The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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10 THE WOLVERINE FEBRUARY 2020 INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS CHARLES WOODSON MAKES ESPN'S COLLEGE FOOTBALL ALL-TIME ALL-AMERICA TEAM ESPN rolled out its selections for the College Football All-Time All-America team in honor of the 150th season of college football. U-M's do-it-all cornerback Charles Wood- son was the lone Wolverine on the 25-man first team that honors the best players at their positions from throughout college football history. Woodson was an All-American in both his sophomore and junior seasons. During his three-year collegiate career from 1995-97, Woodson recorded 162 tackles, 18 interceptions and six total touchdowns. ESPN cited Woodson's junior season as the one that got him on the All-Time team. He had eight interceptions and 43 tackles on defense, while adding 11 receptions for 231 yards and a touchdown as a wide receiver. He also had a 78-yard punt return for a touchdown against Ohio State to help lift U-M to victory. The Wolverines went on to finish the season undefeated. They beat Washington State in the Rose Bowl to clinch a share of the national championship. Woodson won the 1997 Heisman Trophy, and is still the only primarily defensive player to win the award. That year, he also took home the Walter Camp Award, the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, the Chuck Bednarik Award and the Jim Thorpe Award. JEFF CRISWELL, JORDAN NWOGU, WILLIE WEISS NAMED PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS Perfect Game/Rawlings came out with their Preseason All- America team, and included U-M junior pitcher Jeff Criswell and junior outfielder Jordan Nwogu on the third team. Both were also included in Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's Pre- season All-America team that came out in mid-December, along with sophomore pitcher Willie Weiss. Collegiate Base- ball listed Criswell as a first-team choice, and Nwogu and Weiss on its third team. All three players were key pieces in U-M's magical run to the College World Series finals in 2019. Criswell, who was a first-team All-Big Ten selection as a sophomore, finished last season with a 7-1 record and 2.72 ERA. He stuck out 116 batters in 106 innings on the year. Nwogu, who was tabbed as a first-team All-Big Ten selec- tion at designated hitter, touted a batting average of .321 and scored a team-high 58 runs for the 2019 season. He led the Wolverines with a .557 slugging average and a team- best .435 on-base percentage. He also notched 12 home runs on the season. Weiss was a selection for the All-Big Ten Freshman Team, and was named a Freshman All-American last season by both Perfect Game/Rawlings and Collegiate Baseball News- paper, after he posted a 2.97 ERA with 50 strikeouts in 39 1 ⁄3 innings. He had nine saves on the season, which is third in program history for saves in a single season. FORMER MICHIGAN DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS JOE ROBERSON PASSES AWAY AT 84 Former Michigan director of athletics Joe Roberson passed away at the age of 84 Jan. 13 at his home. Roberson served as U-M's director of athletics from 1994- 97. During that span, Wolverine teams won 17 conference championships and two national championships (men's swimming and diving, and ice hockey). Roberson was responsible for hiring former U-M head football coach Lloyd Carr, who would go on to win the 1997 national championship, just after Roberson retired. In his earlier years, he attended UM-Flint, where he re- ceived his undergraduate degree in 1958. He then earned a master's degree in 1963 and doctorate in 1970 at U-M's Ann Arbor campus. Roberson also was an athlete. He played professional base- ball for the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1953-58. Roberson's roles at U-M through the years stretched far beyond just athletics. At U-M Flint, he served as a professor of education, dean for students (1966-80), vice chancellor (1980-83) and interim chancellor (1983-84). In Ann Arbor, he performed the roles of head of corporate fundraising (1984- 89) and associate vice president and executive director of the $1 billion Campaign for Michigan. "The loss of Joe Roberson marks an especially sad day for me," current U-M director of athletics Warde Manuel said in a statement. "Joe hired me here at the University of Michigan when I returned to Ann Arbor to get my doctorate. He could be considered my first major mentor. He believed in the student-athlete model with 'student' as the most important factor in participation." — Clayton Sayfie Woodson, U-M's do-everything cornerback and 1997 Heisman Trophy winner, was named by ESPN as one of the 25 best play- ers of all time at their positions in the 150-year history of college football. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN MAIZE AND BLUE NOTEBOOK