The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/495628
WHERE ARE THEY NOW? BY CHRIS BALAS I f all had gone as planned and ex- pected, post-career articles on for- mer Michigan defensive back Tripp Welborne would have read differently. Much differently. A s a o n c e - i n - a - decade athlete out of Greensboro, N.C., Welborne was an elite wide receiver/defen- sive back who had his choice of any school in the country, and was seemingly destined for a long NFL career on either side of the ball or perhaps even a stint in the NBA. He might have played basketball for head coach Dean Smith at North Caro- lina if he'd chosen a different path — and he almost did. "Dean had recruited me, and it was great," Welborne recalled. "He said on my visit, 'If you come in, I've only got King Rice coming in and you can play the point and shooting guard.' [Future NBA forward] Rick Fox was coming in, and I had already been go- ing to the games so I knew what it was about. I was locked in. They had come to my games, and there was only one choice." One choice for someone who was a basketball player only, maybe. Wel- borne, though, was a two-sport star who most believe could have shined at both, even in college, and UNC hoops would have been No. 1 on his list had he gone that route. "But their football program was so bad," he recalled. "Had it been decent …" He might have been wearing Carolina pow- der blue instead of Michigan navy. Instead he enrolled at Michi- gan as some analysts' No. 1 wide receiver na- tionally, ready to take U-M's passing game to the next level. Head coach Bo Schembechler had let loose more than anyone thought possible with Jim Har- baugh under center in the mid-1980s, throwing more than he had in his ca- reer, and Welborne envisioned being Michigan's next Anthony Carter. He lived up to his billing early in his freshman year, terrorizing the veteran defensive backs in practice. Breaking in new quarterbacks brought out the conservative side of Schembechler, however, and the Wolverines attacked primarily on the ground in 1987. Wel- borne caught two passes total. "We were killing them in practice. WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Tripp Welborne Is Climbing The Charts As An Athletic Administrator WELBORNE