The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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in our room." Senior defensive end Brennen Beyer stood out on the defensive line in 2014, taking home the Dick Katcher Award as the top lineman on the squad. Beyer also injected plenty of life into the lineup and locker room, garnering the Robert P. Ufer request for team spirit. Assistant coach Fred Jackson talked about coaching Beyer in a blocking position on kicks, and how Beyer consistently sacrificed himself for the good of the whole. "He extends his body," Jackson as- sured. "The first hit will go through his upper body, through his shoul- ders. The second hit will go to his waist, and the third will go to his legs, every single time. "He will stand there, and you guys never even notice that, because you don't look at the field goals and extra points, except to watch the kicker and the holder. You never look at the guy blocking off the edge." The Wolverines looked, and re- membered, including Beyer 's line contributions. "If you look statistically, there wasn't a guy that stood out with huge numbers, because there were a lot of guys," defensive line coach Mark Smith said. "You guys bought into that. This year's award winner played his best football as a senior." In talking about Michigan's defen- sive line, Smith also grew emotional, noting: "We have a saying in our room we call BOB … Band of Brothers." It took him a bit before he could fol- low up with: "You guys were." Longtime Michigan sports informa- tion director Bruce Madej earned the Distinguished Alumni Service Award for his long contributions to Michi- gan. He retired this past June after first coming to Michigan in the late 1970s. To a man, this year 's Wolver- ines wanted to win more. They still weren't leaving with heads hung low. Jansen captured the dichotomy of on-field results and shaping for life perhaps the best. "When you play the game, the rea- son you keep score is because some- one has to win," Jansen said. "My wife will occasionally ask me why I can't just play for fun. It goes over well. It gets even better when my son answers her and says, 'Because, Mom, winning is fun.' "While that's true, it leads me to the discussion of winning and losing and how to handle both of them with my son. It made me think about what kind of competitor he'll be, and what kind of man he'll become. "While winning and losing is very important, college football is so much bigger than wins and losses. Real vic- tories will happen in 15 to 20 years, when we see what kind of men they have become. What kind of a father, husband, friend, will you be?" Jansen summed it up this way: "Michigan is not for everyone, be- cause it's hard, and uncomfortable. You have to make sacrifices others are not willing to make. You have to endure pressure that would crush others. There are no shortcuts to ex- cellence." On a night of emotional goodbyes, those thoughts lingered. ❑