V V V V V V V
w
W,
w INS
w
v
M
Welcome to the 2011 season: where Denard Robinson could cap-
Mattison could be the key to all the defensive problems, where
nothing is certain - can you honestly say you know what this
team will do? No, you can't. But Chuckles, the cat of former Daily Western Michigan (Sept. 3): Brady Hoke's Michigan State (Oct. 15): Edwin Baker and
Managing Sports Editor Andy Reid, probably does. first game as head coach. You only get one first Le'Veon Bell ran over and through Michigan last
impression, so he'd better make it count. year, and Kirk Cousins ain't too shabby either.
Michael Florek, Stephen J. Nesbitt, Kevin Raftery, Tim Rohan Little Brother's growing up.
Notre Dame (Sept. 10): Under the lights (sung Purdue (Oct. 29): Guard your ACLs! The knee
TABLE OF CONTENTS like in Kanye's song). This game could spring injury has plagued Purdue the past two seasons.
Blue on to great things. Or derail the season. Quarterback Rob Henry was the latest victim.
MICHAEL FLOREK: Brady Hoke hue Eastern Michigan (Sept. 17): Another meeting Iowa (Nov. 5): The faces change, but it always
2 made fans beeve with his words, Now with another inferior neighbor: may be Michi- seems like Kirk Ferentz finds the same exact
he's got to make them believe with the gan's only shot to hang 50-plus points in a game. type of players. This is just another Iowa team.
team's play on the field.
San Diego State (Sept. 24): Hoke said it was Illinois (Nov. 12): Nathan Scheelhaase-to-A.J.
AND MICHIGAN RULED THE WEST: hard leaving his players behind at San Diego Jenkins and Jason Ford are the whole offense.
Uncovering the roots of one of Michi- State. They were mad he didn't say goodbye. Consider Scheelhaase a poor man's Denard.
gan's oldest, proudest heirlooms.
Minnesota (Oct.1): MarQueis Gray played wide Nebraska (Nov. 19): The legendary blackshirts
THE LONELIEST NUMBER: The story of receiver last year - now he's the quarterback make their debut at the Big House. By the time
6 five men who took a jersey and turned it and the only thing exciting about the Gophers. Jared Crick and Co. leave, it may get ugly for 'M.'
into a tradition.
no rd .Northwestern (Oct. 8): Dan Persa - that's Ohio State (Nov. 26): No Tressell? No Pryor?
about it. Ohio State's still deeper than Michigan, but a lot
Cover photo by Marissa McClain could change by Thanksgiving.
No.2 Alabama 31)vs hix
No. 3 Oregon at No. 4 Louisiana Stat ei-)
No. 5SBise St. at. No. 9tGeorgia (3)
No. 6 Florida State (-28) vs La.-Monroe
No.7 Stanford (-28)vsSan Diego State
No. 8 Texas A&M(-4) vs SMU
No.9Oklahoma State (-34)vs Lafayette
No. 10Nebaska (-34.5) vs Chattanooga
No.12 South Carolina (-13) vs East Carolina
No.13Va. Tech (-25)vs Appalachian St.
No. SArkansas (-15.5) vs. Missouri St.
o 16 otre ie (7 s South Florida
No.17MSU(-34) iSYoungstownState
No.18Ohio State (-34) vs Akron
No.2 Misouai(-205)vsMiami (OH)
No.2 lrida(-29) v loiaA.
No. 23 Auburnt(32vta h Sate
No.2s USC (-16.5)vs Minnesota
NortherwesternatBostonCollege(-10)
Iowa(-40)vsTennesseeTech
Purdue(-15)s Mii Tennessee
Illinois (-14.5) vs. Arkansas State
Indiana (-6) at Ball State
Penn State (-37) vs. irdiana State
}9%
Aabama
Oregon
Boise St.
La.-Monroe
Stanford
Texas A&M
La.-Lafayette
Nebraska
UNLV
South Carolina
Virginia Tech
Arkansas
Notre Dame
Youngstate State
Ohio State
Miami (OH)
Forida
Auburn
WetVirgnia
USC
Boston College
Tennessee Tech
Purdue
llinois
Indiana
Indiana State
5-0_
A ebama
Oregon
Boise St.
Florida State
Stanford
Texas A&M
La.-Lafayette
Nebraska
South Carolina
Virginia Tech
Arkansas
Notre Dame
Michigan State
Ohio State
Missouri
Forida Ati.
Auburn
West Virginia
USC
Northwestern
Tennessee Tech
Purdue
llinois
Indianat
Penn State
0-0
Altbawa
Louisiana State
Boise St.
Florida State
San Diego State
TexasiA&M
Oklahoma State
Nebraska
UNLV
South Carolina
Virginia Tech
Arkansas
South Florida
Youngstate State
Akron
Miami (OH)
Utah State
West Virgimia
Minnesota
Northwestern
TennesseeTech
Purdue
Illinois
Indiana
Indiana State
o0-
Aiatbama
Oregon
BoiseSt.
Florida State
Sacie tate
Texas A&M
La.-Lafayette
Nebraska
misconsin
South Carolina
Virginia Tech
Arkansas
Notre Dame
Michigan State
OhioState
Missouri
Auburn
West Virginia
USC
Northwestern
owa
Purdue
llnois
Indiana
Indiana State
Ohio
Oreon
Boise St.
La.-Monroe
Statford
Texas A&M
Oklahoma State
Chattacooga
UNLV
East Caroina
Virginia Tech
Arkansas
Notre Dame
Youngstate State
Akron
Missuri
Florda Atl.
Utah State
West Virginia
USC
Northwestern
owa
Purdue
llinois
ndiana
ndiana State
teA
EARNEDS
John Navarre found himself in this
particular situation plenty of times.
Whenever he was in a jam all he had
to do was call an audible - he always
had a wayout. "I'm just going to throw
it up to this dude..."
This time, Michigan was playing
Purdue. He looked out wide to his guy.
There was only one receiver in this
set and they had press coverage on
him. Navarre remembers, the audibles
were run, run-check, pass-check. He
cancelled all the runs and signaled a
15-yard route to the receiver. But wait
a second, he thought, "We're on the
35-yard line, (screw) this, let's go for
the endzone "
Navarre lofted a bomb that only his
guy could reach. "He went up and got
it because the (cornerback) was this
big," Navarre says, motioning with his
hand that the defender was half his
size.
Watching from afar, the father had
seen the son make this catch a mil-
lion times in the yard. The son always
wanted to practice the spectacular
catch. The father would loft the ball
high and away, just to make it difficult,
and the boy would time it just right
and come down with the ball, landing
on a strategically placed mattress.
"He had a very freakish sense of
timing," the father says. "He never
jumped too soon. He never jumped
too late. The ball always arrived when
he was at the peak of ajump. Always."
The boy savored those few
moments of joy he had, floating in the
air, because the rest of his day would
be spentdoing what other kids weren't
doing to be great, what they wouldn't
do.
The father wouldn't let the boy
play football until he knew he was
old enough to work at it, to train hard
enough, to put in the time to run track.
But the boy loved it. He chose this
route. From the Michigan practices
the father took him to as a toddler, to
the old game filmhe found on his own,
the game was mesmerizing. Images
flickered across the screen of his dad's
old teammate, Anthony Carter, and
that smooth No. 1 jersey. Ever since
he'd always wanted to be a receiver.
Now, the father would send him
deep, always running "the bomb," the
Hail Mary, so the boy would gethis fit-
ness right.
There was always something on
the line, too, his team trailing in the
fourth quarter. Catch this ball or the
game's over, you lose.
The father knew the boy too well.
He was too competitive to let that ball
drop, and if he did, the workouts that
followed stung that much more.
One-hundred yard dashes, six
in a row, with 10 seconds to rest in
between. And that was just the first
set. The boy had two more, with five
minutes of rest in between.
What would hurthmore? Those or
the 40-yard dashes he'd have to run
every 15 seconds for 15 minutes, with
the summer sun wrapping him in
blanket.
No son of Stan Edwards wouldn't
know how to practice, how to prepare.
This, when no one's watching - not
the coach, not even the father - is
when you get better.
Bo Schembechler himself had
taught the father how to be tough. The
father learned to practice out of fear
of being yelled at. He hated to hear
Bo yell. He tried his hardest on every
drill, made sure everything he did was
perfect, so Bo wouldn't yell.
He can still remember thattday...
'Stan Edwards, please report to rhe
gym office. Stan Edwards, please report
to the gym office"...when he walked in
and first laid eyes on Bo's block 'M.'
The coach smiled, shook his hand,
kind of took him by the shoulders and
spun him around.
"Can you play with us? Can you play
at our level? Well we're interested and
we're going to keep our eye on you," Bo
said.
From then, the father would do
anything to not let that man down.
Practices damn near killed him. In the
first week, his freshman year, a walk-
on fullback missed an assignment and
an All-Big Ten safety took the father's
head clean off. That was practice
under Bo.
They'd be the most, organized,
most prepared, and toughest team in
the country because of Bo, the father
thought. And it was because of the
way they practiced.
So the father worked the son four or
five days a week, so the boy could be
the best, because he wanted to be.
As he grew, the son's body didn't
always cooperate. Nature was fight-
ing the progress the father had made
with the boy, as he went through his
awkward stages at the least opportune
time in high school.
"Sometimes tthoughtshe'd be pret-
ty good and other times I'd wonder,
and scratch my head - maybe not,"
the father says.
That's why relatively few schools
were chasing the Rivals.com No. 49
wide receiver recruit in the country. It
hadn't helped that he played a bunch
of other positions besides wide receiv-
er, and his team didn't throw the ball
that much.
The son had grown up an Ohio State
fan, but they weren't in the mix, and
Michigan State was interested in him
early - they saw the raw skills he had.
But entering his senior season, the
father's school hadn't yet offered his
son a scholarship.
It had felt right all these years that
his son would end up there. It was
unintentional, but having attended a
Michigan football practice every year
since he left the school, the father left
a mark on his son.
"When he was four and five years
old, he would stop, and pay attention
and look," Stan says. "He could hear
the sound. You know, that sound.
When people finally get close enough
to hear a Michigan practice. To hear
those shoulder pads and that flesh
pounding against each other. He knew
that early on. He knew."
By the fourth game of his setior
year, Michigan felt comfortable
enough after having seen him at a
summer camp and seeing some new
tape that Brayton Edwardt4.ssn..
Braylon Edwards started off his Michigan career wearing the No. 80 before Lloyd Carr deemed he had earned the No.1 jersey.
was Michigan-worthy. The 5-8, 140
pound freshman was now a lean,
mean, 6-2, 190 pound machine.
The son asked the coaching staff
if he could wear the No. 1 jersey dur-
ing his recruitment, knowing full well
what his father had told him about the
school.
"You've got to earn this jersey; we
don't just give it to anybody," they told
him.
This pleased the father.
All of the father's grit and determi-
nation wasn't without reason.
He knew Lloyd Carr was a Rn dis-
ciple. Carr had coached the father.dHe
knew what it would take to succeed,
if the boy truly wanted to among the
greats - if he truly wanted the num-
ber.
Anthony Carter. Derrick Alexan-
der. David Terrell...
"Each one of those guys put in the
work to get there," Stan says. "You
don't play that way by a gift from God.
"That doesn't happen by osmosis.
Those guys decided put the work in
to earn the right to wear that jersey
and also play at a different level than
everybody else. Everybody is not
going to make that sacrifice. They say
they are, but they're not."
Here sat Stan Edwards' son, wear-
ing the No. 80. The coaches said the
boy had to grow up. He had to mature
and begin to really work. He didn't
walk through the doors at Schem-
bechler Hall a Michigan-made Man.
For all of the hours the father spent
with the boy, something was missing,
Maybe Braylon was like the rest of
them, too eager to start his greatness
now, frustrated by the system holding
him back. Maybe Stan was too hard on
Braylon - as Stan admits now - and
the son thought it was time to coast
when he got on his own. Maybe, just
maybe, he did need to be taught a les-
son in humility.
Stan paced before every game Bray-
lon played. His palms sweat. When he
arrived at the stadium, he couldn't eat
I
.
Mil I tlYili hY ' '
;; b
.
To apply to be a guest picker, e-mail trohan@umich.edu. If you're chosen and can beat at least two of us, you'll stay on for another week. The longest tenured guest picker will get a prize at the end of the season.
2 FootballSaturday, September 3,.2011
TheMichlgaosaily - www ich igandaily.com1 11