Monday, July 18, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Howard leads class of16 entering Hall of Fame By STEPHEN J. NESBITT Daily Sports Editor Desmond Howard, a former Michigan football standout and current analyst for ESPN College GameDay, was enshrined into the College Football Hall of Fame in an induction ceremony on Saturday. The prolific wide receiver led a group of 15 other players and four coaches into the Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind. "This is a huge honor for me to be here in South Bend," Howard said during a teleconference with reporters on Thursday. "I couldn't be more proud to go into the Col- lege Football Hall of Fame as a Michigan Wolverine. "It's not being acknowledged for a game. It's not being acknowl- edged for a season - it's being acknowledged for a whole body of work - that speaks volumes." Howard set or tied five NCAA and 12 Michiganindividual records in his three-year stint with the Wolverines. He caught 134 passes for 2,145 yards and returned three kicks for touchdowns. Howard's junior season earned him the Heisman Trophy - and Michigan a Rose Bowl berth - and was punctuated by a kickoff return for a touchdown against Ohio State in the season finale that prompted legendary ABC broadcaster Keith Jackson to pronounce, "Hello, Heisman!" Obviously unaware of Jackson's call, Howard paused for a moment after crossing the goal line and struck the infamous Heisman pose, cementing that image into college football lore. But that's simply the tail end of a magical season. "The Heisman pose is pretty much the cherry on top," Howard admitted. Twenty years later, Howard remembers it all. "It's hard for me to believe (it was 20 years ago), especially when I look in the mirror and I'm 20 years older," Howard said. "Feels like it just happened. The time flies, it really does." He remembers the season-open- er against Boston College, when he scored four touchdowns, and he remembers Notre Dame rolling into town the following week as the No.7 team in the nation. And he remembers quarterback Elvis Grbac's pump-fake and loft to the end zone on fourth down. Everyone remembers the rest. Howard sped past a pair of defensive backs down the right sideline and dove to the back cor- ner of the end zone, making the iconic catch for a touchdown and FILE PHOTO/Daiy Former Wolverine Desmond Howard won the 1991 Heisman Trophy at Michigan. another Michigan victory. "At Michigan, playing under "The touchdown catch against Coach (Bo) Schembechler and Notre Dame is really what put me Coach (Gary) Moeller, it's never on the map nationally for a lot of about individualism, it's all about people, as far as being a legitimate the team, so I never had any goals Heisman candidate." of becoming All-Big Ten or All- "The Catch" got the ball rolling, American, or even the Heisman," and the reverse for a touchdown Howard said. "So this deal here, forced Howard to be in serious the Hall of Fame, was never even Heisman contention in just the sec- on my radar." and week of the season. Howard will be honored by But Howard still remembers the Michigan prior to the "Under the season clearly enough to credit his Lights" tilt against Notre Dame teammates and coaches for their on Sept. 10, but he thinks his alma contribution in growing a 5-foot-10 mater should go a little farther and running back recruit from Cleve- also memorialize Charles Wood- land into a national icon in college son, who won the Heisman Trophy football. in 1997. When asked whether he felt his jersey should be retired, Howard had no hesitation. "I believe it's time, without the shadow of a doubt," Howard said. "It's just such a huge honor, and what I do know for a living is you travel around and you see how a lot of these programs have retired jerseys of players who haven't even accomplished some of the things on the field like myself and Wood- son have accomplished. It's just a way they try to honor their play- ers." Howard also announced that his book, I Wore 21: The Legend of Desmond Howard, is expect- ed to be released on Sept. 10, the same day as the first night game in Michigan Stadium history. The 190-page book will chronicle How- ard's life before, during and after his time in Ann Arbor. But as he places his lasting leg- acy in the College Football Hall of Fame, Howard is just focused on the three years at Michigan that brought him into the national spot- light. "It's mind-blowing how far I've come since that first day packing up the van with my dad and drove up to Ann Arbor from Cleveland," Howard said. "Who knew the road would take us to South Bend?" 'M' legend has 'utmost confidence' in Robinson as QB By STEPHEN J. NESBITT Daily Sports Editor In late May, Desmond Howard found himself in some hot water after calling out Michigan quar- terback Denard Robinson when speaking of the entitlement of modern-day athletes. "I'll give you a perfect exam- ple," Howard said at the Black Coaches and Administrators con- vention in St. Petersburg, Fla. "Michigan fires coach Rich Rodri- guez. All the noise in Ann Arbor is, 'Is Denard Robinson going to stay or leave?' I'm like, 'Hey, if the kid wants to go, don't let the door hit you on the way out.' You looked * fantastic for five games against nobody. That's what you did. "I'm not going to deny his tal- ents, but you ain't won nothing in Ann Arbor, son! Not so much we need to worry about if you're going to be here next year or not." But in a conference call with reporters on Thursday regarding his College Football Hall of Fame induction, Howard was clear that there's no bad blood between the duo of past and present Wolver- ines. There were worries that Rob- inson would transfer after Rodri- guez was relieved of his post in early January - sending Michi- gan's highlight reel out the door with Rodriguez's spread offense - but Robinson ultimately made the decision to remain in Ann Arbor to quarterback the Wolverines. Even with a new offensive sys- tem in place under new Michigan coach Brady Hoke and offensive coordinator Al Borges, Howard thinks Robinson will adjust well. "I have the utmost confidence that Denard is going to do well in this offense, because I have confidence in Denard as a serious athlete and coach Borges as an offensive coordinator who knows how to use the strength of his play- ers," Howard said. "I spoke with Denard during spring football, and I think the most complicated part for a quarterback like Denard is to get the footwork down." The speedy Robinson ran for 1,702 yards in his breakout 2010 season under Rodriguez and passed for another 2,750 yards, throwing for 18 touchdowns and scrambling for another 14 scores. "Anyone who knows Denard knows he can throw the ball," Howard said. "What happens is, a lot of people, especially in the media, get so wowed by his speed ... but there's much more to him ... He's very serious about becoming a pro-style quarterback. "There's no doubt in my mind, that kid can spit the rock, he can spit the pill. Just gotta give him the opportunity to. But, for me, it starts with the footwork." While that footwork will be paramount for the junior quar- terback, he can always ad lib that footwork and tear out of the pock- et to pick up yardage on the run. "Obviously they're going to have to work in some other pack- ages to utilize the things that give defensive coordinators night- mares, which is Denard with a ball in his hands running," How- ard said. Howard said his first experi- ence meeting Robinson was at the 2009 Michigan football Spring Game, when early-enrollee quar- terback Tate Forcier put on the pads for the first time and Robin- son looked on from the sidelines. Robinson showed his high school status as he strode the side- line with a red and yellow varsity jacket from Deerfield Beach High School. But his trip home is where he made his mark with a Michigan legend. Howard walked through Detroit Metro Airport awaiting his flight to Miami and realized that Robinson was set to climb aboard the same flight home to Florida. "Denard could've been a guy who ran a 5.1 40(-meter split), I didn't know anything about this kid," Howard recalls. "We just sat in the airport and talked. That's when I realized what type of kid he was - he was really humble, really nice." "His smile, the way he handled himself, the way he interacted with me ... he's the type of kid who you want to see do well. They really are similar, eh? "Since then, everyone's called us twins." The brilliant smile and blazing speed match. But Denard doesn't have a Heisman Trophy in his hands - not yet, at least.