What It Means to Be a Wolverine: Michigan's Greatest Players Talk About Michigan Football - Hardcover

Allen, Kevin; Regner, Art; Brown, Nate

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1572436611 ISBN 13: 9781572436619

Publisher: Triumph Books, 2005

Synopsis

Taking a decade-by-decade approach to the University of Michigan football tradition, this collection brings together over 40 stories from the most outstanding voices of the program. The spirit of Wolverines football is not captured by just one phrase, one season, or one particular game; instead, the student-athletes and coaches who made the magic happen over the decades blend their experiences to capture the true essence of their beloved school. Michigan fans will relish the intimate stories told by the figures they have come to cherish.

About this title

From the Publisher

". . . how can anyone come close to the tradition in Ann Arbor where games have been played since 1879? "More victories than any school anywhere in the country . . . around 111,000 fans for each game at the Big House . . . the most distinct helmet in the country . . . the greatest fight song in the history of college sports . . . with Ohio State, the most celebrated rivalry in all of sports . . . New Year’s Day bowl games . . . Big Ten championships . . . the tunnel . . . the Little Brown Jug . . . the marching band . . . the tailgate parties. ". . . The history is alive and endless. But the essence of tradition transcends victories, statistics, events, and all the other celebrated features that comprise college football. "The essence of tradition lies in the hearts of the people who protect and perpetuate that storied history that was handed down to them. And they carefully pass that legacy down to generations yet to come." —From the Foreword by Bo Schembechler

From the Inside Flap

Michigan football is many things. It’s 107,000 fans crowding into hallowed Michigan Stadium. It’s the famed winged helmet. It’s Fielding Yost, Fritz Crisler, Tom Harmon, Gerald Ford, Bennie Oosterbaan, Rick Leach, and Bo Schembechler. It’s the rousing strains of "Hail to the Victors." It’s the sublimity of a brisk, sun-splashed autumn Saturday in Ann Arbor. But most of all it’s the utter dependability of an institution that delivers success as regularly as the leaves change colors in southeastern Michigan. Regardless of the decade, the coach, the players, changes to the rules, or social and political upheaval, the University of Michigan Wolverines win on the gridiron—40 conference titles, 34 bowl game wins, 11 national championships, and not one coach in its history with a losing record. What It Means to Be a Wolverine brings together many of the greatest and most significant men who have donned the maize and blue to share their memories of playing and coaching at the University of Michigan. Many schools tout their football tradition, but very few possess a history as rich and varied as Michigan’s. The compelling and heartfelt stories and reminiscences of the men included in this book illustrate that vividly. What It Means to Be a Wolverine includes Gerald Ford, who captained Michigan to two national championships in the early thirties and later became president; Bump Elliot, who played in a Rose Bowl for UM and coached the Wolverines to one as well; Ron Kramer, who starred at Michigan and then went on to write a best-selling book about his time with the Green Bay Packers; Jim Brandstatter, who played on Bo Schembechler’s first team, went to the Rose Bowl, and is now the radio voice of the Wolverines; Rick Leach, a four-year starter at quarterback who led Michigan to three Rose Bowls and an Orange Bowl; Lloyd Carr, who coached UM to a national championship in 1997; and the incomparable Bo Schembechler, who over two decades returned Michigan to its exalted status in college football. What It Means to Be a Wolverine is unlike any book ever published about Michigan football. It gets at the essence of what it means to be a "Michigan Man," what it means to play or coach at a school with a 112-year winning tradition, and what it means to be affiliated with the best college football has to offer.

Edition details

• Publisher: Triumph Books
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1572436611
• ISBN 13: 9781572436619
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 352