The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/432566
BY JOHN BORTON T he 94th version of Michigan's annual Football Bust brought with it considerable potential for discomfort. Interim athletic director Jim Hack- ett sat near the head football coach he'd dismissed less than a week ear- lier. The crowd at Laurel Manor was down in numbers, a reflection of a 5-7 season. The Wolverines received M rings from the U-M Club of Greater Detroit, but sported no Big Ten cham- pionship rings to accompany them. No doubt, this could have been far more difficult than it was. Michigan's players wouldn't let it be so. They never quit through a 2014 season that skidded off the tracks early. They weren't about to quit now. Their words carried an uplifting de- fiance. Their affection for their coaches and each other shone through. Fifth-year senior quarterback Devin Gardner — named a postsea- son captain along with Jake Ryan, the fifth-year senior linebacker who also earned the Glenn E. "Bo" Schem- bechler MVP Award — apologized for nothing. Yes, it's important to win on the field, Gardner said. At the same time, he insists there's more to "Those Who Stay Will Be Champions" than winning a Big Ten title. "I stayed, and I'll live the rest of my life as a champion," Gardner assured. The quarterback who made count- less trips to Mott Children's Hospital to visit sick kids, who has reached out in a host of community service efforts, and who even comforted injured Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett on the field in the final game of Gardner's career, noted there have been many lessons learned along the way. He quoted from the writings of re- tired NFL coach Tony Dungy, offering this: "All of us have a choice, whether to be takers or givers. Takers are con- cerned more with receiving value from others' lives than adding value to them. But giving is more reward- ing, and actually adds to our lives as well. Use your platforms to give to others. Impact lives in the way no one else can." Gardner indicated Brady Hoke and Michigan's other coaches have given much, and impacted the Wolverines deeply. He'll take that along with him upon leaving Michigan. University of Michigan president Mark Schlissel noted the values in the U-M football program are obvious, and that Gardner put them on display in Columbus. "Devin Gardner's remarkable dem- onstration of sportsmanship after the injury to J.T. Barrett was an amazing example, that made the Michigan na- tion proud," Schlissel said. The president again gave praise to Hoke's input into the shaping of the Wolverines. "It was clear to me from day one that he cared very deeply for his play- ers and for Michigan football," Schlis- sel said. "He worked to nurture his student-athletes as player, student and as men, and was committed to their success at all levels." Hackett told the players: "We owe Coach Hoke a deep debt of gratitude, for having the kind of program that will help you the rest of your lives. He