I don't think anybody would have pre- dicted that," Carr said. "But there was no doubt in my mind he was going to be a very successful quarterback in the NFL. He had great decision making, great competitiveness, intelligence and accuracy beyond measure as a passer. I marvel at it, not only that he did what he did for the first 10 years, but now we're in his second decade. It's been fun to watch. "Tom deserves everything he achieved. He earned it. He worked for it. He sweated for it, and he won it. All the best to Tom Brady." ❏ Regular-Season Passing Yards: 70,514 (fourth) Assuming he stays healthy for the entirety of the 2019 campaign, Brady should pass retired field generals Peyton Manning (71,940 yards) and Brett Favre (71,838) — who hold the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, respectively — on the all-time passing list. Catching Drew Brees — who is still active at 40 years old and has accumulated 74,437 yards — will be a difficult task. When the Patriot QB's postseason totals are factored into the equa- tion, his 81,693 passing yards become the most in NFL history. Super Bowl Appearances: 9 (first) To put in perspective just how incredible Brady's nine Super Sunday appearances are, consider this: only one other player in NFL history (current Patriots kicker Ste- phen Gostkowski) has more than five. The kicker's six trips are the second most ever, while only 16 other ath- letes can even lay claim to five. Of those 16, the lone quarterback of the bunch is longtime Denver Broncos signal-caller John Elway (1983-98). Incredibly, Brady's nine appear- ances are more than any other NFL franchise besides his, with the Steelers (eight), Cowboys (eight), Broncos (eight) and 49ers (six) being the only clubs who have gone more than five times. Brady's six Super Bowl titles and 30 playoff wins are the most in NFL history by a quarterback. Terry Bradshaw with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Joe Montana with the San Francisco 49ers are tied for second in Super Bowl rings with four, and Montana is next in line in playoff victories with 16. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS/DAVID SILVERMAN