The Wolverine

January 2018

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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74 THE WOLVERINE JANUARY 2018 M ichigan head coach Jim Harbaugh brought in a potentially huge addi- tion to the 2018 recruiting class in Ole Miss transfer quarterback Shea Patterson, assuming he's cleared to play this fall as many expect he will be. Even analysts and SEC shills like Paul Finebaum have lauded the move as a potential differ- ence maker, noting Patterson could be the recruit that helps lead the Wolverines to the Col- lege Football Playoff next sea- son. Michigan fans, of course, took to Twitter to celebrate the latest off-the-field win, even starting accounts called Shea To Michi- gan. But those who have been around long enough should know there's no guarantee when it comes to QB battles, in Ann Arbor or anywhere else. Sure, it's good to have options. Tom Brady was a great quarterback at Michigan and probably one of the most underappreciated Wolverines of his time, and even he admits he wouldn't have become Tom Brady had he not undergone some serious adversity and competition during his U-M days. Fans in Ann Arbor once booed him when he made mistakes, eager to see "wonder boy" Drew Henson take over for him and lead Michigan to the Promised Land. Message boards were in their infancy back then — even so, we remember talk about Brady and his "weenie arm" (yes, someone actu- ally wrote that) and how head coach Lloyd Carr was doing Michigan a disservice by even allowing Brady to split time with Henson in 1998 and again in 1999. Brady's dad recalled for a recent Boston.com article how fans cheered every time Henson replaced his son in a 1999 win over Notre Dame, when Carr was rotating quarterbacks. Even after Brady won the job and was named the starter, Carr called Hen- son "the most talented quarterback I've ever been around" and vowed he'd play. We can only imagine what Brady was thinking when he returned to Ann Arbor as an honorary captain last year for the Colorado game, wav- ing as many of the same people who once jeered him gave him a standing ovation. Henson started all of nine games, bolted for the New York Yankees after the 2000 season and never came close to approaching Brady's career on the field. So there's a lesson here, and one to which the Michigan faithful should pay heed … Let it play out. Don't back one guy because he's the "five star," no matter how sexy, or the "other guy" because he's the in- cumbent to whom Harbaugh should be "loyal." Go into it with a "may the best man win" open mind, support the one who wins the job, and even if things don't go well initially, realize there's a reason the guy on the field is out there. That will be Harbaugh's approach, redshirt freshman Brandon Peters' father shared after the Patterson news broke. Harbaugh reportedly sat all of the quarterbacks down, including fresh- man Dylan McCaffrey (a guy many believe is the coach's "next Andrew Luck") and told them open competition started im- mediately. For Peters, it's a test to prove he's more prepared than he was this fall, when he admitted he didn't respond well when incumbent Wilton Speight was named the starter. He subse- quently dropped to third on the depth chart behind fifth-year senior John O'Korn, even when it was clear he was the more physically talented player. "I was making some mental errors I shouldn't have made, and I think Coach lost a little confidence in me throughout camp," Peters admitted. "I think that set me back a little bit. "As soon as Wilton went down, I knew I had to pick up my game a little bit, be more focused, that kind of stuff." So he honed in and rose to meet the challenge. It's something he is going to have to do again, against a familiar opponent on the recruiting camp cir- cuit who is now a teammate — and, by all accounts, an unbelievably tal- ented one. Competition will only make all of them better, and as Brady explained in the recent Boston.com article, it made him the quarterback he's be- come. "It was a great experience, but it had its challenges," Brady said before pausing. "The challenges, I think, toughened me up a lot." He wouldn't change a thing, he said, even the lack of support from a portion of the fan base. But that still doesn't make it right. Hopefully, the fans have learned and will accept whoever wins the first true quarterback battle we've seen in years. The winner will have earned the job and deserves our respect. ❏ Chris Balas has been with The Wolver- ine since 1997, working part time for five years before joining the staff full time in 2002. Contact him at cbalas@ thewolverine.com and follow him on Twitter @Balas_Wolverine. INSIDE MICHIGAN   CHRIS BALAS Fans Shouldn't Play Favorites At QB Former Michigan quarterback Tom Brady credits the chal- lenge of competing with Drew Henson for the starting job at U-M for making him a tougher player. PHOTO COURTESY NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

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