The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/116680
where are they where are they now? now? Former Running Back David Underwood Finds His Purpose D By Chris Balas avid Underwood, a running back at U-M from 2001-04, spent his high school days playing with the big boys. He was tight with future Texas Longhorn and NFL quarterback Vince Young, among others, and he proved he belonged in their company when he rushed for 1,100 yards as a junior — in his first four games — in a breakout season. One of the top prospects in one of the nation's most talent-rich states, he had his choice of schools, but Underwood passed on the advice of his mother and others to stay closer to home. Instead, he pledged to Michigan sight unseen in 2001 and — admittedly — wondered what went wrong four years later when he left Michigan with only 630 total yards. There was the obvious, such as playing behind Doak Walker In his four-year U-M career (2001-04), Underwood carried 148 times for 612 yards (4.1 yards per attempt) and scored six touchdowns. photo by per kjeldsen Award winner Chris Perry, and then Mike Hart in 2004 after Underwood suffered an injury in the first few minutes of the season's second game, against Notre Dame. However, with the time he'd put in and the physical gifts he'd been given, he — like much of the Michigan fan base — felt as though they'd missed something potentially special. Two years after graduation, Underwood was still trying to figure it out when he returned to Ann Arbor to finish his degree, working in strength coach Mike Gittleson's weight room. "I had been in some